Speak On, Memory

"Speak, Memory" is the autobiographical memoir of Vladimir Nabokov, detailing his early life and European experiences. Originally published in parts in The New Yorker and later as Conclusive Evidence, it was revised and expanded into the English edition titled Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited.1

The memoir begins with Nabokov's happy childhood in an aristocratic family in St. Petersburg, Russia. The subsequent chapters cover his university years at Cambridge and his time as a writer within Russian émigré communities in Berlin and Paris. Nabokov's father, a prominent liberal politician, was assassinated in Berlin, a theme that would later appear in Nabokov's novels. The book is a testament to Nabokov's affection for his upbringing and the world he lost.12