Nabokov has a long, drawn out introduction in my opinion. It is not like in Why Read the Classics? where Calvino launches into his arguments and ideas with one smooth sentence. No, Nabokov uses a good two paragraphs to actually start getting into his points. I don't necessarily mind this, because I think it kind of prepares me for what I am about to read, and to get in the correct mind set to actually appreciate this essay. I appreciated this essay more than Calvino's Why Read the Classics? I think I liked it better because Vladimir Nabokov's ideas are better stated, and then they are repeated, so by the time you come to the end of the essay, those certain ideas are drilled into your mind.
I think what characterizes the conclusion is using an example of an old folk tale we have all heard, about the boy who cried wolf. We can all relate to this story because it has been told to us since we were small. He makes his last final point using the boy who cried wolf. The final idea he used to make his point was this, "The magic of art was in the shadow of the wolf that he deliberately invented, his dream of the wolf; then the story of his tricks made a good story. When he perished at last, the story about him acquired a good lesson in the dark around the campfire. But he was the little magician. He was the inventor." (Nabokov 4)
Nabokov, Vladimir. "Good Readers and Good Writers." Lecture
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