The sections of "Why Read the Classics" by Italo Calvino that captured my attention was the few pages. I liked the way Calvino set definitions for his readers that defined what a classic work of literature was. These definitions help me set perimeters that let me decide what is a classic, from what is not a classic. There were fourteen definitions that were all about defining a classic novel from a regular novel. A few thing I learned were that classics should have mystery discovered with every re-read. I also learned that you cannot be indifferent to a classic. You either are opposed to it or you like it. My reaction to these definitions was logical. I never suspected so many thing could go into the task of sorting classic works of literature from regular works of literature. I also though I should change my style of thinking when it comes to classic novels because I might not fully understand them because of their back round and when they were written. Calvino said that many young people, like myself, do not know how to interpret a novel because of the time frame it was written in. So hopefully my reactions to this essay help me further read classic novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
Bibliography! :
Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics." The Uses of Literature. New York: Vintage Books, 1999
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