Speaking of classic literature . . .

Speaking of classic literature . . . September 23, 2014

The Book Haven blog has the writer Italo Calvino’s list of what makes a book a classic:

3.  The classics are books which exercise a particular influence, both when they imprint themselves on our imagination as unforgettable, and when they hide in the layers of memory disguised as the individual’s or the collective unconscious.

4.  A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.

5.  A classic is a book which even when we read it for the first time gives the sense of rereading something we have read before.

Read the rest here.


Browse Our Archives

Follow Us!