September 23, 2015

Wednesday Writing Wisdom (26) Vladimir Nabokov





“Literature was not born the day when a boy crying "wolf, wolf" came running out of the Neanderthal valley with a big gray wolf at his heels; literature was born on the day when a boy came crying "wolf, wolf" and there was no wolf behind him.”

Vladimir Nabokov
(1899 - 1977)
Curious facts about 


While living in Berlin, Nabokov wrote for the Russian newspaper, The Rudder, had a number of walk-on appearances in German movies, and was a tutor, a translator, and a tennis instructor.
  Nabokov was an insomniac as addressed in his autobiography, Speak, Memory:
Sleep is the most moronic fraternity in the world, with the heaviest dues and the crudest rituals.


 Nabokov was also a lepidopterist (a specialist in the study of butterflies). 

 Nabokov taught at Stanford, Wellesley, Cornell, and Harvard (as a visiting lecturer), and was a working entomologist at Harvard, where he discovered several species and subspecies of butterflies

6 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the quote and details of the this man's life. Thanks for sharing, Carmen.

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  2. Love the quote! Also, with a life that spanned the period of 1899 to 1977, imagine all the changes he witnessed in the world!

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    1. And, more, he also knew quite well several countries, aka different ways of life.
      Thanks for checking the post, Mae!

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  3. I love this quote. It makes me feel verified somehow. He was a remarkable writer and person. Thanks for highlighting him, Carmen.

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    1. A special author and person. Thank you for visiting, Flossie!

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