Calvino: Why Read the Classics

What is Literature?

Literature is any form of writing that causes emotions, positive or negative, in its readers and can be interpreted differently by each reader.

Response to Calvino's Why Read the Classics?

After reading Italo Calvino's Why Read the Classics?, I posed an obvious question to myself. What definition did I agree with the most? In thinking about my answer and reviewing the text, I discovered a definition I very much admired, the third definition, and a definition I disagreed with, the fifth definition.

            The third definition was my favorite definition for a classic. It states,

“…the classics are books which exercise a particular influence, both when they imprint themselves on our imagination as unforgettable, and when they hide in the layers of memory disguised as the individual’s or the collective unconscious.”                   (4)

I agree with this definition, because I believe a classic should be “unforgettable” (4). A classic must have the ability to leave a lasting impact on the reader. If it does not imprint itself in one’s mind forever as a great, astounding book, it is not a classic. To be a classic, a book must “establish a personal relationship with the reader” (6).  In this way, it becomes unforgettable. Additionally, even after the plot of the book is forgotten, the message and substance of the novel must remain implanted in the reader’s imagination. Essentially, the lessons and essence of the book must integrate itself into the readers “unconscious” (4). The details and plot of a classic may be forgotten, but it must shape the way people think and establish its themes into the reader’s thoughts forever. As Calvino wrote, “there is a particular potency in the work which can be forgotten in itself but which leaves its seeds behind in us” (4).

I believe the novel Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, to be a classic according to this definition. I read this book two years ago and never have I felt such an intimate relationship with the main characters. I knew their thoughts, their past, and their struggles. I actually cried for their pain and rejoiced in their successes. This novel established a relationship with me. I was sad when it was over; I felt as though my best friend was missing. It is an unforgettable book for me. The exact plot and details have slipped from my mind. I do not even remember some of the characters’ names. However, I do remember that the best characteristic in a doctor is an excellent bedside manner. I often recall the success the protagonist achieved after overcoming numerous obstacles with an intense persistence. The messages in Cutting for Stone established themselves in my “unconscious,” and I think on them regularly, without even realizing their origin (4).  For these reasons, I believe Cutting for Stone to be a classic and the third definition to be the most suitable definition.

I did not agree with Calvino’s fifth definition of a classic. He stated that “a classic is a book which even when we read it for the first time gives the sense of rereading something we have read before” (5). I believe a classic should be innovative and fresh. Whether it is historical fiction or political, a classic must inspire in the reader completely new thoughts and ideas. A classic cannot be repetitive or based off an already established idea. If it is not a new experience, I do not believe it to be a classic. Emily Brontë’s classic, Wuthering Heights, inspired gloom and frustration within me, emotions I detest. However, I had never felt so depressed by a book. It was a completely new reading experience. Though I did not enjoy the emotions instigated by the book, I believe it to be a classic because it was unlike anything I had ever read. “Reading a classic must also surprise us,” wrote Calvino (5). I do not believe you can be surprised when you “have the sense of rereading something (you) have read before” (5).

Overall, I believe Calvino proposes very intelligent definitions for the requirements of classics. I agree most with his third definition: classics must be unforgettable and become part of one’s being (4). I challenge his fifth definition: classics are books one feels he/she has already read (5).