Nabokov arouses the reader’s interest by introducing the essay with a quote. He discusses a letter sent from a man to his mistress that says, “What a scholar one might be if one knew well only some half a dozen books.” (Nabokov par 2) What this man meant when he wrote his letter was that to be a good reader you have to read more than one book and you must read different genres of literature. This is a smart way to start off the essay because it is not boring and it is an actual thing someone once said. It is also a smart way for Nabokov to start off the essay because he uses this quote to tell the readers what his essay is going to be mainly about, which is that to be a good reader you must open yourself to different books and genres.
In closing the essay, Nabokov wraps up his ideas and starts describing what a writer should be to a reader. He says that a writer should be a storyteller, and enchanter, and a teacher. He then says the facets of a great writer are magic, lesson, and story and talks about how these three elements can come together and form a wonderful story. He says my favorite line, “a wise reader reads a book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine.” Then he describes a writer as a person making a castle of cards while the readers watch as his card castle changes and becomes “a castle of beautiful steel and glass”
Nabokov, Vladimir. “Good Readers and Good Writers”. Lectures on Literatures. 1948. Lecture. PDF file.
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