The Russian short stories of the early 19th century are considered to be some of the best in the genre. Although seemingly domestic and apolitical, they reflect a challenge to the repressive status quo of that time. We all undoubtedly have read some or maybe all of the stories in the collection we will use, but as classics of the short story genre, they bear revisiting, just as in the field of music, we revisit Bach.

In this class we will come to a better understanding of the stories with which we are familiar and become acquainted with some that we have not previously read.

Format: Class members will lead the discussion of a story of choice, developing a list of 5-6 questions to guide the class discussion, questions that address issues such as setting, character and plot development, themes, and the author’s point of view.

Resources/Expenses: The text, Best Russian Short Stories, edited by Thomas Seltzer is available by order from local bookstores new for about $25, or used for about $6 from either alibris.com or bookshop.org, both of which sites support independent bookstores.

Coordinator: Patricia Becker, an Emerita Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, has co-coordinated a number of previous LLC short story classes.