Why Read the Classics?

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From the internationally acclaimed author of some of this century's most breathtakingly original novels comes this posthumous collection of thirty-six literary essays that will make any fortunate reader view the old classics in a dazzling new light.

Learn why Lara, not Zhivago, is the center of Pasternak's masterpiece, Dr. Zhivago, and why Cyrano de Bergerac is the forerunner of modern-day science-fiction writers. Learn how many odysseys The Odyssey contains, and why Hemingway's Nick Adams stories are a pinnacle of twentieth-century literature. From Ovid to Pavese, Xenophon to Dickens, Galileo to Gadda, Calvino covers the classics he has loved most with essays that are fresh, accessible and wise. Why Read the Classics? firmly establishes Calvino among the rare likes of Nabokov, Borges, and Lawrence--writers whose criticism is as vibrant and unique as their groundbreaking fiction.

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1,1991

Literary awards

About the author

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Italo Calvino was born in Cuba and grew up in Italy. He was a journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy (1952-1959), the Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965), and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979).

His style is not easy to classify; much of his writing has an air reminiscent to that of fantastical fairy tales (Our Ancestors, Cosmicomics), although sometimes his writing is more "realistic" and in the scenic mode of observation (Difficult Loves, for example). Some of his writing has been called postmodern, reflecting on literature and the act of reading, while some has been labeled magical realist, others fables, others simply "modern". He wrote: "My working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight. I have tried to remove weight, sometimes from people, sometimes from heavenly bodies, sometimes from cities; above all I have tried to remove weight from the structure of stories and from language."

Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 98 votes)
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98 reviews All reviews
April 26,2025
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Voto: 8+

Quando ho iniziato a leggere questo libro non sapevo come fosse strutturato e, dato che mi aspettavo qualcosa di un po' diverso, vi dico quello che avrei voluto sapere io prima di cominciarlo: "Perché leggere i classici" è una raccolta postuma (quindi non fatta dall'autore) di brevi saggi di Calvino su vari e importanti scrittori della letteratura mondiale, dall'epoca classica a quella contemporanea. Nonostante questi scritti siano brillanti, interessanti e affascinanti, chi più chi meno, il tutto è penalizzato dal fatto che i saggi siano stati composti per delle occasioni in particolare e non per essere pubblicati tutti insieme. Ne risente quindi la comprensione in alcuni punti e soprattutto il fatto che siano presenti moltissimi spoiler sulle opere commentate, che possono essere sgradevoli quando non si è letto quel libro in particolare.

Calvino resta comunque Calvino e, anche se alcuni saggi sono meno incisivi di altri, è stato un grande piacere scoprire il suo pensiero su tanti autori. Il titolo dell'opera è anche quello del primo saggio presente, che è meraviglioso e merita di essere letto a tutti i costi.
April 26,2025
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epa que grande merda tá masé calado n dizes pão 14 reasons why looking ass
April 26,2025
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لقد خدعني الغلاف .. هذه ليست دراسة بل مقالات مجمعة تتناول الأعمال الكلاسيكية وتعليق كالفينو عليها ، يغلب على الأعمال الأدب الإيطالي . إجابة المؤلف على سؤال لماذا الأدب الكلاسيكي هي - في نظر زوجته التي أصدرت الكتاب بعد وفاته- مجموعة المقالات هذه التي تحدث فيها عن الكلاسيكيات .
إن لم يكن كالفينو و الادب الإيطالي على رادارك فالكتاب ليس لك.
April 26,2025
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Qué lucido, el colega. Me he quedado picueto de cómo se puede resolver un tema tan complejo en tan pocas páginas y tan bien explicado.
April 26,2025
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Calvino lists off a lot of the writers he considers classics:
Homer, Tolstoy, Ovid, Pasternak, Bergerac.
Made me want to read Pliny.
Pavese, Xenophon, Dickens, Balzac, Gadda, Hemingway, Borges.
Covers ancients and moderns. Points out common threads between them, and how each approaches their art seriously, but in unique ways, conveying a particular aesthetic and conception of the world. I tend to agree that a classic should be reread, that we all need to define our own set of classics, that a library should be composed both of books we have read and intend to reread and about half of which books we have yet to read. When we read classics for the second time in fact, in some cases we are reading them for the first time.
Calvino's clear arguments are compelling and interesting, whether you have read works by the author he is discussing or not. It is not a perfect prescriptive list of authors for you to read, but it will allow you to consider new angles to authors you have undoubtedly heard a lot about.
He even includes one obscure Eastern work (not readily available in English) amid the above-mentioned and the go-to Italian works, like Orlando Furioso.
Traditionally, Eastern authors are ignored in compendiums like this one, and I often wish great Western authors read more Chinese, Japanese, Indian and other non-European classics. Hence why I avoid a lot of Harold Bloom's books. But there is much to be gained from analyzing the Western archetypes, defining and redefining the heroes. Is every story either an Odyssey or an Iliad? I doubt it. But the generalizations critics make are not useless. You don't have to agree with them to appreciate their viewpoints.
I was not impressed with the Stendhal I've read, but Calvino convinced me to give his works another shot. I already knew Flaubert was brilliant, but the inter-textual anecdotes Calvino provided were valuable.
Still, I would not consider Calvino an authority on these matters, especially since he read most of the foreign works in Italian translation. Leopardi and Borges seem to have a bit closer understanding of the non-canonical works. And he is astute enough to encourage the reader to not read outside sources, that the primary texts are all you need. It is almost an invitation to drop the book you are reading and go read the classics themselves instead. That is the best advice in the book.
April 26,2025
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Autant j'ai pu apprécier les essais consacrés à des auteurs/œuvres que je connaissais déjà, autant il m'a été quasi-impossible de comprendre ceux traitant de ce qui m'était totalement inconnu.

L'écriture de Calvino est savante, s'apparente même parfois à de la masturbation intellectuelle et, dans le cas des transcriptions de discours, je pouvais presque me le figurer adorant s'écouter parler... Cela ne rend pas ses interventions très sympathiques, évidemment...

Qui plus est, la profondeur de son érudition m'a bien fait sentir les énormes lacunes dans ma propre culture littéraire, en particulier dans le domaine de la littérature italienne contemporaine.

Cela étant dit, j'ai globalement apprécié cette lecture, en particulier le prologue : en effet, à ce jour, je n'ai pas trouvé de meilleure définition de ce qu'est un classique, ou de déclaration d'amour plus aboutie aux classiques.

Mon conseil : lisez ce livre en entier si vous êtes très érudit, ou sinon ne lisez que les essais consacrés à ce que vous connaissez, pour ensuite mieux revisiter ce livre au fur et à mesure de vos découvertes.
April 26,2025
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کتاب مجموعه ای از مقالات جدا هستش از کالوینو که درباره ی هر کدوم از نویسنده های کلاسیک نوشته. مقالاتشم تو فاصله های زمانی مختلف و جاهای مختلف نوشته و چاپ شده و کتاب درواقع فقط جمع آوری و مرتبشون کرده.


کتابی نیست که آدم یک جا بخونه! من خودم فقط مقالات مربوط به نویسنده های خاصیش رو خوندم و چون از سبک و سیاق کار باقی نوسیده های داخل کتاب اطلاعی ندارم احتمال میدم به مرور زمان و در طول سالها کتابو کامل خواهم خوند.
April 26,2025
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180413: the first essay 'why read the classics' is reason enough for the rating. but then, I like Calvino... the only problem is that i have not read many of these, so my reviews will not exceed borges's reviews of hypothetical books. it is also interesting to read reviews that consider political expression eg hemingway, pasternak...
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