Why Read the Classics?

Literature is a written work created to change ones perspective, convince a new idea, or to enforce a preexisting idea that leaves room for interpretation and discussion.
Response to Calvino:
Why read the Classics? This is a question broadcasted to a large variety of people who all are likely to have different answers depending on their age and interest. Most adults read the classics because they have a deep appreciation and desire to, whereas most children begin to read the classics because they are required to. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood there is a switch from reading the classics for requirement and reading the classics for pleasure. Calvino brings reason to this cause when he states "at a mature age one appreciates (or should appreciate) many more details, levels and meanings". This is a true statement, as people age they tend to look less into solutions that are right in front of them and like to take a more in-depth look into detail.
According to Calvino"the reading we do when young can often be of little value because we are impatient, cannot concentrate,  and lack expertise". If this is true then why even bother requiring the youth to read classics? It is important for the youth to read the classics in order to "form or shape to our future experiences".  In summary Calvino states that although children may not remember much about the classics they have read, when they go back to read them in the future they rediscover the things we have learned from reading the classic the first time.
This brings a a discussion about whether or not a classic has more to learn the first time it is read or when the classic is reread. Calvino states "A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading." Through past experiences this has proven wrong, the first time a book is read there is less of a focus on the details and more on the theme or larger overall message that is displayed. While when rereading a classic there is more time to pay closer attention to the detail and underlying lessons and discoveries hidden between the text.
Many people read the Classics to "contradict, criticize and argue" with them. I believe that this is a wonderful reason to read a classic, a classic would not be a classic if everyone agreed with the authors opinion. It is nearly impossible for a work to be agreed with by everyone who reads it, and if it is agreed with then it must not be very interesting or thought provoking. Even though reading classics have many different purposes for many different people, different reasons for reading does not change the interpretation or message one gets while reading.