Description

Book Synopsis
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.

Trade Review
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

Why Read the Classics

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    A Paperback / softback by Italo Calvino, Martin McLaughlin

    £9.49

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 28 May 2009
      ISBN-13 9780141189703
      978-0141189703
      ISBN-10 0141189703
      Also in:
      Non Fiction Biography ELT & Literary Studies Literary companions, book reviews and guides Books by Italo Calvino

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      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.

      Trade Review
      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

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