Speak, Memory--Ch. 5

"Although it lingered on in my mind, as personal warmth, its retrospective appeal had gone and, presently, it became more closely identified with my novel than with my former self, where it had seemed to be so safe from the intrusion of the artist." --Vladimir Nabokov, page 95

This is another quote referring to the "safety" associated with storing things in memory, and the way that safety can be disrupted. The line before this quote is about placing objects, moments, and people from your life in your writing. I'm assuming he's referring to placing them in fiction, since he goes on to say, "The man in me revolts against the fictionist..." (Although some people would say that any writing, whether based on facts or not, is creating fiction.) I like to think that using things from your life in this way is really giving them new life, immortality, in some way. I especially feel that way about the moments that we fictionalize. Like in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plathe. That novel was "fiction," but it was based on so much of her real experience. The real problem for me comes in immortalizing the bad things; but if we immortalize the good, then that's a beautiful opportunity. A great moment can live forever in the story of your characters.