“Parsimony may be the end of this book.  Also shame at my own verbosity, which comes over me when I see the 20 it is--books shuffled together in my room.  Who am I ashamed of?  Myself reading them.  Then Joyce is dead: Joyce about a fortnight younger than I am.  I remember Miss Weaver, in … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #10: Between the Acts →

The big question for me while reading The Years was about whether it’s a reversion to an earlier writing style - something more like a Victorian social novel, or if it’s a step forward in Woolf’s own evolution. The earlier novel of Woolf’s that most resembles this is Night and Day, which is definitely a … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #9: The Years →

Not the best-known (or the best) of Woolf's novels, it's also debatable whether it's a novel.  Its cover page calls it a "biography," which is strange, especially considering Flush is a cocker spaniel.  It was Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog, one Woolf must have read about in her ongoing attempt, seemingly, to read everything written in … Continue reading (The Novels of Virginia Woolf #8: Flush) →

This book is very difficult to write about; below I’ve only just mentioned most of the characters and their myriad interactions.  As a matter of subjective perception, I will say this book was the most rewarding to re-read so far.  I’ve tried to put some semi-coherent thoughts down here, but there is something extremely reductive … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #7: The Waves →

Orlando feels like a detour when taken in the context of Woolf’s other novels.  Obviously the parody biography style, and the fact that Woolf began the book as a joke colored my  reading of it.  It’s also hard to ignore the transsexual nature of its protagonist.  But the biggest thing I noticed in Orlando, something relatively … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #6: Orlando →

But what she [Lily] wished to get hold of was that very jar on the nerves, the thing itself before it had been made anything.  Get that and start afresh; get that and start afresh; she said desperately, pitching herself firmly against her easel.  It was a miserable machine, an inefficient machine, she thought, the … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #5: To The Lighthouse →

Along with my recent experiences of Woolf’s three earlier novels (it was striking how much more introspective it felt than Jacob’s Room, and obviously the time-compression of the main line of the narrative was different), three ideas other informed my reading.  Idea #1: this quotation from the introduction to Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, his late, … Continue reading The Novels of Virginia Woolf #4: Mrs. Dalloway →