Nabokov, "Good Readers and Good Writers

I found Nabokov’s opinion on what makes a good reader to be fairly accurate, one of the more important points  raised is that generalization is just that and should be appreciated in context with what the author is trying to portray in their writing. I agree reading with an open mind and not a pre-conceived notion of what to expect, just judge, reflect and take from it what you will after reading the work in its entirety. A good writer like Nabokov describes is someone who can deceive and mesmerize you with their storytelling, and the ability they have to draw you into the story has always amazed me.

                A novel is just that, a story; you should not take what you read as “gospel”, just appreciate the way it was wrote and how wonderfully descriptive the author may have been, so you can then yourself imagine and fantasize what it would be like if what the author was describing was the case in real life.  One aspect Nabokov brought up when discussing what a reader should be to be a good reader in which I did not agree with was that novels that are made into movies; his students had suggested that a good reader should see the movie of the novel read, in my opinion very rarely are the movies as good as the book, the story and characters seem to lose something in translation and I don’t seem to embrace the story as I do when I read it. I find myself thinking while watching the movie “that’s not what I pictured they looked like” or “I pictured the scenery different”. The movie is someone else’s interpretation of the story not yours and can and always seems to be in my case a disappointment.

                I do consider myself a good reader and enjoy a story that can give me a release from reality and can keep be thinking long after I have finished the book. I try to read many styles of writing, I enjoy some more than others, epically crime novels I find myself guessing along with the characters as to “who did it?”, but one novel I found always has been debating to myself and questioning reality after reading is “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell, this borders on science fiction but raises so many questions about religion, morality and the unknown which are relevant in reality. I have attached a link below to a review of the novel for you to check out, enjoy.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell