i'm a very very complex person

I'm still reading Speak, Memory, and it's going pretty slowly. Nabokov is, of course, an absolute genius, and his incredible intelligence and wonderful writing are evident in this book, but it nonetheless lacks the power of his novels. I think this problem stems from the lack of narrative structure in the book. He seems to be relating his memories with no particular plan, simply putting down whatever comes into his mind next. While this is probably a fairly accurate representation of the way that memory functions in reality, it doesn't make for very compelling reading. Also, the fact that the book is non-chronological can also be somewhat confusing, although I don't think the lack of chronological structure would bother me so much if some other structure or guiding principle were evident. My other complaint is that Nabokov is spending too much time on his early childhood. It's certainly interesting to get a glimpse into what it was like to grow up in Russia at the turn of the century, but after a hundred pages about country estates, pranks he pulled with his brother, and various governesses who cared for them, I think I've gotten the picture! I'm ready to read about his exile from Russia, his mature life, the writing of his books! But the book shows no sign of moving on to those things any time soon... It's certainly not a bad book, I'm just finding it somewhat disappointing after having such high expectations of it. But I'll stick with it, hopefully it will improve once he grows up a little bit.