Calvino: Why Read the Classics

What is literature?

The word literature is defined in many ways by different people which quite frankly is similar to what literature is. Literature is a work of writing that creates a controversy amongst people because from literature people gain insight and find deeper meanings connect to themselves.

Response to reading:

While reading, Why Read the Classics?, by Italo Calvino I began to think to myself,  I have not read many classics in my life. Well at least not what are considered by many to be classics. The reason for this may be because I am waiting to reach the point where these classics do have that deeper meaning that I can pull from the texts. Calvino points this out when he says, “For the fact is that the reading we do when young can often be of little value because we are impatient, cannot concentrate, lack expertise in how to read, or because we lack experience of life.” (Calvino 2.) I would agree with this statement, there definitely comes a point in ones life where one can find the deeper meaning in a classic book. For me it has not come yet. Or maybe it has and I do not know it.

            Calvino points to the idea that each person has their own library and finding their “own” book. Calvino says, “It is only during unenforced reading that you will come across the book which will become ‘your’ book.” (Calvino 9.) I may have found my book years ago in the same way he is talking about. I was reading a book just for the pure interest in it when I realized the much deeper meaning with in its text. The book is called, The Boys of Winter, by Wayne Coffey Foreword by Jim Craig. To many they would not call this a classic but to me it may just fit into that exact category. This book is about how the 1980 Men’s U.S.A hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, NY. Many would say that this book is too recent to be a classic but if you read the book you may understand why I believe it is. In section 7 Calvino talks about how the text creates a smoke-screen where on finds the deeper meaning to it. That is exactly what is in my book. Deeper into the text you are able to find the meaning of how a young amateur American team defeated the strong Soviet team. I do not want to reveal much of the book as I believe it is worth reading, but throughout the book there is man more deeper meanings to be found. Also, as I get older and reread the book I continue to gain new insight and thoughts of how it pertains to my life and the experience I can gain from it. 

Calvino's Why Read the Classics?

What is Literature? 

Literature is a form of writing that provokes your mind and forces you to see life in a new way. It is work that has a creative expression and shows feeling in the text, rather then being factual like a history book. Literature is more then just words on a page, it is a way into another person's perspective during a certain time and place in their life.

Response to Why Read the Classics?

In Italo Calvino's, Why Read the Classics?, he gives many definitions of a classic. Calvino made many noteworthy observations, but one that stuck out was when he said, "A classic is a book which each reading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading"(Calvino 5). When one can discover a whole knew meaning when reading the book for a second time, it shows that the book has a purpose and a reason to be read. A book that I believe is a classic is, To Kill a Mockingbird, I have read this book twice for school. The first time I read this book I was in seventh grade and I fell in love with it. The second time I read it was in high school but it felt like I was reading it for the first time all over again. The second time around I knew the plot of the story but I started to discover the underlining messages in the book and began to truly understand the reasons why it was written. The book began to teach me lessons in life and how to change how I see the world.

Another point that Calvino made was that when we read books in our youth we do not treasure the books as much until you become older and more mature. When we get older we understand more about the world and the hardships of humanity. When I read To Kill a Mockingbird the second time I was a few years older, and began to understand the more complex issues of the book because I had learn more in depth about the time period where the book had taken place in my high school history class. When you get older you have a better understanding of the conflicts which characters face in books. The older we get the more life experiences and more struggles we face and we begin to relate with the characters in books.  When a person relates with a book it can teach them more about their life, and question the way they think it becomes a personal relationship between the book and the reader. Most of the books that become classics have themes that are very universal and relatable. A classic is a book that sticks around for hundreds of years because people have formed that personal relationship with the characters in books and have a true understanding of the meaning of the books.

Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics."Why Read the Classics? New York: Pantheon, 1999. 3-9. Print.

What is Literature? Why does Literature Exist?

Literature is any form of writing that can be interpreted by the audience in different ways and poses discussions and arguments. It challenges the thoughts of others and each time you read the piece you can discover a new point, which allows one to interpret the reading in yet another way. Literature exists to challenge the minds of the audience and let them interpret and question their own thoughts. Literature opens up a whole new perspective for some people and allows for many great discussions.


Response to Reading:

Right off the bat while reading, Why Read The Classics, I agreed with the very first definition. "The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: 'I'm rereading'.... never 'I'm reading'..." After reading that line it made me think of the last time I saw somebody reading what I consider to be a classic. The Great Gatsby is a book that I have loved reading and rereading and cannot think of a time that I have seen somebody reading it for the first time. These books are so enjoyable and they pose so many different points and have hidden messages that are discovered time after time. That brings me to the point that is also stated in Why Read The Classics that says "A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading. "After reading a classic new things can be discovered and one can pick up and understand so much more than they had the first time around.”

The more we think we know a book, the more we can discover in a book. This goes along with the point presented above that new things can be discovered when rereading a novel. When one is reading a novel and thinks they know what is coming, that's when something comes that the audience couldn't imagine. Even if one has read the novel before, it leaves way for them to reimagine or discover something new in the piece. That's why the point 'classics are books which, the more we think we know them though hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovated we find them when we actually read them.' In the novel, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, the ending was a complete twist to the whole novel. It is something that even after having read it before I was still shocked to find out the ending. It makes me think differently and think about what has happened in a different light. What was the father thinking? Did the son do the right thing? These are the things that make classics classics. They make us question and rethink what we thought was right or what we thought was going to happen, even if we have read the classic before.