Vera (89 page)

92
On Sunday evening: VéN diary, VNA. Interview with George Weidenfeld, April 21, 1997. See Weidenfeld,
Remembering My Good Friends
(New York: HarperCollins, 1994), 248.

93
“This is the only”: LATH, 129.

94
“We have seen”: VéN to the Bishops, April 15, 1959.

95
More than thirty: Weidenfeld files, Berg Collection.

96
“huddling shamefully”:
The Tatler
(London), March 25, 1959, 594.

97
sign a letter:
The Times
(London), January 23, 1959.

98
“because it shows depravity”: Interview with Nigel Nicolson, August 8, 1996. See Nigel Nicolson,
Long Life
(New York: G.P. Putnam's, 1998), 186–93.

99
“A Naughty Girl”:
New York World-Telegram & Sun
, February 27, 1959.

100
Humbert in disguise: Interview with Nicolson.

101
“long enough to evolve”: VéN to Laughlin, May 12, 1959.

102
The Song of Igor's Campaign
: The epic poem had never been properly translated into English. VN was interested in working on it even before 1952, when VéN queried Harper about the idea. That year he agreed to collaborate on a Bollingen edition of the poem, with Szeftel and Harvard's Roman Jakobson, the country's most eminent Slavist. On April 14, 1957, VN bowed out of the project. He curtly informed Jakobson that his conscience would not stand for a collaboration, as he was “unable to stomach your little trips to totalitarian countries” (VNA). At the same time he requested that Jakobson refrain from making use of his translations in his Harvard classes. (The Nabokovs were convinced that Jakobson was a political agent.) As Diment has made clear in her
Pniniad
, VN had additional cause for fury. Harry Levin had proposed him for a position at Harvard that year, an appointment opposed by Jakobson, who deemed his then-collaborator “unscholarly.” Elena Levin told VéN privately of the slight (March 3, 1957, PC). As it was, VéN believed her husband had been far too kind to Jakobson already. Mikhail
Karpovich did not rise to VN's defense regarding the appointment; their relationship never recovered.

103
felt Russia should: VN to HS, May 24, 1959.

104
“My summer so far”: VéN to Bishops, summer 1959.

105
“ ‘
Liebesdingen
' is a polite”: VéN to Rowohlt, May 21, 1959.

106
“needs me”: VéN to Amy Kelly, June 11, 1959.

107
“which is, probably”: VéN to Filippa Rolf, June 16, 1960.

108
“Oh, she writes all”: Interview with Galen Williams, December 4, 1996.

109
Sports Illustrated
: All quotations drawn from Robert H. Boyle, “An Absence of Wood Nymphs,”
Sports Illustrated
, September 14, 1959, 5–8. A longer version of the article appears in Robert H. Boyle,
At the Top of Their Game
(New York, Nick Lyons, 1987), 123–33. Interview with Boyle, October 7, 1998.

110
what pleased her most: VéN to L. Thompson, June 3, 1959.

111
“V. discounts both”: VéN diary, VNA.

112
in the year 3000:
Los Angeles Evening Mirror News
, July 31, 1959.

113
“Both the Vs looked” to “in some countries”: Morris Bishop to his daughter Alison Bishop, August 30, 1959, Cornell.

114
Was it immoral: Interview with James B. Harris, September 12, 1996.

115
suggested they might well stay: S. L. Posel to J. B. Lewis, September 15, 1959, PW.

116
“What the future holds”: VéN to E. Levin, September 23, 1959, PC.

117
“Dear V & V”: Bishop to the Nabokovs, September 24, 1959.

118
prided herself on the fact: Lena Massalsky to VéN, January 29, 1959.

119
“Are you planning”: Sonia Slonim to VéN, December 15, 1959.

120
“undergoing a new”: VéN to the Bishops, October 12, 1959, SL, 300.

121
Gallimard meeting:
Paris Presse L'Intransigeant
, October 8, 1959.

122
“friendship at first”: VéN to Rowohlt, March 12, 1978, VNA.

123
dire need of evening wear: Anna Feigin to VéN, October 18, 1959.

124
“most controversial writer”:
France-Soir
, October 21, 1959.

125
“Madame Nabokov” and “blonde”:
Paris Presse L'Intransigeant
, October 21, 1959.

126
“When a masterpiece”:
Paris Presse L'Intransigeant
, October 22, 1959.

127
“She cries every night”:
Les Nouvelles Littéraires
, October 29, 1959.

128
“Everybody and his wife”: Boyd interview with VéN, June 29, 1982, Boyd archive.

129
Véra's pleasure: VéN to HS, October 26, 1959.

130
amusing Khrushchev anecdote:
Le Figaro
, October 24, 1959.

131
ill at ease: Interview with Ivan Nabokov. Interview with HS, February 26, 1995.

132
equally puzzled: Boyd interview with VéN, June 29, 1982, Boyd archive. Interview with Zinaida Shakhovskoy, October 26, 1995.

133
“the man who just”: Interview with Harris, September 12, 1996.

134
“as if responding”: Girodias,
Une journée
, II, 459. See also “Pornologist on Mount Olympus,”
Playboy
, April 1961, in which the account is slightly different, and in which VN, after exchanging a few words with Girodias, moves “with the easy grace of a dolphin” toward VéN. The story continued, with zoological variation, in
Evergreen
, September 1965, 91: At the introduction, “Vladimir Nabokov pivoted on himself with the graceful ease of a circus seal, throwing a glance in the direction of his wife …”

135
“I did not exist”:
Evergreen
, September 1965, 91.

136
met—and disliked: VéN to Minton, November 9, 1959. Oddly she wrote, “Did I tell you that in Paris we met …,” then substituted “I” for “we.” Her recollection was that she said, “Hello,” and then walked away. Boyd interview with VéN, June 29, 1982, Boyd archive. VN insisted he had never met Girodias in his
Evergreen
rejoinder, February 1967, 37–41. Interview with Miriam Worms, June 18, 1996.

137
“the anti-nymphet”: Girodias,
Une journée
, II, 301.

138
“although signed with”: Girodias,
Evergreen
, September 1965, 90. Both Nabokovs believed the piece ran late, in
Life
's international edition only, for one reason—“thus protecting domestic farmers and their daughters from bad influence.” VéN to Bishops, April 15, 1959.

139
Nigel Nicolson was pressured: Interview with Nicolson, August 8, 1996. See Nicolson,
Long Life
, 190–93. On Harold Nicolson's distaste for LO, see Stanley Olson, ed.,
Diaries and Letters,
1930–1964
(New York: Atheneum, 1980), and Nigel Nicolson, ed.,
Harold Nicolson: The Later Years, 1945–1962
(New York: Atheneum, 1962).

140
“Mr. Nabokov does not strike”: Harold Nicolson,
The Observer
, November 4, 1951, 7. Evelyn Waugh: Waugh to Nancy Mitford, June 29, 1959, in Charlotte Mosley, ed.
The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996). E. M. Forster: Cited in Mollie Panter-Downes,
The New Yorker
, September 19, 1954. Rebecca West:
The Sunday Times
(London), November 8, 1959.

141
“a last glimpse”: William Hickey,
Wellington Evening Post
(New Zealand), November 6, 1959.

142
felt an interminable: Interview with Nicolson, August 8, 1996.

143
every expectation: Weidenfeld,
Remembering My Good Friends
, 251.

144
miffed that he seemed: VéN to Minton, November 26, 1959.

145
shyness in the eye: Interview with Joan de Peterson, October 25, 1995.

146
“wore the bemused”:
Time & Tide
, November 14, 1959.

147
“in a very loud voice”: Sir Isaiah Berlin to author, September 10, 1997.

148
“Your English”:
Evening Standard
(London), November 6, 1959.

149
batiste handkerchief: Weidenfeld, 252. Interviews with Weidenfeld, Nicolson.

150
He had no illusions:
Daily Sketch
(London), October 30, 1959.

151
“cause célèbre”: VéN to Minton, November 26, 1959.

152
all the more excited: VéN to L. Thompson, December 1, 1959.

153
“I hope we can find”: VéN to Minton, November 9, 1959.

154
“I have to stuff”: VéN to L. Thompson, February 7, 1960. Similarly to Ergaz, January 6, 1960.

155
“Hasn't this been”: Giorgio Salvioni, “Sono stata io a salvare Lolita,”
Epoca
, November 22, 1959, 77–81.

156
“platinum blonde” to “stare after us”:
Gazzetta del Sud
, November 21, 1959. VéN to Joan de Peterson, November 25, 1959.

157
“Decent people fly”: VéN to Sonia Slonim, December 24, 1959.

158
“buildings covered” and prostitutes: VéN to Elena Levin, December 7, 1959, PC.

159
she denounced: To L. Thompson, December 1, 1959. In the same letter she complained that in a recent interview VN's words had been put in her mouth.

160
“We have travelled”: VéN to Berkman, December 4, 1959.

161
“In Rome, for example”: Ugo Naldi, November 14, 1959, no source, VNA.

162
“Can one talk”: VéN to Lena Massalsky, December 4, 1959.

163
Vladimir grumbled that: VN to Hessen, January 28, 1960, PC.

164
pleased to note: VéN to Sonia Slonim, December 24, 1959.

165
“quiet
nook
where”: VéN to Bishop, December 7, 1959, SL, 303.

1
“If nobody wants them”: VéN to Demorest, January 1, 1960.

2
“We do not” to “I can suggest”: VéN to Victor C. Thaller, February 6, 1960.

3
“Do tell me your”: VéN to Minton, January 16, 1960.

4
“To be perfectly” to “mother and father”: L. Massalsky to VéN, February 6, 1960.

5
twice been imprisoned: Massalsky to VéN, September 9, 1960, April 29, 1966.

6
“Polish Jew”: Massalsky to VéN, April 29, 1966.

7
“I am glad your son” to “your questions”: VéN to Massalsky, February 12, 1960.

8
“When in doubt choose”: VN diary, June 25, 1966, VNA.

9
“gone whole hog”: Interview with DN, October 29, 1997.

10
Véra was startled: Sonia Slonim to VéN, November 30, 1962.

11
“Or practically any big”: VéN to Massalsky, November 19, 1961.

12
“Girodias bores him”: VéN to Minton, December 28, 1960.

13
“Always at the back”: Minton, cited in St. Jorre,
Venus Bound
, 153.

14
“Papa says”: VéN to DN, March 8, 1960, VNA.

15
She found Los Angeles's sprawl: VéN to Joan de Peterson, September 3, 1960.

16
“We don't go”: VéN to E. Levin, May 10, 1960, PC.

17
great progress: VN to Hessen, September 15, 1960, PC.

18
inevitably offended someone:
Weekly Tribune
(Geneva), January 28, 1966.

19
“I'm in pictures”: Appel,
Nabokov's Dark Cinema
, 58. VéN's .38 made another discreet appearance in a Hollywood powder room, where she opened her bag, on the vanity, alongside that of a film star's wife. News of the “gleaming pearl handle” circulated rapidly.

20
he vaguely recognized: Rolf to Tenggren, January 15, 1961, PC. “January,” 25, PC.

21
“We have been”: VéN to Rolf, June 16, 1960.

22
Olivier agreed at once: Interview with James B. Harris, September 12, 1996.

23
“She was gloriously”: VN to Field, June 12, 1970. Cf. “She was all rose and honey,” LO, 111. VéN to the Bishops, June 21, 1960.

24
catalogue of tree descriptions: PF cards, LOC. See PF, 262.

25
East had begun to seem: VéN to Amy Kelly, July 24, 1960.

26
“I thought of” to “German maid”: Interview with Jenni Moulton, March 26, 1998.

27
he began writing: VéN to Mohrt, Gallimard, December 18, 1960.

28
vowed that they were not leaving: VéN to HS, January 1, 1961.

29
he had some difficulty: VN to Wilson, March 18, 1964, Yale.

30
“to be in motion” and “That's a nice”: Doris Nagel to her family, August 24, 1958, PC.

31
“battered and stunned”: PNIN, 144.

32
“Nomadic life”: VéN to Berkman, October 25, 1962.

33
an adventure, and “We would like”: VéN to Lisbet Thompson, August 21, 1961.

34
“A really spectacular”: VéN to Carl Proffer, August 24, 1966, Michigan.

35
the thoughtful and intelligent: VéN to Gallimard, January 19, 1961.

36
“I hope you know”: Rolf to VéN, December 27, 1960, PC.

37
“Gallimard is about”: VéN to Minton, January 12, 1961.

38
sounding pleased: VéN to Ergaz, January 20, 1961.

39
Handing over carfare: Rolf to Tenggren, January 26, 1961, PC.

40
“But you missed”: Rolf, “January,” 12. The Rolf visit has been reconstructed from Rolf's letters and her subsequent writings, especially her short story, “January,” as from supplementary details provided by Lillian Habinowski and Elena Levin. The visit with the Nabokovs represented Rolf's first in-depth encounter with spoken American English; a great number of expressions she had never before heard flew past her. And as often happens with foreign idioms, these expressions instantly imprinted themselves on her linguistically nimble mind; she was able to recall whole conversations verbatim. Or at least changed them not at all between her letters home, written in the January 1961 evenings, and her pages on the Nabokovs, composed years later, in Cambridge.