I stumbled upon this just now and thought I'd share it with my fellow LitFics. Perhaps it's the oldest news in the world, but a quick search on the forums did not give any results.
Yale University has something called Open Yale, which offers some free online videos of entire semesters of certain courses. The one that caught my eye, of course, was The American Novel since 1945. In twenty-five classes, all about an hour or so, a female professor discusses modern literary works in great depth. She and the class discuss a great selection of novels, including Blood Meridian, Lolita, Everything is Illuminate and Franny and Zooey. Really interesting stuff!
Watch it here: http://oyc.yale.edu/english/american-novel-since-1945
Perfect if, like me, you're taking this whole becoming-a-writer thing a little too seriously.
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I also ramble on Twitter (though sometimes in Dutch).
2008: Junior Boys (won)
2009: Guilt (...?)
6,890 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 06 19
Thanks very much! I've tended to focus on educating myself on this stuff too.
2,071 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 06 26
Oooh, thank you! I'll watch these when I have some time. :)
35,608 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 03
Yeah, I watched the one on Lolita a while back, and it was really, really great. That professor's such an amazing lecturer; she definitely brings out more to the story. :)
----------Life would be so much better with a plot.
18,277 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 40
I spent my free hours during summer learning about Lolita and Blood Meridian.
Best waste of time, ever.
21,444 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 06 58
Thanks for posting this. I'll definitely be watching these later.
----------Writing a book is "like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” E. L. Doctorow
http://aliteratus.blogspot.com
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Nov 12, 2009 - 09 56
Watching and am remembering gratefully why I didn't major in English. But will watch it for the sake of a frame of reference. Thanks!
70,420 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2009 - 10 15
Cormac Mc Carthy was a MAN??? 8-O
Well, good thing I'm watching these.
N/M I was thinking of Carson McCullers, for heaven's sake, I was like WTF? I wonder if I've been conflating them all this time. I have read books by both!!! However she lost me when she said Ahab was evil. I totally did not get that from MD. I got a more maniacal sickness, like he was in a fever, like anybody could have been him. Hmmmm.