.Nabokov’s “First Love” is considered by many to be somewhat of the precursor to “Lolita” where Nabokov first invents his ideas of young love. Much like Humbert and Annabelle’s young love affair when they were children, the boy in this story has a similar affair with a girl named Colette. This story is based on a memory Nabokov has of a summer trip taken in 1909 when he was 10, and is split up into a section about a train ride from St. Petersburg to Biarritz in France. The train ride is peaceful, a sharp contrast with how much turmoil Russia would face in 10 years time. The reader clearly feels the same nostalgia and comfort Nabokov feels while writing out this brief, happy memory.
