This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust. I doubt there’s a better way to celebrate this monumental literary festivity than by engaging in an in-depth discussion of the novel at Classical Pursuits in Toronto. If you happen to be in New York […]
Convivium
GUEST BLOG – Sean Forester on solitude and connection in the paintings at the Chicago Art Institute
The man on the left sits solitary. The bartender seems to be speaking, but no one responds (the woman looks at what she is holding in her hand, and the man seems to be lost in his own thoughts). Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks creates a powerful atmosphere, a feeling of melancholy. […]
ANN’S MUSINGS – Divisiveness and Biology
I am preparing for our trip to Richmond Virginia in early March to explore the American Civil War from the point of view of eloquent first-hand witnesses, Walt Whitman (Union) and Mary Chestnut (Confederate). My mind is attuned to material not just about the bloodiest conflict in American history, but […]
ANN’S MUSINGS — Vladimir Nabokov agrees with me that rereading is the best kind
My most pleasurable reading is invariably returning to a beloved novel, poem, essay, or story for another visit. It is then I often discover details or information or an exquisite turn of phrase that eluded me during an earlier encounter. Sometimes, it is an entirely different book – like reading Anna […]
TRAVEL PURSUITS – Award-winning photos from the Camino and Vietnam/Cambodia
Drum roll please…. Let’s hear a big round of applause for Betty Duggan, Merlene McAlevy and Victor Levin (yes, Victor, again.) CAMINO Betty Duggan took this photo in a small Galician village, several days outside of Santiago de Compostela. Lorna Romilly takes a break with our terrific guide, Jason Preater, […]
GUEST BLOG – Ear of the Beholder with Rick Phillips
After a Viennese music critic died, some of his friends made the rounds of local musicians to raise money for the funeral. “How much is my share?” asked one musician. “Thirty shillings,” was the reply. “Here are sixty shillings,” said the musician. “Bury two music critics.” Criticism has always had […]
CLASSICAL TRIVIA! – Traveler or Traveller?
Today, when I was proofing Lisa Pasold’s GUEST BLOG on her walks four our Belle Epoque trip to Paris, I came across this phrase, “…writer Emile Zola—whose famed letter J’Accuse courageously spear-headed the defense of Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus.” I paused at the word defense. Should it be defence? I […]
GUEST BLOG – Lisa Pasold on why September is best for visiting Paris’s glittering Belle Epoque
Paris is beautiful at any time of year, but autumn is my favourite season for conjuring the glittering world of the Belle Epoque. In September, the early fall light turns the city’s streets into scenes worthy of Degas and Monet. The Belle Epoque encompasses wonderfully diverse creative energies: composer Debussy, […]
CLASSICAL TRIVIA! – When insults were eloquent
These were sent to me by Pat Shaunessy, a fellow ex-pat from Philadelphia now living in Toronto. I asked Pat for an attribution. She says, “my pals have indicated that the message has gone through many evolutions and bcc’s so the origin can’t be traced.” I trust I am not […]
GUEST BLOG – Gary Schoepfel welcomes you to his home field, Chicago.
For more than a decade, I have been globe trotting with Classical Pursuits. I’ve led book discussions on riverboats in Russia, Vietnam, and Cambodia; in cafes and restaurants in Paris, Greece, Quebec, and Santa Fe; in pastures, pubs, and B&Bs in England, Italy, Toronto, Ireland, and Key West. And although […]