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Aside from genius, Nabokov apparently enjoyed another natural advantage as regards the association of words.
Nabokov used the word “mauve” 44 times as often as one would expect, which makes perfect sense in hindsight. He had synesthesia or, as he called it, “coloured hearing”. When he thought of a specific letter and sound he would see colours at the same time. Unsurprisingly, he uses colours at four times the rate found in standard English writing.
I will have to keep this in mind as I read through "Lolita", see how often color comes up.
"If you can remember."
True. I must have come across this fact of his synesthesia before. I think it feels a little familiar. But I cannot remember ever coming upon it to save me life.
[Guardian]
Nabokov used the word “mauve” 44 times as often as one would expect, which makes perfect sense in hindsight. He had synesthesia or, as he called it, “coloured hearing”. When he thought of a specific letter and sound he would see colours at the same time. Unsurprisingly, he uses colours at four times the rate found in standard English writing.
I will have to keep this in mind as I read through "Lolita", see how often color comes up.
"If you can remember."
True. I must have come across this fact of his synesthesia before. I think it feels a little familiar. But I cannot remember ever coming upon it to save me life.
[Guardian]
