“Good Readers and Good Writers” is a position piece on the intellectual gain of reading and the tactics taken by a truly scholarly reader written by Vladimir Nabokov. Vladimir Nabokov was a multilingual twentieth century Russian novelist.
In this piece he describes the different approaches to reading a book. A comparison is made between reading a great historical novel and the viewing of an artist’s painting. In this comparison reading a book for the first time is not adequate in seeing the whole picture of the story like viewing a painting and seeing the whole thing at once. To truly understand a book in its entirety one must read and reread a book until the story flows naturally. When rereading a book one can almost always discover something new that they had missed in their previous attempt. This being said Nabokov also describes what really makes a good reader. A truly great reader According to Nabokov is a reader with imagination, memory, a dictionary and some artistic sense. This means that the reader is able to live the story, not in the sense that they are actually in the story but in the sense that they can imagine all the details as though they had seen everything before. I agree with Nabokov in his idea of a good reader being able to “live” the story like this and I agree that it is entirely necessary for a reader to reread the stories to really understand them.
Personally my idea of a good reader is a reader who can first of all comprehend the literature. Now having said that a good reader or writer for that matter is an individual who can relate to their audience if writing or if reading relate the to the characters or the authors struggles and triumphs of the story. Finally coinciding with Nabokov’s ideas a good reader must continue to reread a story as many times as it takes to really gain an understanding of the story. More Characteristics of a good Reader are available here. With patience and effort I believe I using these methods and my own imagination and comprehension am a good reader.
Hi Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that you wrote about his idea about the painting, because I was a little confused by that as an illustration. I seldom find that I am able to truly understand or appreciate a painting without a very detailed study. Sometimes I find that a painting that I initially find bland and uninteresting becomes something more as I look at it. Nabokov also makes the point that a painting is observed through the eye whereas reading is a process of the mind. I have always thought that enjoying a painting was also a process of the mind though. In many ways, I find that to understand a painting I have to reread it many times. In comparison, a book might be easier some of the time.
Hello Aaron,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do agree that understanding what is being read is a must, I don't entirely agree with the aspect of re-reading texts. If you are reading to learn a concept, than re-reading is a wonderful way to do so. However, with fictional writing, not all texts warrant a re-read. Does this make one a “bad” reader, if one does not wish to re-read a book, etc? I don't believe so. If the text is well written, and engaging, than the reader will desire to re-read it, and will continue to gain more insights, and/or pleasure from the reading. As with a great painting, if it is truly great, one will want to view it, and take in it's beauty, and the artist's technique repeatedly.
In regards to being able to “live” the story like you've been there before, Nabokov's comments meant something different for me. He stated that the reader should be able to imagine all of the places, people, things and so on that the author describes, but that the reader should remain aloof, balancing passion and scientific patients with out nostalgic feelings from relating to the story's setting or characters.
I could be wrong, but that's my interpretation, even though I don't agree with Nabokov in that regard either.
Great post, very well written.
Shellie H.
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