Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
A wise reader reads the book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine.… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“In its published form, this book is being read, I assume, in the first years of 2000 A.D. (1935 plus eighty or… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
I grew, a happy, healthy child in a bright world of illustrated books, clean sand, orange trees, friendly dogs, sea vistas and… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Of all my Russian books, the defense contains and diffuses the greatest 'warmth' which may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract Chess… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
…She was, obviously, one of those women whose polished words may reflect a book club or bridge club, or any other deadly… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Curiously enough, one cannot read a book; one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, and active and creative… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“Fame in our day is too common to be confused with the enduring glow around the deserving book.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
When I receive a new novel from a hopeful publisher - "hoping that I like the book as much as he does"… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
The commentator may be excused for repeating what he has stressed in his own books and lectures, namely that "offensive" is frequently… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Usually I read several books at a time - old books, new books, fiction, nonfiction, verse, anything - and when the bedside… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
There was a time in my demented youth When somehow I suspected that the truth About survival after death was known To… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
I don't belong to any club or group. I don't fish, cook, dance, endorse books, sign books, co-sign declarations, eat oysters, get… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Even while writing his book, he had become painfully aware how little he knew his own planet while attempting to piece together… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
It was an interesting thing to do. Why did I write any of my books, after all? For the sake of the… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“This irritated or puzzled such students of literature and their professors as were accustomed to ‘serious’ courses replete with ‘trends ’ and… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“The theme of the book is simple: a man is dying: you feel him sinking throughout the book; his thought and his… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
We had been everywhere. We had really seen nothing. And I catch myself thinking today that our long journey had only defiled… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“... one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“...I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no purpose than to get… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
Only talent interests me in paintings and books. Not general ideas, but the individual contribution. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share Image
“...under no circumstances would he [Humbert Humbert] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
“Ami azt illeti, Vannak kezdtek nagyon tetszeni a fák is, a csodák is meg az Adák is.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless. — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
“It isn’t possible. I cannot imagine it. Come on over here, you foolish little doe, and tell me on what day I shall die.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
“It is indeed a tricky name. It is often misspelt, because the eye tends to regard the "a" of the first syllable as a… — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
“(T)here exist friendships which develop their own inner duration, their own eons of transparent time.” — Vladimir Nabokov Copy Share
