Nabokov's lecture, "Good Readers and Good Writers," instructs the reader on how to effectively read and write literary works. Nabokov delivered this lecture in order to teach his students what sort of perspective they should adopt when reading a book in order to have a complete understanding of the message the author is trying to send out and to fully appreciate the work of literature. As Nabokov quotes in his own work, "What a scholar one might be if one knew well only some half a dozen books."
The thesis of this essay is not explicitly stated, though it is easily understood through reading the entire lecture. Nabokov is saying that in order to become an effective reader and writer you must have a certain balance in your work. This refers to the balance between emotion and logic; between artist and scientist and the balance between the reader and writer. Nabokov himself says, "What should be established, I think, is an artistic harmonious balance between the reader's mind and the author's mind." Nabokov claims that this balance is critical to understanding a literary work fully. He insists on avoiding identification with any characters, as this may affect the reader's perspective on the story. He tells his students to use an "impersonal imagination and artistic delight" when consuming a piece of literature, as this will help them to understand the message the author is trying to communicate.
Nabokov, Vladimir. "Good Readers and Good Writers." Lecture. 1948. Lectures on Literature. Print.
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