The first thing that I wanted to know is “who is Vladimir Nabokov,” so I looked it up. As it turns out he is a Russian immigrant who is also a novelist and short story writer. Now that his credentials have been cleared; Nabokov sees so much more than what I see in a book; characters, moving plot, intrigue, and places is what I see in a book. I have never dissected a work of literature the way that he has. In accordance with his well voiced opinion, I am not a good reader. What he considers to be a good reader is “…one who has imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense.” I must now make a, not so embarrassing, confession: I have never read a novel with a dictionary as its companion. That is something that I will have to commit myself to do in the near future. I liked another point that Nabokov makes about what a reader should do; that is to “notice and fondle details.” I consider myself to be a very detail oriented individual, although I don’t think I have ever fondled the details of literary art. He continues to define a reader as a, rereader. I found that section of his opinion very interesting. The reason for my interest in that particular bit is my favorite series of books is The Inheritance Series. I have read each of those books three of four times. The truth of the matter is, it has just dawned to my attention that it was on the subsequent readings that I gained most of the details of the books; not the first reading. The last thing that I would like to mention is rather simple and I feel needs only to be stated, “the mind…is, or should be, the only instrument used upon a book.”
I would have to say that I, before reading this article, considered myself a fair reader. I certainly have not read many novels in my life. Truth be told, all of the novels I have read fit on one shelf of my bookcase. I now know that I have a long road ahead of me if I want to be a good reader. When Nabokov listed the ten definitions I only chose two of the correct answers; imagination and memory. I also chose that a reader should identify with the hero or heroine, which Nabokov said in similar terms, is a big no-no. I think that I could become a good reader, in my mind, not that I would ever compare to the good reader of Nabokov’s opinion.
