For years Russia remained hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Then with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, we saw the extraordinary culture and natural beauty of this vast country for the first time. Yet one gem remains unknown to the West: the artists of the Golden Age – Repin, Kromskoy, […]
We are now two thirds of the way to Santiago and looking forward to completing the journey we began together only one week ago. After meeting in Madrid, our group made our way to Leon where we were met by our guide Jason, an expat Brit who has made Spain […]
On the Origin of Species – Darwin In this seminal book, Darwin made the argument to society and to our group that created a paradigm shift in our thinking. He took the current view of the time and turned it upside-down. Before his book was published, people had viewed different […]
This is the fourth year that my husband, Bill Duggan, and I have been coming to Classical Pursuits. We wouldn’t miss coming back to enjoy the people we meet, and the opportunity to share in discussion of the books we have read. Ann always comes up with interesting, and sometimes […]
As a classical pursuits newbie I signed up for everything I could before I started. Stratford was a great introduction. I knew I’d get great theatre, and I did. It was a great balance between three performances, special events, and some free time to explore the town. The highlight was […]
Arrived on a beautiful sunny morning in Toronto for a stimulating discussion of Henri James’ Portrait of a Lady. Our group was small, but mighty with the help of our illustrious leader Nancy Carr. We delved into the question of the character of our protagonist. It is so exciting to […]
Ann has asked me to write a bit about why I will be taking part in La Belle Epoque trip to Paris this September, given that I have been to Paris more times than I can count and that I took part in an earlier Classical Pursuits trip there in […]
“Like a pair of binoculars with no right or wrong end, the camera makes exotic things near, intimate, and familiar things small, abstract, strange, much farther away.” –Susan Sontag In Susan Sontag’s essay collection On Photography, every sentence is a zinger, and almost every idea a game-changer. Written in a […]
You sorta hadta be there to get all the references, but y’all can see what a fine poet Jimmye Hillman is (no matter what his daughter says). I TAKE RICHMOND* Not as a British frigate’s cargo: freedom’s heirs Stuck at James River’s falls in royal pause, Not as some conquering […]
In scope, detail, and humanity, Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks is a classic of modem literature and continues to be a model for family sagas, a genre of literature which follows generations of a family through a period of history. (Think Downton Abbey, The Forsythe Saga, The Thornbirds.) Buddenbrooks was Mann’s first […]