Why Read the Classics? is an elegant defence of the value of great literature by one of the finest authors of the last century. Beginning with an essay on the attributes that define a classic (number one - classics are those books that people always say they are 'rereading', not 'reading'), this is an absorbing collection of Italo Calvino's witty and passionate criticism.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780141189703
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 212 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 18 mm
Enthusiasm and intelligence: these are the essential qualities of the critic. Calvino, himself a novelist of rare quality, possessed both generously. This is a book to read for itself, and also because it will send you back to other books to read, either again in a new way, or for the first time... Superb - Daily Telegraph
This volume itself is a classic book at bedtime, a seductive invitation to forgotten opportunities or rereading - The Times
A master’s guidance on everything from the ancient Greeks to Ernest Hemingway, proving that “a classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” This timeless description applies to Calvino’s own books too - John Self
The real joy that comes from reading this collection is the the unbridled enthusiasm Calvino has for the works he is reviewing. This collection really opened me up to authors I never had a interest in reading, or even... More
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