Vladimir Nabokov's experience of being exiled from his home country, Russia, and living in various countries like Germany, France, and the United States, had a profound impact on his attitude toward writing, something he discusses in the later chapters of his autobiography Speak, Memory.

For Nabokov, writing was always a means of escape and a way to create his own worlds. However, his exile made him feel even more isolated and alienated from his surroundings than he had felt n Russia. In Chapter 14 of his autobiography, Nabokov describes how writing provided him a way to process his feelings of deracination. For him, it was a productive means of avoiding self-pity and depression, something he observed in other people in his situation. As a result, he became even more immersed in his writing, using it to maintain a connection with his past and his homeland.

Nabokov's exile also gave him a sense of perspective and detachment that he incorporated into his writing. He became more critical of social and political structures, and his writings often reflect a sense of irony and skepticism towards these systems.