Summary

Nabokov summarizes the years 1907-1908 with snapshots or “slides”. He lists the male tutors that he shared with his brothers once Mademoiselle was released from her duties of tending to them. He has a series of tutors—often dismissed after short periods—until Lenski. Lenski is a poor graduate student that stays with them for a few years. Lenski is idealistic and decides that he will put on a pageant with photography slides and readings every other Sunday afternoon. Nabokov endures these Sunday afternoon but hates them and recalls the stifling rooms jammed with his cousins and siblings, and how no one was paying attention to “poor” Lenski.

Analysis

Nabokov compares his memories to an orchestra. One chord is struck and it all starts, fuzzy at first, and then unifying until the orchestra comes to life. First, this analogy is ironic because Nabokov has...