Name: sani's review of Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov
Item: Letters to Véra
Rating: 4
Author: sani

Vladimir Nabokov

GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014No marriage of a major twentieth-century writer lasted longer than Vladimir Nabokov's. Véra Slonim shared his delight at the enchantment of life's trifles and literature's treasures, and he rated her as having the best and quickest sense of humour of any woman he had met. From their meeting in 1921, Vladimir's letters to his beloved Véra form a narrative arc that tells a forty-six year-long love story, and they are memorable in their entirety. Almost always playful, romantic, and pithy, the letters tell us much about the man and the writer; we see that Vladimir observed everything, from animals, faces, speech, and landscapes with genuine fascination.

Letters to Véra

‘So I will be in Berlin on the 10th or 11th... And if you’re not there I will come to you, and find you’

‘I carefully carried this heart for you but someone’s elbow knocked it down and now it lies shattered’

‘you have captured my soul in era after era, and have just done so once again, but once again you have flashed on by, and I am left only with the age-long torment of your elusive beauty’

‘no one loves the way we love’—this just shows how each of us love uniquely that no other person can ever love the way we do.

‘you and I are so special; the miracles we know, no one knows, and no one loves the  way we love’

‘The years are passing, my dear, and presently nobody will know what you and I know.’

I dreamt of you last night–as if I was playing the piano and you were turning the pages for me.

L. J.

sani

”i know that i am a very boring and unpleasant man, drowned in literature … but i love you.”

my man wrote a whole 800 page love letter for his beloved. and y'all choose men who don't even text you back. 

a mundane read since it contains a lot of unnecessary information but i loved it. something about his love was so real. also why was his biggest worry that vera had fallen out of love with him whenever she'd delay in sending him back letters. that was so endearing.

"with such tenderness — to the point of tears — and with such a sense of radiance."

L. J. &
Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov

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L. J. &Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov

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L. J. &
Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov