ONCE0781 - The Fictional Worlds of History (book discussion)

Course Description

The Fictional Worlds of History (book discussion)

Join us in reading notable and award-winning historical novels that imagine the past through the lives of their real and fictional characters. We begin as Colson Whitehead recreates an unusual Underground Railroad in his National Book Award winner of the same name. We continue with Peter Ho Davies’

The Fortunes, a story of four Chinese–Americans in search of meaningful identity. Next we are transported to an apocryphal chapter of pre–Revolutionary Paris by Andrew Miller’s chilling Pure. We follow with Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower, the story of 18th century poet and philosopher Novalis, the father of Romanticism. We end with the inimitable Colm Toibin’s The House of Names, a bold retelling of the mythological Agamemnon. Please bring a snack or bagged lunch.

Instructor: Miriam Camitta, PhD

Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania

Section I: 10 AM to Noon

5 Tues., Sept. 12, 26, Oct. 10, Oct. 24, Nov. 14

Section II: 1 to 3 PM

5 Tues., Sept. 12, 26, Oct. 10, Oct. 24, Nov. 14