Nabokov quotes in his writing from the book, The Norton Reader, An Anthology of Nonfiction that, “The good reader is one who has imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense.” In some ways I do agree with this. I believe that if you don’t have imagination, you would fail to enjoy a book. Everyone interprets a writing in a different way and if you don’t have an imagination, how would you enjoy the book? I believe that memory is very important in reading also. You must be able to process what you have read and remember as you continue with the reading. As for a dictionary, I know that you would need to know what the words mean. Say you don’t understand what a word means in a particular part of the selection, you may miss out on the complete idea of the chapter. Artistic sense is similar to having an imagination. I believe this is also important in being a good reader.
I believe that one of the most important characteristics of a good reader is having an imagination and an open mind. I may read a certain book or article and have a strong opinion on what I think the underlying message is throughout the reading, while someone else may think completely differently how they read it. Our minds all think so differently and process things differently.
I consider myself to be a good reader. I love when a book is detailed and I love to analyze even the smallest details. Description is probably my favorite thing about reading. I try to keep my mind open to what the author is trying to speak.
Source: H., Linda, and John C. The Norton reader: an anthology of nonfiction. Eleventh. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2003. 615. Print.
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