Bravo, Brian Boyd. Nabokov's work is brimming with empathy, kindness and compassion. Look at the tenderness in Pnin's selection of gifts for Victor, his unremitting love for Lisa, his kindness to the squirrel, his adopting the little dog, and his good humor in the face of various trials.

The sweet and considerate visits of our poet, Fedor, in the Gift to Yasha's bereaved mother, is active sacrificial kindness. In Ada, Lucette kindly sits through the film withe boring friends, even though her heart is breaking, in Lolita, the smouldering lust is tempered by the shamed reflections on his ruining her childhood, he recalls her weeping, her total isolation, and  for me the most lovely citation of all is the barber