good readers- Nabokov

WHAT MAKES A GOOD READER


A good reader enjoys reading books more than once to evaluate what could have been missed the first time reading. When one is reading a book for the first time, each word is read one by one and it may be difficult to understand what is going on. The process of reading is mostly physically looking at the words and then having to process them. According to Nabokov, readers need to enjoy details and stay open minded about the author’s thoughts and ideas in their story. The reader should not identify himself with the characters of the book they are reading. If this occurs and the reader compares himself to characters, the author’s intended personality or emotions might get misconstrued.
Imagination is very important when reading. “One should notice and fondle details”(Nabokov 613). If readers could not picture in their minds the details, settings, personalities and emotions, they could never enjoy the book. Good readers must have a good vocabulary and be able to decipher situations of the story in different points of view.
I consider myself an adequate reader, I have an imagination ,most of the time, in order to picture the story I am reading in my mind. It is sometimes hard to not connect with a character or compare them to myself or someone I know. I will only read a book once unless I absolutely love it. I have experienced finding details that were missed in reading material initially by reading them again. That is what the process of reading is all about, to evaluate the author’s work of art.