My reaction to "Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino was "Wow, this essay was actually a lot more interesting than I thought it would be". The first chapter had several points which caught my attention and advice which seemed to be potentially useful. This essay was particularly interesting to me because, like my classmates, I have read a few classics already and I think that helped me to understand what it was talking about. For example, Italo wrote that when someone reads a classic for a second time, they will see things in the story that they had not noticed before (4). When I would go back to re-read a few chapters of different classical books, I could get a whole different perspective of what was being said, especially since I knew how the story ends. Going back to read the book again gives people an opportunity to pay more attention to the smaller details. In addition, I agreed with Italo when he said that trying to read a book which does not appeal to you is under most cases pointless (6). When I tried reading books before which seemed boring, it felt like I was getting nowhere in the story. Finally, the author's recommendation seems to be a very good and useful idea which I had not considered before. My reaction to this essay was clearly logical since I thought that it was interesting and useful.
Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.
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