Uncovering the Classics

Booking will close on Friday 7th November 2025 at 12 noon

Due to limited resources, we are UNABLE TO ACCEPT LATE BOOKINGS after this date.

This course will take place in Room 1S06 of the Dalhousie Building, Tuesday mornings 10.00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m. 11th November - 2nd December 2025.

Certain novels are known as “classics” because they have “survived”. Many books are quickly forgotten but those that endure usually do so because they are really good and have been enjoyed by several generations of readers. Their titles and their authors are widely known and often quoted. In truth, though, there are plenty of “classics” which need to be revisited. Maybe we never actually got round to reading them, even though we rather wish we had. Others we read when we were young and perhaps did not fully appreciate them. This short course aims to look again at four novels. The life and work of the author will be examined before focusing on the book itself and the issues it raises: often surprisingly relevant today. Time will be left for discussion.

There is no requirement to read the novels before joining the group - plots will be summarised with no spoilers! - but the hope would be that participants will be inspired to pick up these books in the near future.

In this popular short course Eric will explore the times and the works of four very different classical writers:

• 11th November: Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights

• 18th November: Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness
• 25th November: Charles Dickens: David Copperfield
• 2nd December : Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography

Tutor: Eric Summers

A Falkirk Bairn, Eric Summers is a graduate of Edinburgh University. He worked in the education sector, principally with Angus Council, for more than forty years. Now retired and resident in Kirriemuir, he is a founder member of the Kirriemuir Burns and Scottish Literature Society and the Strathmore Speakers Club. He is also secretary of the Aberdeen Dickens Club, the only branch of the Dickens Fellowship in Scotland. It hosted the international conference of the Fellowship in 2016. He organised the annual conference of the Eagle Society in Dundee in 2019, only the second time it has been held in Scotland. He’s a season ticket holder at Tannadice, but retains a soft spot for the Bairns.

Course Code: 09 124

Enquiries should be sent to: [email protected]

As a volunteer organisation with limited resources we try to respond to queries as quickly as possible. Please bear with us.

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Host or Publisher Lifelong Learning Dundee