The Triumph Of Magic Over The Brute
[ 5 August 2009 ]
Excerpts from an interview with Vladimir Nabokov (1971).
Q: What do you do to prepare yourself for the ordeals of life?
A: Shave every morning before bath and breakfast so as to be ready to fly far at short notice.
Q: What are the literary virtues you seek to attain— and how?
A: Mustering the best words, with every available lexical, associative, and rhythmic assistance, to express as closely as possible what one wants to express.
Q: What is your position in the world of letters?
A: Jolly good view from up here.
Q: What struggles these days for pride of place in your mind?
A: Meadows. A meadow with Scarce Heath butterflies in North Russia, another with Grinnell’s Blue in Southern California. That sort of thing.
Q: What are your views about man’s upward climb from slime?
A: A truly remarkable performance. Pity, though, that some of the slime still sticks to drugged brains.
Q: What kinds of power do you favor, and which do you oppose?
A: To play safe, I prefer to accept only one type of power: the power of art over trash, the triumph of magic over the brute.
Q: What are the large issues that you can’t get interested in, and what are you most concerned with?
A: The larger the issue the less it interests me. Some of my best concerns are microscopic patches of color.
...& that, my friends, is why Vladimir Nabokov has a permanent place on my list of all-time icons. 
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Awesome, awesome fantastic.
Nabokov love!
I love all this talk of brutes & triumph – reminds me of HST. :)
God, he’s amazing, no? Particularly love the quote referring to the slime, it made me laugh.
this is so lovely…nabokov, you have my heart forever!
I’ve read most of Lolita. I tore through the first half, I found it incredible but I totally trailed off during the second half, the travelling around America I found quite boring and it’s been months since I picked it up :/ The interview is great though and the first half of the book remains amazing!!
Gala, where did you find this? It’s excellent. I’d have no clue where to find interviews with legendary authors.
Thanks a lot for this. I’ve never read any Nabokov. Maybe I should start.
Hey miss! I collect quotes, was looking through & found that piece about the triumph of magic… & thought it was so brilliant I googled it to see what else I could find. I grabbed those snippets from here: lib.udm.ru/lib/NABOKOW/Inter17… ! There’s a bit more to it there.
WOW! This is great! I love the quote that you pulled to become the title of the post. It’s…well… magical! :)
Thanks for this! I need to pick up my well-worn copy of Lolita for a re-read now.
Amazing.
“ready to fly far at short notice” – excellent.
There is some interesting answers there, must say I’m not a huge fan of his final answer… while I appreciate the beauty found in details, it’s important to get involved, recognise & learn about big issues – apathy is the enemy!
I’ve read Lolita (seems everyone has), and after this, I picture this man as one of those posh types with black sunglasses on all the time, a cigarette constantly in hand and just not giving a shit about what anyone thinks. I love it!!
Tiffany — Haha. I just watched this & someone said he sounded kind of like Porky Pig! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5…
Nabokov changed my outlook on life- still all these years later I adore him so much I’m doing my Literature dissertation on his works. I think I’m the only person I know who is excited about doing their dissertation!
...& he knows a LOT about butterflies!
Fully agreed. Nabokov continues to astound me, the more I read. Thank you for this, sweet girlie!
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve not yet read Lolita! I do plan to someday, hehe :)
Even though i agree with Kates sentiments,I do get that answer though. Artists need to be artists- If they didn’t look at all the “ microscopic patches of colour”, the world would miss out on some beautiful things.
Btw, your friend Lumi is ridiculously gorgeous! turns a slight shade of green !
I share the same birthday with him!
Goddess, he’s brilliant… Are there any other books by him that are worth reading? And it’s also slightly ironic that he seems to have a huge fan base of young girls! Lol.
Magic over The Brute…delightful :D Just what I needed to hear today.
I read Pnin recently, and I think in terms of language use and sheer literary genius, it’s better than Lolita. That’s kind of like saying green candyfloss is better than pink though.
You find the bestest things.
xx
I love that guy. Total literary inspiration for me. Brilliant mind. And Lolita will always have my heart…
I just got home from visiting Lumi. Then I saw this and it made me miss her already. Awwwww!!
I just finished Lotita. After that I both love him and really really hate him!
You are completely my mentor. I love your blog and the images you chose to share. Please take a look at my blog and let me know what you think. It is definitely still in progress but hear you go www.maroonsparrow.blogspot.com
wow, you put me together with nabokov? i can’t help but squirm and be overly touched =^_^= awwww!!! thank you for the honor and the lovely, ridiculously awesome, blush-inducing pairing that is this article … and of course, you, your blog, the sweetness of your bright pinkness, everything!