Courses – Spring 2025 / Literature / WONDERFUL BOOKS OUT LOUD
Coordinators: Harriet Finkelstein Larry Shapiro, Ruth Ward
Billy Budd, a young sailor on a British warship, is court-martialed for the murder of his ship-board tormentor. The story is a brilliant study of the tragic clash between social authority and individual freedom, human justice and abstract good.
Billy Budd, Sailor has been called the best short novel ever written. In his brilliantly condensed prose, Herman Melville fashioned a legal parable in which reason and intellect prove incapable of preserving innocence in the face of evil.
For all those who feel themselves threatened by a hostile and inflexible environment, there is special significance in this haunting story of a handsome sailor who becomes a victim of man’s intransigence.
The edition that we will using in class is Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville – Enriched Classic edition. If you need assistance in obtaining a copy, please do not hesitate to contact me.
B WEEK / MONDAY / 10:30 AM – NOON / IN-PERSON / ROOM 27
| Wonderful Books Our Loud | ||
| Date | Presenter | Title |
| Feb 10 | Harriet Finkelstein | Reading and discussion of pages 3-20. Brief Biography of Herman Melville |
| Feb 24 | Larry Shapiro | Reading and discussion of pages 21-42. Opening sequences of Billy Budd Opera |
| Mar 10 | Ruth Ward | Reading and discussion of pages 43-63. Selections of Herman Melville Poetry |
| Mar 24 | Harriet Finkelstein | Reading and discussion of pages 64-79. New legal lights on the trial of Billy Budd |
| Apr 07 | Larry Shapiro | Reading and discussion of pages 80-101. The year 1797 – its place in history |
| Apr 28 | Ruth Ward | Reading and discussion of pages 102-115. Melville – a “dark romantic” in the romantic era |
| May 12 | Harriet Finkelstein | Reading and discussion of 116-128. Reflections, Questions, Conclusions |
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