According to Nabokov a good reader is someone who does more than just relate to the character of the story. In fact he recommends being somewhat aloof to the character. Instead of using emotion to relate he encourages using an impersonal imagination to form the story in our minds eye. I definitely agree it takes more than being attentive to how the story makes you feel to grasp the story. You have to be able to formulate the details much as a bystander would. This requires some detachment and objectivity on the part of the reader. I feel a good reader has the ability to picture a lot of details and to follow the events of the story line. This requires a lot of concentration and imagination. I also feel like a good reader is able to stay in the now of the story not summing up the entire book based on a likely outcome. Where I think it is acceptable to formulate some ideas as to where the story is going. It is very important not to overlook the journey being taken to reach its end. I feel like I am a good reader because of these attributes. I thrive on details and follow events as they happen in the story. I don’t excuse a writing as boring because it builds to what some would consider a predictable outcome. Being a good reader is more than being able to read and think. In fact it has a lot to do with letting go of your thinking and just visualizing what events and details are being conveyed.
Sources:
"BookHead." Microsoft Office 2007 Clipart
