Gilgamesh

As I was going though Speak, Memory when writing my final paper, I came across an interesting quote, something that I had missed before. "To fix correctly, in terms of time, some of my child hood recollections, I have to go by comets and eclipses, as historians do when they tackle the fragments of a saga." (p 25) It appears that Nabokov is trying to compare his life with that of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh has never been found in its entirty, only portions have been unearthed the others being lost to the reveges of time. Since the author was so inconciderate as to not put his name or even a date of composition, historians must use the text itself, most notibly the great flood scene but also references to astrological events, to place the date of the writing. Yes, indeed, Nabokov was either cocky or crazy, probably both.