What does Nabokov think makes a good reader?
Notice and appreciate details. Don’t begin with a generalization of the book. Go into it with an open mind. One of the worst things you can do is have a set observation about the book and if it doesn’t go to your standards you might think back of the book. Study the ‘new world’ as closely as possible. When first reading a book have an open mind to the ideas and the new surroundings given to you.
Belong to a book club.
Identify himself as the hero or heroine.
Recognize the social-economic angle.
Prefer a story with actions/dialoge to one with none.
Seen a book in a movie.
Should be a budding author.
Have imagination.
Should have memory.
Should have a dictionary.
Some artistic sense.
Do you agree?
I agree with everything except a few points. I don’t believe that to be a good reader you should belong to a book club. I know a lot of people who are wonderful readers and don’t belong to any such thing. Participating in a book club shouldn’t determine if you’re a good reader or not. Also, you shouldn’t have to see the book in a movie to be considered a good reader. There are billions and trillions of books and most of them aren’t movies. Last, but not least is to be a good reader you have to be a budding author. I don’t think that’s true at all. Some people are great readers, but terrible writers and some people are fantastic writers, but not good readers.
What do you believe are the characteristics of a good reader?
I believe the characteristics of a good reader are to have an open mind and a vivid imagination. When I read, I read like I would talk; with the pauses and emotions going through my head and into the words. It feels like I’m actually in the character’s lives.
Do you consider yourself a good reader?
Yes. I Love reading and it will always be a part of my life.
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot in your post about what makes a good reader. It is always good to go at anything with an open mind and have no preconceived expectations otherwise nine times out of ten you will be disappointed. The one thing that I think I should point out is that Nabokov does not agree with all of the things on that list. He would give the list to students and see what they agreed with but personally he believed that a good reader is someone with imagination, memory, a dictionary and some artistic sense. Also, just a reminder that the assignment did ask for at least one link and a photo to be included in this post. Other than that great work! P.S. I like your blogs style!
~Noel
First off, I adore your background for this blog! I can appreciate your comments on Nabokov's points of what makes a good reader. It is great that you love to read and, as you said, reading will always be a part of your life. I think that one of the most important things a reader can do is to continually grow as a reader; continually challenge oneself as a reader. Growing up, I loved to read, I always had a book in my hands, but I had never read the classic works of literature. No one was guiding me in my reading choices. We should always be discovering books that are new to us and be open to genres that are different than what we'd normally choose.
ReplyDeleteI think its awesome that you can sit down and complete a full series. I've always wanted to do that, even during the Harry Potter days. Its amazing how we start out reading "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and the next year we are reading "Where the Red Fern Grows" I think that if I could get the grasp on it, Shakespeare would be my choice next!
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