In his famous essay “Why Read the Classics?” Italo Calvino writes: “The classics are books that exert a peculiar influence, both when they refuse to be eradicated from the mind and when they conceal themselves in the folds of memory, camouflaging themselves as the collective or individual unconscious.” How does this “peculiar influence” resonate for the writer? For the fifth consecutive year, Baruch College’s Great Works Program invited international authors to select a classic from the school’s curriculum and discuss its influence within their life and work. Co-sponsored by The Great Works Program, Baruch College—Weissman School of Arts and
