Group readaloud: Short Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Details
This is a read-aloud session, with all text shared on-screen, and discussions of what we just read between rounds – like a small-group seminar. There are no prerequisites.
We will read first the Chekhov story and then Mansfield's retelling of it. If time permits, we will read a second story of Mansfield's, "Marriage a lot Mode", which is more loosely based on a Chekhov story, "The Grasshopper", which we plan to read next week.
"The Child-Who-Was-Tired" (1910) / Chekhov’s "Sleepy" (1888): Mansfield’s earliest and most explicit engagement with Chekhov. These are dark stories. Mansfield adapted Chekhov’s plot and psychological state almost scene-for-scene, which sparked later critical debate over plagiarism versus artistic homage, though it clearly served as her initial laboratory for mastering his dark, realistic style.
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Latecomers (unless we know you) will generally NOT BE ADMITTED once the reading starts. If this is your first time with us, consider joining five minutes early, so we can work out any technical issues you may be having.