Reconstruction of Time and Place

Throughout the book Nabokov questions his own memory by asking more and more detailed questions of his own recollections. At times, he is even frustrated by what he cannot recall. In Speak, Memory he recreates time and place by using photographs, his father’s scrapbook and chronological and historical events.

In Chapter One he is recalling his earliest memories, only he cannot recall exactly what age he is, so he uses contextual clues to help him recreate time. Once he knows how old he is, he is able to fill in the other details. Speak, Memory at times reads like a list of events until something stops Nabokov, or catches his attention and then he tells a specific anecdote or vignette. Sometimes one anecdote will lead to a detailed story and sometimes they are glossed over before moving on to the next item on...