A Good Reader?

Vong, Jean. "The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 1999. Web. 14 June 2010. .

Ok, here we go. Vladimir Nabokov believes that a good reader should have imagination, memory, a dictionary, and an artistic sense. I disagree with these rules to being a great reader almost entirely, but I will get to that shortly. Nabokov doesn’t think that a reader should “identify” with a character or a situation in the text. I both agree and disagree. A reader, or anyone for that matter, should not trap themselves in their past by only reading texts that remind them of said past. That being said, it is for many, including myself, part of the healing process to occasionally linger in that past in order to appropriately dive into the future. Again, it is important not to then entomb one’s self back into that past but merely keep it as a reminder. In addition, Nabokov calls emotional readers lowly, but isn’t art supposed to evoke emotion; the most powerful of which interpreted as vile disgust in the onlooker?
Vladimir Nabokov wrote about a good reader having to be artistic. I do believe that everyone has an artistic self, but not everyone is able to connect with it. Are these people bad readers for being more logical and scientific in thinking? Nabokov describes many times how poor readers are an insult to the author, so should those of us who cannot connect to our artistic self, or whom choose to read for emotional thrills, not read to spare offending the author? To me, it sounds as if Nabokov wrote this from a place of great arrogance (although, I do love his book Lolita).
I think that a reader, a good reader, should be able to submit to the text and while reading critically, should simply enjoy whatever it is that delights them; may it be an idealistic science fiction novel, a crunchy geological survey, or a titillating romance. If a person chooses to read in order to gain knowledge, they should still enjoy the reading; otherwise they should find a more pleasing way to gain that information.


As I said, art should evoke emotion. Writing is art, but here is an example, not of writing that evokes emotion. It is not a fluffy picture, so count this as your warning before opening it. While it is staged, it is still gruesome.