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Russell Literary Groups

Russell Readers

Great Books Foundation Discussions and Shared Inquiry
Great Books groups are forums for adults to discuss significant writings. We come from a variety of backgrounds to discuss important ideas and issues that have shaped civilization. Our discussions are lively, probing and enlightening. We challenge our own and others’ opinions in light of the text we are all reading. The object is not one “right answer” but rather to examine questions raised in the readings, with reasoning informed by our diverse experiences.

We use the “Shared Inquiry” method, which is collaborative and question-driven. We examine the writer’s words and the many possible ways to interpret and react to the ideas and issues. To this end, we follow these guidelines:

  • We are expected to have read the selection before coming to the discussion, so we are better prepared to talk about it.
  • We support our opinions by focusing on ideas from the reading. This enables us to weigh the actual words.
  • We explore the ideas in the selection before going beyond them.
  • We listen to the opinions of others and respond directly to them.
  • We expect the discussion leader for each session to ask questions, and to keep the discussion lively.

Join us! Call 347-0196 or email ameyers@russell.lioninc.org

2008-2009

This year, we are discussing selections in the anthologies, Great Conversations 1 and 2, available at the Circulation Desk. They are short stories, novels, and essays in science, economics and philosophy. They were written at various times and in different places, but are united by challenges to our thinking and imagination. The selections come from across intellectual disciplines and have become classics because they address concerns of perennial importance. The subjects are diverse: understanding of the self and self-awareness, power and authority, love and sex, ethics and war, economics and justice, race and religion, and the physical world.

Great Conversations will lead to participatory discussion that develops the intellect and emboldens the imagination.

Tuesdays*, 7:00-8:20 PM, Third Floor Meeting Room
*Exceptions: Sept., Nov. & May Meetings on Thursdays

*Thursday, September 18
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, 1915-2005

In this short novel, set on New York’s Upper West Side, the Canadian-born/Jewish American Nobel Prize winner explores both the burden and inspiration of material success.

October 21
The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen 1857-1929

In 1899, in one of the most incisive studies ever written about capitalist consumer culture, the famed sociologist-economist, whose parents were Norwegian immigrants to Wisconsin, introduces the idea of “conspicuous consumption.”

*Thursday, November 20
Stages of Life by Carl Jung 1875-1961

In this essay, the very influential Swiss psychiatrist discusses the typical psychological stages of human life that parallel and are linked to the physical stages of human development.

December 16
Selected Poems by John Donne 1572-1631

The English metaphysical poet combines wit, passion and deeply felt religious sentiment with the sharpest of intellects and superb technical craftsmanship.

January 20
The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 1809-1852

This story by one of the originators of modern Russian literature offers a biting satire of society and its pretensions.

February 17
The Grand Inquisitor by Fyodor Dostoevsky 1821-1881

These powerful excerpts from The Brothers Karamazov, by the major Russian novelist, probe the tension between religious faith and unbelief.

March 17
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti 1830-1894

This long poem, by one of the most important women poets in nineteenth-century Victorian England, depicts in rich, symbolic imagery the ambiguity of innocence and experience in childhood.

April 21
The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge 1871-1909

One of the key works of the Irish literary revival, this play explores the turmoil that arises when a charismatic young man arrives in a remote village.

*Thursday May 21
Distributive Justice by John Rawls 1921-2002

A foremost American political philosopher offers a compelling argument in 1967 on how society can fairly distribute rights, resources and responsibilities to its members.

June 16
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass 1818-1895

First published in 1845, Douglass’ autobiography was one of the most moving and profoundly influential writings of the Abolitionist Movement in the years preceding the Civil War.