The classics

In Italo Calvinos essay “Why Read the Classics?” he starts by giving a list of reasons to the audience as to why they read the classics . Calvino claims that “A classic does not necessarily teach us anything we did not know before. In a classic we sometimes discover something we have always known (or thought we knew), but without knowing that this author said it first, or at least is associated with it in a special way. (Calvino)” In this quotes Calvino is beginning to state that when you read a classic you aren’t learning anything new which is helping make his statement argumentative. Now most times When people begin to read books they enjoy they usually go back and re read them sense they already know what’s going to, and not just because of that but a lot of people mention that most times there are small important details that they may have missed or things they may not have connected in the beginning. Often times people will solely do this to try and get deeper understandings of their favorite books for their own enjoyment. And Therefore, Calvinos argument about reading the classics is more of a personal opinion rather than what most would call a fact.