Summary Vs. Analysis

Summary Vs. Analysis from Elizabeth London

"Good Readers and Good Writers"

What does Nabokov think makes a good reader? Do you agree? What do you believe are the characteristics of a good reader? Do you consider yourself a good reader?

Vladimir Nabokov; Author Unknown

      Nabokov's thinking on what made a good reader was superb. As I was reading his discussion "Good Readers and Good Writers" the thing that I kept finding myself thinking back about was the face that writers should be story tellers, teachers, and enchanters. This is the essence of a book, and that, I believe, has a lot to do with the type of reader someone is. If someone is going to read something - they are going to want to have a story told, a lesson learned, and a mystery unraveled. 


   However, to be a good reader on your own, I believe there might be a little more to it. Nabakov said there was a criteria for being a good reader. Some of those were to have a dictionary, to have an imagination, a memory, to see the book as a movie. I believe these are all very important for a reader to be a "good reader". These are just a few of the ten that he listed but I do agree with all of them. The whole time I was reading them I was nodding my head in agreement because I knew that to read a book in the most fulfilling way you really did need to have all those things listed.

I believe that the charactersitics of a good reader would be the following:
1. The reader must have an imagination
2. The reader must be able to picture it as the writer is portraying it
3. The reader must be interested
4. The reader should be sparked by the novel
5. The reader should be so involved all else fades away easily

   Now, Nabokov had ten but I thought I would just list a few that came to my head. I know that these are not always achievable but when I follow that criteria, or rather have that criteria, I am able to better appreciate and remember the book that I am reading. I do consider myself a good reader, but not necessarily all the time. I have to have a quiet environment or I get too consumed with the things going on around me to be able to focus entirely on the book. However, when I am able to get into a book and really dissect it in my brain I definitely think I would fit the criteria of a good reader.
I love how Nabokov said that you should not read with you heart, or even your brain, but with your spine and stay aloof and mysterious about the book to fully enjoy the book. It is something that made me really think about how I am approaching reading a book.



 Hopefully my video shows up for you all.. This video is an interview with Nabokov about one of his famous books "Lolita".

Introductory Video :)

Welcome to my Blog!

Here is a short video about me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOLYXoiaGoI&feature=youtu.be

I hope you enjoyed!!

~ Elizabeth ^.^