Nabokov believes that a “good” reader is one who has a certain level of imagination, one who goes willingly into the story told with no preconceived notion as to where they will be led. An artistic being of sorts, ready to explore uncharted territory laid out before them by the storyteller. A “good” reader should also take notice in all of the subtleties and relish in them. Dive in with earnest and if not understanding something, then utilize resources such as dictionaries to get a better handle of what has been laid out before them. Nabokov is also of the belief that the archetypal “good” reader is actually a re-reader.
I do agree with him, but in hand with the good reader I think it is very important to acknowledge the writer as well. There has to be that balance between both, for the whole process to work in the first place. How can one appreciate something if there was nothing conceptually worthy given by the writer? On the opposite spectrum, how could one know the enjoyment that could be attained from the words written if they don’t have an openness to give it a chance? I consider myself a good reader and on the way to being a better re-reader. When time is found, it is quite nice to loose myself in a story told by someone else. Being a student I have been faced with reading that I would not normally choose but still try to go into it with an open mind and take in what is being said.
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