From the very beginning of the essay, “Why Read the Classics?” the author gives us definitions of what a “classic” is. He introduces every new idea with a new definition. This adds a certain type of interest by the reader. Each new definition comes with a new explanation. The very first definition Calvino gives is, “The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: ‘I’m rereading…’, never ‘I’m reading…’ “(Calvino 5). I found this very interesting, because that is something Nabokov also said in his essay “Good Readers and Good Writers”. This is also a good way to introduce the essay because it introduces the basis of the essay. The end of the essay is reached by quoting another book, and I really like the choice of quote. The very last thing said was, “At least I will learn this melody before I die.” (Calvino 8). This can easily be compared to literature. If there is a classic you read, you can always know you have done something in your life. I really enjoyed most of everything about this essay. I liked how each new topic was introduced, as well as how each was concluded. It was very nicely written.
Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics?" Why Read the Classics? New York: Vintage, 2000. Print.
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