[Vwoolf] Auden

[Edward Mendelson]

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Dear Gretchen,

Delighted to hear about this, though I wish the course had been more 
interesting. This was probably the course that became notorious when the 
reading list (in the U of Michigan archives) got noticed online:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.openculture.com/2013/02/wh_audens_1941_literature_syllabus_asks_students_to_read_32_great_works_covering_6000_pages_.html__;!!KGKeukY!zKcZ0ueuL7P3ljb72exQUyoyAkmEmCABRPp5ksDvioxvk8zywe62bTo-qzzpF8BOQ3vwenz4sNG3v4tPJFXLQn2HgxQza2Q_YSw$ 

To bring this back to the theme of the list, I think I remember that 
this was the time when Auden reread To the Lighthouse for the first time 
since 1928 (when, immediately after reading it, he wrote a poem with one 
stanza surrounded by square brackets) and remarked on its genius.

Edward


On 8/3/2024 12:08 PM, Gretchen Gerzina via Vwoolf wrote:
> Dear Edward,
>
> As a complete tangent, I thought you'd find it interesting that my mother (may she RIP), took a lecture course with W.H. Auden when she was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. She said it was pretty boring, and she didn't get the feeling that he was particularly interested in teaching it! But she thought it was a great opportunity, so she remained in it for the semester.
>
> Gretchen
>