Quotes from Vladimir Nabokov

Hani bilirsiniz göÄŸe as?l? gibi duran gündüzlerin, etraf?nda su sinekleri uçuÅŸan, çiçekler açm?? bir çal?l???n çevresinde geliÅŸen, güzel, a??r kokulu öÄŸleden sonralar?n ya da bir tepeciÄŸin eteklerinde ba??boÅŸ gezerken dal?verip alt üst ettiÄŸiniz yaz akÅŸamüstlerinin s?cakl??? gibi; kürklü bir s?cakl?k, alt?n rengi su sinekleri...

In which portrayed events forever stay. I think she always nursed a small mad hope.

La mujer barbuda nos lee las manos y predice lo que seremos, aunque no adivina lo que somos.

We had been everywhere. We had really seen nothing. And I catch myself thinking today that our long journey had only defiled with a sinuous trail of slime the lovely, trustful, dreamy, enormous country that by then, in retrospect, was no more to us than a collection of dog-eared maps, ruined tour books, old tires, and her sobs in the night—every night, every night—the moment I feigned sleep.

milk, molasses, foaming champagne

Non può esservi alcuna sottomissione – perché il fatto stesso che parliamo di questi argomenti indica che vi è curiosità, e la curiosità è insubordinazione nella forma più pura.

how long did I think we were going to live in stuffy cabins, doing filthy things together and never behaving like ordinary people

Tým chcem povedaÃ…Â¥, že som ten najnepraktickejÅ¡í ?lovek pod slnkom.

Time moves ahead of our fancies

a destiny in the making is, believe me, not one of those honest mystery stories where all you have to do is keep an eye on the clues. In my youth I once read a French detective tale where the clues were actually in italics; but that is not McFate's way — even if one does learn to recognize certain obscure indications.

It is all part of the fun of being young and alive and beautiful

Era a todas luces una de esas mujeres cuyas pulidas palabras pueden reflejar un club del libro, o un club de bridge, o cualquier otro aburrido convencionalismo, pero nunca su alma; mujeres carentes por completo de imaginación; mujeres absolutamente indiferentes, en el fondo, a cualquiera de la docena de temas posibles de conversación en una sala de estar

17nastai hugshin emegtei...

The tiny madman in his padded cell

Style and Structure are the essence of a book; great ideas are hogwash. Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian-born U.S. novelist, poet. Interview in Writers at Work(Fourth Series, ed. by George Plimpton, 1976).

I was unbathed, unshaven, and had had no bowel movement. My nerves were a-jangle.

los veo nítidamente divididos en una amplia zona de luz y una estrecha banda de sombra: la luz pertenecía al solaz de investigar en bibliotecas suntuosas; la sombra, a los deseos atormentadores y los insomnios sobre los cuales ya he dicho bastante.

A thread of subtle pain, Tugged at by playful death, released again But always present, ran through me.

But every once in a while I have to remind the reader of my appearance much as a professional novelist, who has given a character of his some mannerism or a dog, has to go on producing that dog or that mannerism every time the character crops up in the course of the book

This wonder was enhanced by my awareness of their not feeling what I felt, of their not seeing what I saw, of their taking Shade for granted, instead of drenching every nerve, so to speak, in the romance of his presence.

What mad hope or hate makes the young beast's flanks pulsate, what black stars pierce the heart of the tamer!

Everything in the world is beautiful, but Man only recognizes beauty if he sees it either seldom or from afar.…

And for a minute she became thoughtful, ac- complishing during that one minute, as sometimes hap- pens, a long leisurely journey: she set off into Luzhin's past, dragging Valentinov with her, visualizing him, from his voice, in horn rimmed spectacles and long-legged, and as she journeyed through the mi^t she looked for a spot where she could dump the slippery, repulsively wriggling Valentinov, but she could not find one because she knew almost nothing about Luzhin's youth.

Oh, it was, and, remains, a source of great and terrible wonder.