What is a good reader? Vladimir Nabokov had a very strong and precise opinion on what makes a good reader. After all, Vladimir Nabokov was one of the most imaginitive and accomplished writers of the century. http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/02/lifetimes/nabokov.html He said “….the good reader is one who has imagination, memory, a dictionary and some artistic sense.” Having three out of four on Nabokov’s list, I would certainly consider myself a good reader. I must agree with Nabokov when he said “A good reader should notice and fondle details.” I believe reading to be a personal experience that a reader must have, getting lost in the pages of a distant world, leaving, for that brief moment in time, your place of reality, and escaping to a place the author has painted so vividly for you. A good reader absolutely notices details and appreciates every word the author has laid out.
I believe Nabokov was telling us, that we, as readers, owe it to the author, who has worked so hard to lay out a beautiful masterpiece, an art of words, to open his or her book with an open mind. Not a mind clouded by preconceived notions, or a hasty disposition. After all, as Nabokov stated, …”writing is a very futile business.” How could we call ourselves a “good reader” if we simply hurry through a book, ignoring the beautiful details, failing to picture the scene the author is creating, and trampling on the delight of a good story with ill thoughts already in our heads? I have to agree with Nabokov and his passion for wanting us to be good readers.
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