UDLLI Special Seminars

Four Literary Masters - NEW

We will study the works of four masterful writers from three countries and four different social situations. Each has much to report on his/her time and place and the lives of humans therein, information which can only enrich our understanding of our own time and our own lives. Is life good? Are we part of the problem or part of the answer? What are the parts played by ignorance, wisdom, suffering, and joy?

Required Text: “The Red and the Black” by Stendahl, “Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters, “In Dubious Battle” by John Steinbeck, and “My Best Stories” by Alice Munro. All are available at reasonable prices in paperback, in libraries, and online, and can be ordered at bookstores. The Stendahl book has been translated often, and all translations will do, though the Gard (Penguin Books) translation may be the most comfortable for American readers today.

Preparation: Participants should have all the books read before the seminar first meets, since there is inadequate time to read the works between sessions. Nevertheless, those who cannot finish them beforehand should feel free to attend anyway.

Monday - Thursday, May 13 - May 16
12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. at River Campus

Frank Henninger has spent decades looking for ways we can learn about and from cultures distinct from ours because of geography or time or both. He has taught many UDLLI seminars over the past years.