In an article entitled Good readers and good writers Nabokov enumerates qualities a good reader should be endowed with.

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How to be a good reader?

In an article entitled ‘Good readers and good writers’ Nabokov enumerates qualities a good reader should be endowed with.

First of all, a good reader must concentrate on details. It is vital to study them carefully and only then draw relevant conclusions. Nabokow calls the details ‘sunny trifles’ because though they are seemingly unimportant, they shed light on the meaning of the book as a whole. Nabokov warns against reaching for a book with already preconceived views. This would thwart a reader from a proper understanding of a book. A good reader has to bear in mind that any book is merely a work of fiction, not an exact replica of reality. Therefore, he must not expect to gain knowledge on a particular subject from books.

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Nabokov makes an interesting claim that a good reader is actually a rereader, because he needs time to become familiar with the book and only after a second or third reading can he appreciate all the details. Therefore we need time to take in all the relevant details. The problem with the book is that it requires elaborate physical effort, which hinders artistic appreciation of it. But the sight alone would not be sufficient to appreciate the book. A good reader should mainly use his mind to savour a book.

A good reader should also be endowed with ...

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