When reading Calvino’s essay I had two parts that really stood out to me. First there was when he said, “Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them.” (Calvino pg 6 par3) The second thing that really stood out to me was what he said at the end of the essay, not that I didn’t like the rest of it! He said this, “reading the classics is always better than not reading them” (Calvino pg 9 par 3). The reason why the first quote stood out to me was because it was true for me. Jane Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray were the first classics I had ever read. I had heard about them on movies and in books and from people, but that’s it. Everything I had ever thought about them changed when I actually read them. I’d expected that they would be somewhat boring and uneventful, but after reading them I realized that was untrue. They are so much better to read than to only hear about. When Calvino talked about this in his essay it just really stood out to me because it applied to me and I agreed with what he said. The other quote stood out to me because it’s just completely true. People always think that reading the classics is boring and they’d rather not read them. But it is so much better to read them than go without reading them because they actually change how you view other books and other writings.
Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics?" Why Read the Classics? New York: Vintage, 2000. 3-9. Print.
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