Read the Classics

Lectures & book discussions at the library

"The books I always meant to read!" Read some of the best all-time classic books, with a professor from Reed College leading the discussions. And no papers are due! The five discussion series cover five literary eras. Registration is required and participation is free! Pick up your book(s) in advance of each program. Attend as many as you like. 2009-2010 season.

Information and sign up for the five discussion series:

Greece and Rome

Gresham Library
2nd Sundays
2–4 p.m.

11/8The Iliad, Homer
1/10The Odyssey, Homer
3/14The Aeneid, Virgil
5/9The Golden Ass, Apuleius

Middle Ages

Hillsdale Library
3rd Saturdays
2–4 p.m.

11/21Beowulf
1/16Divine Comedy: Inferno, Dante
3/20Divine Comedy: Purgatorio, Dante
5/15The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer

1600s & 1700s

Central Library
3rd Sundays
2–4 p.m.

10/18Don Quixote, Book I, Cervantes
11/15Don Quixote, Book II
1/17Paradise Lost, Books I-VI, Milton
2/21Paradise Lost, Books VII-XII
4/18Tom Jones, Books I-VIII, Fielding
5/16Tom Jones, Books IX-end

1800s Novels

Woodstock Library
2nd Sundays
2–4 p.m.

10/11Frankenstein, Shelley
12/13Madame Bovary, Flaubert
2/14Great Expectations, Dickens
4/11The Portrait of a Lady, James

1900s Novels

Hollywood Library
Selected Sundays
2–4 p.m.

10/4A Passage to India, Forster
12/6 Swann's Way (In Search of Lost Time, v. 1), Proust
2/7Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf
3/28The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner

Printable Read the Classics flyer (pdf)

How can I participate?

Sign up — Registration is required and participation is free! You can register and find more information by selecting one of the five program series links above.
Pick up a bring-em-back copy of the book(s) at the participating library — limited supplies are available.
Read the selected title, look at the preparatory materials under each series link above and browse the suggestions for further readings.
Come to the discussion with your book(s) and have fun discussing and learning!
Return the book(s) at the discussion.

Call Reference Line for more information at 503.988.5234.

Made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities Fund of The Library Foundation. Appreciation goes to the professors from Reed College who are leading the discussions.