“She had the perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very, dangerous to live even one day.”– Mrs. Dalloway
It may be bad for the mind to try to be equally in Moby Dick, Ulysses, Mrs Dalloway and Magic Mountain all at once. I feel the mind muscle aching with the deliciousness of over-use –but wonder if this will result in a Pentecostal babble of tongues–unintelligible and aching for meaning. What I know is that when I am fully in each of these works– and deeply submerged with a gathering of other lively minds– the tempo slows and the language transcends– and suddenly we are swimming in ideas, insights and connections fresh and rich.
Two Studies in London June & July (use the links to register)
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Two evening meetings Tuesday June 24th and July 1st 7:30-10 PM
Alice Munro and Eudora Welty Short Stories One meeting July 14th 7-10 PM
“As many critics have observed, however, the real delight of reading Munro – slowly and deliberately — is this: one awakens to the beautiful and perverse in the very ordinary people living among us.”
Coming in September:
Marcel Proust: Swann’s Way, Faulkner: Absalom, Absalom! …in January, time to re-meet Ulysses– so perhaps an Odyssey and Hamlet en route? …and more….send me your requests now!
I should love to do the Proust. As for thoughts on other things I wondered about Conrad,Thomas Hardy,Colin Wilson,Lawrence Durrell ,Martin Amis and Julian Barnes.