nypl:
Italo Calvino published a collection of essays entitled Why We Read the Classics in which he makes 14 points and then talks about them. There are many places that show his list of the 14 reasons why and while they are good and make enough sense, I think his justifications below them really enrich what he is trying to get at, and shows that for him classics are not static but ever changing and blossoming artifacts, ideas that we relate to individually as well as on the whole. There are books held in canons that are of great worth, and yet we might have our ideas of classic literature in our own sense. —Ian Baran, Yorkville Library
Focusing on the “time is precious” directive, I’ll limit my “classic” suggestions to short stories. A collection of short stories is perfect for the time-sensitive reader because if you don’t like one story, you can stop and go on to the next one. So, the titles I would recommend are: A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O’Connor. O’Connor overlays her stark, savage morality tales with a veneer of incisive wit. Included in this collection is probably her best story, “Good Country People.” Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. In which Salinger introduces his beloved Glass family who you will either love or hate – but certainly not forget. The collection also includes “The Laughing Man”, which is one of the most heart-breaking stories I have ever read. Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka. I know that this was already recommended by Alison, but this past year I read Michael Hofmann’s translation of Kafka’s most well-known stories and I had forgotten how powerful they are. Perhaps no other writer has influenced modern literature more than Kafka, and yet his body of work remains inimitable, and the genius of his stories unsurpassed. —Wayne Roylance, Selection Team
I am going to throw in a short story collection as well—Dubliners by James Joyce. A taste of Joyce, before diving into a five-course meal like Ulysses. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services
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