Good Readers and Good Writer Passages That Capture My Attention

There are many passages in Good Readers and Good Writers that arouse my attention. I believe that most of these passages can be taken it provoking perspectives. Some are personal emotional perspectives here the reader may feel offended or feel the author was rude. The reader may have a rational perspective. Which means the reader may agree with the comments or believe they are clever ideas. The passages may be a mixture of both personal emotions and rational emotions. They may be clever ideas but have a rude tone to them. I personally find many of his paragraphs insulting and bigheaded but I also find some of them intelligent and helpful.

Many of Nabokov's passages capture my attention in a personal way. Nabokov says, "Can anybody be so naïve as to think he or she can learn anything about the past from those buxom best-sellers that are hawked around by book clubs under the heading of historical novels.” (Nabokov 1) I find this comment rude. It seems Nabokov is complaining about how people do not learn anything from best sellers. I believe it doesn’t matter if a person reads a best seller or a ten page essay, they can still learn a valuable lesson from it. I do not see why book clubs have anything to do with a book not having good information. In fact, I do not see why this question is necessary. Nabokov is says many things in this essay that can be taken in a offensive or hurtful way. This turns me away from the essay and turns other readers away as well.

I do, however, believe some parts of this essay are thought provoking and interesting. Like I have said in previous blogs, Nabokov believes a good reader should have imagination, a good memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense. (Nabokov 2) These are good points and do help with reading and writing. The overall meaning of the essay, which is to be a good reader you need to be a good writer and to be a good writer you need a good reader, is a great point and I may use it to improve my literature skills. He also has a list of three important facets of a good writer: magic, story, and lesson (Nabokov 4) I believe these are good points and may help someone become a good writer.

On page one, Nabokov also criticizes Jane Austen’s work. He says, “Can we really rely on Jane Austen’s picture of landowning England with baronets and landscaped grounds when all she knew was the clergyman’s parlor” (Nabokov 1) It sounds like he is saying Jane Austen knew only one thing therefore her information cannot be relied upon. However he may be making an accurate point. Maybe he is asking is her knowledge really not the correct idea on England. This information is a mixture of personal and rational perspectives. To some it may be accurate and to others it may feel rude.

Overall I believe that Vladimir Nabokov brings up good points but is too offensive and harsh with his word selection.

Nabokov, Vladimir. "Good Readers and Good Writers." Lectures on Literature. New York: Plurabelle Books, 1946