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Virginia Woolf
In 1907, when she was twenty-five and not yet a published novelist, Virginia Stephen had everything still to prove. She felt herself to be at a crossroads: “I shall be miserable, or happy; a wordy sentimental creature, or a writer of such English as shall one day burn the pages.”
Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever. This is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things.
In this illuminating new account, Alexandra Harris uses vivid flashes of detail to evoke Woolf’s changing backgrounds and preoccupations. We move from the close-packed rhythms of a Victorian childhood to the experiments of Bloomsbury and Woolf’s trial-and-error answers to the pressing question of how to live. We see her tackling challenging forms of writing, trying out different voices, following flights of fancy, and returning to earth. Above all, we see her making conscious decisions about what to do next.
The book considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to a range of Woolf’s dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her “afterlife,” and shows why, seventy years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.
Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever. This is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things.
In this illuminating new account, Alexandra Harris uses vivid flashes of detail to evoke Woolf’s changing backgrounds and preoccupations. We move from the close-packed rhythms of a Victorian childhood to the experiments of Bloomsbury and Woolf’s trial-and-error answers to the pressing question of how to live. We see her tackling challenging forms of writing, trying out different voices, following flights of fancy, and returning to earth. Above all, we see her making conscious decisions about what to do next.
The book considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to a range of Woolf’s dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her “afterlife,” and shows why, seventy years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.
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First published October 1, 2011
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About the author
Alexandra Harris
13 books26 followersAlexandra Harris is a British writer and academic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 18, 2025
Very engaging and smoothly written book on the life and especially the work of Virginia Woolf. Although some episodes and works are dealt with rather succinctly and may leave the reader who has already read more about her a bit hungry - the biography is meant to be an introduction - it is quite a feat of Harris to tell this rich and intense life in barely 200 pages while painting a nuanced picture of Woolf. In any case, the book makes me eager to read even more by and about Woolf (and Bloomsbury) - I find more than enough inspiration and encouragement in it to delve further into Woolf, her times and friends (Hermione Lee's biography, her correspondence with Vita Sackville-West collected in ‘Ezeltje-West’ in Dutch) and also to venture into The Waves and Between the Acts. Not to mention the desire the book arouses to travel to England again and, after having visited Sissinghurst, now to visit Monk's House in Rodmell and Knole, Vita Sackville-West's estate.
Having created a Virginia Woolf shelf today as a shy start to give in to a long-standing desire to reread and read *everything* published by Virginia Woolf and whatever I can lay my hands on about her, it was somehow pleasing to shelve this book first, realising that since I read it in 2015, I discovered some of her short stories and essays, managed to read Between the Acts and have visited both Monk's house and Knole, and even went back to Sissinghurst. Sometimes dreams come true, so why wouldn't this reading project turn out right, even if only partly?
Heel boeiend en soepel geschreven boek over leven en vooral werk van Virginia Woolf. Hoewel sommige episodes en werken eerder beknopt aan bod komen en de lezer die al meer over haar las misschien wat op zijn honger laten - de biografie is bedoeld als introductie- is het een hele krachttoer van Harris om dit rijke en intense leven in amper 200 pagina's verteld te krijgen en tegelijk een genuanceerd beeld van Woolf te schetsen. Het boek nodigt in ieder geval uit om nog meer van en over Woolf (en Bloomsbury) te lezen - ik vind er alleszins meer dan voldoende inspiratie en aansporing in om me verder in Woolf, haar tijd en vrienden te verdiepen (Hermione Lees biografie, haar briefwisseling met Vita Sackville-West die in 'Ezeltje-West' in het Nederlands werd gebundeld) en me ook aan De Golven en Tussen de bedrijven te wagen. En dan zwijg ik nog over het verlangen dat het boek wekt om nog eens naar Engeland te reizen en na Sissinghurst nu ook Monk's House in Rodmell en Knole, het landgoed van Sackville-West, te bezoeken.
Having created a Virginia Woolf shelf today as a shy start to give in to a long-standing desire to reread and read *everything* published by Virginia Woolf and whatever I can lay my hands on about her, it was somehow pleasing to shelve this book first, realising that since I read it in 2015, I discovered some of her short stories and essays, managed to read Between the Acts and have visited both Monk's house and Knole, and even went back to Sissinghurst. Sometimes dreams come true, so why wouldn't this reading project turn out right, even if only partly?
Heel boeiend en soepel geschreven boek over leven en vooral werk van Virginia Woolf. Hoewel sommige episodes en werken eerder beknopt aan bod komen en de lezer die al meer over haar las misschien wat op zijn honger laten - de biografie is bedoeld als introductie- is het een hele krachttoer van Harris om dit rijke en intense leven in amper 200 pagina's verteld te krijgen en tegelijk een genuanceerd beeld van Woolf te schetsen. Het boek nodigt in ieder geval uit om nog meer van en over Woolf (en Bloomsbury) te lezen - ik vind er alleszins meer dan voldoende inspiratie en aansporing in om me verder in Woolf, haar tijd en vrienden te verdiepen (Hermione Lees biografie, haar briefwisseling met Vita Sackville-West die in 'Ezeltje-West' in het Nederlands werd gebundeld) en me ook aan De Golven en Tussen de bedrijven te wagen. En dan zwijg ik nog over het verlangen dat het boek wekt om nog eens naar Engeland te reizen en na Sissinghurst nu ook Monk's House in Rodmell en Knole, het landgoed van Sackville-West, te bezoeken.
March 3, 2018
Not really a biography, but a biographical study. This book is beautifully written, but so short that it can't really go into any detail about any aspect of Woolf's life, and she remains a distant presence throughout. There are good mini-essays about many of her works, and the last chapter, about her literary legacy, is particularly interesting.
January 25, 2016
http://procitajto.com/2016/01/25/virg...
Ne možeš pronaći mir izbjegavajući život, poznata je i čeysto citirana misao Virginije Woolf, Autorica koju su suvremenici zamišljali „manje kao ženu koja piše, a više kao svjetlost koja se širi i jača“ još je za života idealizirana kao malo tko od njenih suvremenika, a interes publike, kako one čitateljske za njen književni rad, tako i one gladne zanimljivih, biografskih činjenica s protokom vremena nimalo ne blijedi. Svojim je prijateljima i kolegama ulijevala golem osjećaj divljenjem ojačanog strahopoštovanja i često su je, u književnim salonima promatrali sa strane bojeći se ući u interakciju s takvim intelektom. Nije bez razloga britanski dramatičar Edward Ablee upravo Virginiju Woolf postavio u naslov svoje najpoznatije, nebrojeno puta postavljene i nekoliko puta ekranizirane, drame u kojoj su u strahu od Virginije Woolf svi oni što se boje živjeti život otvoreno, bez laži ili zaslijepljujućih iluzija. Čitajući i istražujući ono što je velika autorica bila, ili se promatraču, uz povijesni odmak, čini da je bila, zapitat ćete se je li se i ona sama bojala Virginije Woolf, je li izbjegavala život i je li za nju, stoga, i taj traženi mir ostao skriven.
Virginia Woolf : biografija Alexandre Harris neće vam dati odgovor na to pitanje. Bar ne u onom senzacionalističkom, bombastičnom i nahrupljujućem smislu na kakav smo, nažalost počesto, kod biografa navikli. Umjesto toga, čini se kao da je, u opsegom nevelikoj biografiji, na jedva dvjestotinjak stranica britanska povjesničarka kulture željela u knjigu pretočiti i knjigom potkrijepiti misao što ju je Woolf zabilježila Između činova, misao o knjigama kao ogledalima duše. Radije no ogoljujući (ili napuhujući, posve svejedno) uspone i padove iz sfere osobnog, Harris ih vješto isprepliće s traženjima, zastojima i pronalascima u autorskom životu Virginije Woolf. Takav upliv, naravno, ne bi bio moguć bez pomnog iščitavanja i dubokog poznavanja spisateljskog opusa, kao niti bez profesionalnog interesa za latentne granice javnog i osobnog, prisutne u svakom životu.
Virginia Woolf za Alexandru Harris, vrlo osobno, predstavlja prvu književnu strast i fascinaciju, zanimanje za njen rad vodilo ju je k istraživanju moderne fikcije u odnosu spram engleskog romanticizma u slikarstvu što je pak, nakon tri godine discipliniranog, oxfordskog proučavanja, dovelo do doktorske disertacije čiji su ključni dijelovi pretvoreni u knjigu Romantični modernisti. Ne čudi stog a pažnja kojom je Alexandra Harris, želeći djelovati kao protuteža modernim biografima i njihovu shvaćanju Virginije Woolf kao traumama iz djetinjstva obilježene, pomalo pomaknute, ali neporecivo briljantne autorice, iscrtala konture njena života, a praznine ispunila uzimajući, kako i priliči, od spisateljice i dodajući ženi koja je, pažljiviji će čitatelj zamijetiti, ipak bila mnogo više od svjetla koje se širi i jača.
Biografija otvorena pitanjem Tko sam bila tada? protkana je, i zaključena, pripadajućim odgovorom. Vraćajući se u autoričino djetinjstvo, prekapajući po sjećanjima pretočenim na stranice romana, ali i u sve ono skriveno među njima, Harris crta Virginiju uklopljenu u trenutak u kojem je živjela. Ne kao ludu genijalku, niti kao svjetlo koje se pojačava i širi već kao ženu koja piše. I kroz pisanje, primičući se životu, pronalazi izvore najvećeg mira. Ali, naravno, i najdubljih nemira.
Ne možeš pronaći mir izbjegavajući život, poznata je i čeysto citirana misao Virginije Woolf, Autorica koju su suvremenici zamišljali „manje kao ženu koja piše, a više kao svjetlost koja se širi i jača“ još je za života idealizirana kao malo tko od njenih suvremenika, a interes publike, kako one čitateljske za njen književni rad, tako i one gladne zanimljivih, biografskih činjenica s protokom vremena nimalo ne blijedi. Svojim je prijateljima i kolegama ulijevala golem osjećaj divljenjem ojačanog strahopoštovanja i često su je, u književnim salonima promatrali sa strane bojeći se ući u interakciju s takvim intelektom. Nije bez razloga britanski dramatičar Edward Ablee upravo Virginiju Woolf postavio u naslov svoje najpoznatije, nebrojeno puta postavljene i nekoliko puta ekranizirane, drame u kojoj su u strahu od Virginije Woolf svi oni što se boje živjeti život otvoreno, bez laži ili zaslijepljujućih iluzija. Čitajući i istražujući ono što je velika autorica bila, ili se promatraču, uz povijesni odmak, čini da je bila, zapitat ćete se je li se i ona sama bojala Virginije Woolf, je li izbjegavala život i je li za nju, stoga, i taj traženi mir ostao skriven.
Virginia Woolf : biografija Alexandre Harris neće vam dati odgovor na to pitanje. Bar ne u onom senzacionalističkom, bombastičnom i nahrupljujućem smislu na kakav smo, nažalost počesto, kod biografa navikli. Umjesto toga, čini se kao da je, u opsegom nevelikoj biografiji, na jedva dvjestotinjak stranica britanska povjesničarka kulture željela u knjigu pretočiti i knjigom potkrijepiti misao što ju je Woolf zabilježila Između činova, misao o knjigama kao ogledalima duše. Radije no ogoljujući (ili napuhujući, posve svejedno) uspone i padove iz sfere osobnog, Harris ih vješto isprepliće s traženjima, zastojima i pronalascima u autorskom životu Virginije Woolf. Takav upliv, naravno, ne bi bio moguć bez pomnog iščitavanja i dubokog poznavanja spisateljskog opusa, kao niti bez profesionalnog interesa za latentne granice javnog i osobnog, prisutne u svakom životu.
Virginia Woolf za Alexandru Harris, vrlo osobno, predstavlja prvu književnu strast i fascinaciju, zanimanje za njen rad vodilo ju je k istraživanju moderne fikcije u odnosu spram engleskog romanticizma u slikarstvu što je pak, nakon tri godine discipliniranog, oxfordskog proučavanja, dovelo do doktorske disertacije čiji su ključni dijelovi pretvoreni u knjigu Romantični modernisti. Ne čudi stog a pažnja kojom je Alexandra Harris, želeći djelovati kao protuteža modernim biografima i njihovu shvaćanju Virginije Woolf kao traumama iz djetinjstva obilježene, pomalo pomaknute, ali neporecivo briljantne autorice, iscrtala konture njena života, a praznine ispunila uzimajući, kako i priliči, od spisateljice i dodajući ženi koja je, pažljiviji će čitatelj zamijetiti, ipak bila mnogo više od svjetla koje se širi i jača.
Biografija otvorena pitanjem Tko sam bila tada? protkana je, i zaključena, pripadajućim odgovorom. Vraćajući se u autoričino djetinjstvo, prekapajući po sjećanjima pretočenim na stranice romana, ali i u sve ono skriveno među njima, Harris crta Virginiju uklopljenu u trenutak u kojem je živjela. Ne kao ludu genijalku, niti kao svjetlo koje se pojačava i širi već kao ženu koja piše. I kroz pisanje, primičući se životu, pronalazi izvore najvećeg mira. Ali, naravno, i najdubljih nemira.
March 10, 2022
Shout out naar mijn sibbies voor dit cadeau voor mijn bijna 30ste verjaardag ook al was Tom er niet van op de hoogte dat dit boek ook vanuit zijn naam werd gegeven en leek Lot het een kut boek
June 2, 2012
This turned out to be a better biography of Woolf than I'd thought when I first started reading it. I would recommend it for the reader who is just beginning to discover Virginia Woolf and knows little, if anything, about her family background, the Bloomsbury group, or her novels and books of criticism.
Harris also provides brief analyses of Woolf's novels, which often explain a bit too much about the novels and might influence the new reader's thoughts and reactions to them. I'm not sure that this is a good idea; if I were new to Woolf I'd want to read the novels myself first, and then read any criticism of them.
Not much new is revealed here except more information about Angelica Bell's later life and how her parentage affected her. Other than that, I'd recommend that the Woolf lover read Hermoine Lee's "Virginia Woolf", which is a more in-depth and well-researched biography of the author. Another issue that bothered me is that there's no bibliography at the end of this biography, but rather a short list of "relevant" books. I like a full bibliography so that I might then read the books that were consulted myself. But this is just my own personal preference.
Harris also provides brief analyses of Woolf's novels, which often explain a bit too much about the novels and might influence the new reader's thoughts and reactions to them. I'm not sure that this is a good idea; if I were new to Woolf I'd want to read the novels myself first, and then read any criticism of them.
Not much new is revealed here except more information about Angelica Bell's later life and how her parentage affected her. Other than that, I'd recommend that the Woolf lover read Hermoine Lee's "Virginia Woolf", which is a more in-depth and well-researched biography of the author. Another issue that bothered me is that there's no bibliography at the end of this biography, but rather a short list of "relevant" books. I like a full bibliography so that I might then read the books that were consulted myself. But this is just my own personal preference.
June 19, 2021
Normaal wil ik van een schrijver zo weinig mogelijk weten.
Maar voor Virginia Woolf maak ik een uitzondering.
Wat een vrouw!
Ik vond dit boek dan ook zeer boeiend. Je leest het wel best nádat je de meeste werken van Woolf al hebt gelezen, want er wordt constant de link gelegd tussen haar leven en haar werk.
Als je helemaal niets hebt met Mrs. Dalloway of met Mrs. Ramsay (uit Naar de vuurtoren), zal je aan dit boek van Alexandra Harris ook niet veel hebben.
Maar voor Virginia Woolf maak ik een uitzondering.
Wat een vrouw!
Ik vond dit boek dan ook zeer boeiend. Je leest het wel best nádat je de meeste werken van Woolf al hebt gelezen, want er wordt constant de link gelegd tussen haar leven en haar werk.
Als je helemaal niets hebt met Mrs. Dalloway of met Mrs. Ramsay (uit Naar de vuurtoren), zal je aan dit boek van Alexandra Harris ook niet veel hebben.
June 17, 2022
(5-stars. An excellent, short, sensitive biography - a good prelude — 1/2019
Quite good. 3.5 stars. Brief, balanced, interesting discussion in the Afterword about the Woolf’s biographers and interpreters. — 6/2022
Quite good. 3.5 stars. Brief, balanced, interesting discussion in the Afterword about the Woolf’s biographers and interpreters. — 6/2022
October 7, 2014
What an intriguing book on such a complex and vibrant woman. Virginia is such a rich character to write about and Harris has allowed us a glimpse into the life of this groundbreaking woman. Virginia gave herself to her writing. It is what allowed her to get through her times of illness, which were frequent and which eventually took her life. She was a prolific writer, writing essays, reviews, novels and non- fiction. Her marriage to Leonard Woolf was the stabilising force in her life even with her relationships with Vita Sackville- West and Ethel Symthe. Her relationship with Vita inparticular was not a sexual one (they only slept together twice) rather a spiritual one. There isn’t much comment in the book on how Leonard felt about these other relationships that Virginia had but we can surmise that he was essentially all right with them. Probably because he knew that he was central to Virginia’s life in a way those women weren’t. Harris fills the book with literary criticism on Virginia’s works, especially her novels where we find that Virginia really was original and unique in her work. In the early part of the 20th century she challenged her readers to accept the novel in a new form. Most of her works have continued to be important today. She is still studied in schools and universities. Her work has transcended time. This biography really shows us that. It gives us her necessary friendships and critics.. The book isn’t long but feels well rounded because of that. Harris has essentially written the biography around Virginia’s work. Harris gives it to us without overly gushing about her subject. She evens slips into the text that she could be spiteful and jealous, just one line but enough to gain a fuller picture of Virginia Woolf. She doesn’t make too many judgments of Virginia rather lays out her travel, her writing, her relationships for us to decide what we think. This book is definitely a good introduction to Virginia Woolf and a book to read especially if you know nothing about her.
January 19, 2022
Working through Virginia Woolf’s nine novels chronologically, just before starting To the Lighthouse, I realized that I would benefit from some backstory context on Virginia Woolf’s life and how she drew on her life experiences and readings of earlier writers to produce what was continual innovation in writing style and structure. Hermione Lee’s seminal 900-page 1996 biography on Virginia Woolf would have been too long for this break, so I turned to Alexandra Harris’s more recent biography, which pays fitting tribute to the earlier Lee biography.
Alexandra Lee’s shorter biography and update is fit for purpose. It cleverly links each of Virginia Woolf’s nine key novels (and other writings) to periods broken down by chapter. For example, where there were sudden changes in literary style, I can better understand from the Harris book what this change was, why it was introduced, the historic resources of earlier writers it drew on, and the sources of literary innovation.
I have rated Harris’s book 5* as it was easy – and enjoyable ��� to read, concise, and remarkably for the 162 or so pages gave a good feel for Virginia Woolf’s life.
In her “Afterwards” Harris discusses some critics reviews of Woolf’s works, which seem after her work to be insensitive to context. Harris gives straightforward opinions, and In discussing “Night and Day” and “Mrs. Dalloway,” for example, and particularly Septimus, the shell-shocked World War I veteran in the latter, she writes, “Woolf has sometimes been criticized for not facing directly enough the great conflicts of her time, but all her post-war novels are concerned with the indirections by which we come to understand our losses. Woolf’s Great War was inseparable from her personal war against illness.”
We cannot untangle Woolf’s novels without knowing her life, her questions, and her influences – Drawing on diaries, notes, and letters helps to see how Virginia Woolf developed as a writer.
Alexandra Lee’s shorter biography and update is fit for purpose. It cleverly links each of Virginia Woolf’s nine key novels (and other writings) to periods broken down by chapter. For example, where there were sudden changes in literary style, I can better understand from the Harris book what this change was, why it was introduced, the historic resources of earlier writers it drew on, and the sources of literary innovation.
I have rated Harris’s book 5* as it was easy – and enjoyable ��� to read, concise, and remarkably for the 162 or so pages gave a good feel for Virginia Woolf’s life.
In her “Afterwards” Harris discusses some critics reviews of Woolf’s works, which seem after her work to be insensitive to context. Harris gives straightforward opinions, and In discussing “Night and Day” and “Mrs. Dalloway,” for example, and particularly Septimus, the shell-shocked World War I veteran in the latter, she writes, “Woolf has sometimes been criticized for not facing directly enough the great conflicts of her time, but all her post-war novels are concerned with the indirections by which we come to understand our losses. Woolf’s Great War was inseparable from her personal war against illness.”
We cannot untangle Woolf’s novels without knowing her life, her questions, and her influences – Drawing on diaries, notes, and letters helps to see how Virginia Woolf developed as a writer.
December 26, 2015
Alexandra Harris' Virginia Woolf gaat vooral over de schrijvende persoon, pretendeert nooit een volledige biografie te zijn. ik heb redelijk veel over Woolf gelezen, inclusief Hermione Lee's fantastische biografie: dit is geen overbodig werk.
een bijzonder boek, Harris weet de kern van Woolfs werk (inderdaad, schrijversleven) te raken. inspirerend, goed geschreven: het is mooie literaire non-fictie.
(fragment.)
een bijzonder boek, Harris weet de kern van Woolfs werk (inderdaad, schrijversleven) te raken. inspirerend, goed geschreven: het is mooie literaire non-fictie.
(fragment.)
February 4, 2017
Vise nego zadovoljavajuci uvod u zivot i djelo Virginie Woolf. Najjaca strana ove biografije je to sto ne ulazi u interpretacije romana/eseja (premda simbole i motive stavlja u kontekst zivotnog perioda u kojem su nastajali) vec vise tumaci raznolikost ideja i politiziranog pristupa u proucavanju njezine knjizevnosti, a pritom se suzdrzava od mogucih sugestija zbog cega mislim da je vrlo britka. Popis bibliografije je izdasan i za svaku pohvalu, pa bas inspirira za istrazivanje :)
October 29, 2019
[перед этим ревью открыла русскую википедию, просто чтобы сравнить. ужасно просто, теперь думаю, что всё, что я знаю о писателях из школы, полная муть.]
краткая биография абсолютно великой и современной женщины. подойдет тем, кто совсем ничего не читал у/про вульф. (как я). я прям теперь влюблена абсолютно
краткая биография абсолютно великой и современной женщины. подойдет тем, кто совсем ничего не читал у/про вульф. (как я). я прям теперь влюблена абсолютно
May 10, 2018
Ik heb van Woolf alleen maar 'Mrs. Dalloway' gelezen en de film 'The hours' gezien. Verder zinderde nog ergens de titel van Albee's toneelstuk 'Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf' in mijn onderbewustzijn. Ik wist dus wel iets af van haar leven en haar reputatie, maar dit boek heeft mij nu het kader gegeven waarin ik een en ander moet plaatsen. Het is misschien niet de definitieve biografie van Woolf (naar het schijnt heeft Hermione Lee die al geschreven) maar het is een goede inleiding om het ontstaan van haar werk en de gedrevenheid van haar schrijfkunst te leren kennen. Hoe zij met taal en met structuur van verhalen is beziggeweest, dingen geschreven en telkens weer herschreven heeft tot het eindelijk op papier stond zoals zij het wilde en dan nog was ze er zelden tevreden over. Dat betekent dus meteen weer een heel lijstje boeken die ik absoluut nog wil lezen. Maar ja, daar doen we het toch voor.
October 4, 2020
Thank you.
March 23, 2019
Na het lezen van deze interessante biografie ben ik alleszins geprikkeld om meer van Woolfs werk te lezen (tot nog toe heb ik alleen nog maar Mrs. Dalloway gelezen, shame on me). But where to begin? A room of one's own?
January 14, 2019
Beautifully written and succinct guide to Virginia Woolf and her life and work. Ideal for undergraduates and for those just beginning their study of Woolf.
October 17, 2023
Virginia, Virginia, always Virginia. ❤️
February 16, 2022
A good succinct biography of Virginia Woolf, but confirmed my feelings about biographies: dry. I know we don't want to romanticise death or reduce her to her death, but I felt like it passed in one short sentence and little else was said about it. More was said about all the biographies written about her than about how her life ended? She was a prolific journal writer and letter writer, surely more must be known??
June 4, 2017
Dit boek heeft me helemaal weggeblazen. Het leven van Virginia Woolf wordt niet eens zo uitgebreid beschreven, maar wel heel toegankelijk en mooi. Harris heeft een fijne en vlotte schrijfstijl, die ervoor zorgde dat ik het boek in één keer uit wilde lezen. In eerste instantie was ik bang dat het hele verhaal in functie zou staan van de onvermijdelijke zelfmoord, maar Harris beschrijft juist prachtig hoe VW zich constant staande weet te houden en telkens uit dalen klimt. Ook de interpretatie van Woolfs boeken is heel mooi afgestemd op de periode's van haar leven.
January 11, 2016
There isn't a lot to say about this one. It's a concise overview of Woolf's life and work, best for those who are only mildly curious and just looking for the basics, or someone looking for an introduction before moving on to meatier stuff. Not badly written and has some occasional insight into Woolf's work, but not a definitive source by any means.
October 29, 2016
A wonderful introduction to Woolf's life and works - even this long time Woolf scholar learned some new things. Alexandra Harris again marries a staggering amount of research with a light touch and thoughtful commentary. This is a very enjoyable read for Woolf newbies and long-time fans alike. Next time : the Hermione Lee biography!
December 27, 2021
‘Woolf werkte aan een filosofie van momenten van helderheid. Ze had die haar leven lang ervaren, als schokken of openbaringen, momenten waarop iets wat wazig was ineens heel duidelijk wordt.’ P. 115
In al haar werk is de zoektocht naar de absoluutheid van deze momenten een rode draad.
Een mooie en veelzijdige biografie over het schrijversleven van Virginia Woolf.
In al haar werk is de zoektocht naar de absoluutheid van deze momenten een rode draad.
Een mooie en veelzijdige biografie over het schrijversleven van Virginia Woolf.
February 18, 2013
This books is quite limited about the life if Virginia Wolfe and you would have to have read her fiction writing before reading this book to get the best out of the book to be honest. To me the book read like a masters dissertation, information but no real personality.
September 20, 2024
Brief book that touches on many interesting aspects of VW’s life but only briefly. Would have preferred reading a about shorter span of her life with more depth.
April 23, 2025
Very concise biography; great place to start. Will be reading more. What a fascinating woman!
December 30, 2021
Writers make for good subjects for a book. And as much as I love Woolf's literature, that it is an endless gold mine of the English language, I'm embarrassed to admit that I know very little about her life. Woolf has always been an enigmatic figure in literature, even though many English majors have taken her as their main subjects, and that her letters are some of the most well-known in literary circles.
Harris's book is concise and doesn't go too deep into her relationships with her husband and her compatriots. Still, it is amazing to read about the shoulders she was rubbing with at this time, and how these literary and artistic figures influence each other in the roaring twenties. That decade borne out some of the best in English and American literature and Woolf was right in the middle of it with the Bloomsbury group.
There are aspects of her life which were respectfully glossed over here. In her childhood, her half brothers may have gotten too close to her and her sister. The details of it is not something that anybody will concretely know, but may have influenced a lot of her writing. Virginia Woolf's dynamic with her father and her siblings are the most interesting, given that they are from a large family, the mother and father previously married with children. Her relationship with her sister Vanessa helped her artistic side as she became a successful painter in her own right and she designed some of the covers of Virginia's book which we know to this day.
But having an interest in economics, I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea that she was John Maynard Keynes landlady for a while and that Keynes was part of the Bloomsbury group. There are others who will feature prominently throughout her life, such as Ethel Smyth, T.S. Eliot and E.M. Forster. Harris did a sound job in connecting the nodes of these literary giants.
Harris also briefly touched on each one of Woolf's work and how they came about. I read To The Lighthouse a long time ago, but still remember the book vividly. I knew little that the main characters of the book was based on her parents, and the loss of the mother figure in the middle of the book mirrors the loss of Woolf's own mother, Stella Stephen. Harris takes you on a tour of Woolf's opera as a tour guide would, giving just enough details to get you interested if you want to dive deeper into it later.
But knowing what I know now about Virginia Woolf, and the fact that her works are some of my favourite in the English language, I hunger for more of her work. I will need to finish all her books and read her letters. But even if you only have a slight appreciation of Woolf's works, Virginia Woolf is a good introduction to her life.
Harris's book is concise and doesn't go too deep into her relationships with her husband and her compatriots. Still, it is amazing to read about the shoulders she was rubbing with at this time, and how these literary and artistic figures influence each other in the roaring twenties. That decade borne out some of the best in English and American literature and Woolf was right in the middle of it with the Bloomsbury group.
There are aspects of her life which were respectfully glossed over here. In her childhood, her half brothers may have gotten too close to her and her sister. The details of it is not something that anybody will concretely know, but may have influenced a lot of her writing. Virginia Woolf's dynamic with her father and her siblings are the most interesting, given that they are from a large family, the mother and father previously married with children. Her relationship with her sister Vanessa helped her artistic side as she became a successful painter in her own right and she designed some of the covers of Virginia's book which we know to this day.
But having an interest in economics, I'm embarrassed to say that I had no idea that she was John Maynard Keynes landlady for a while and that Keynes was part of the Bloomsbury group. There are others who will feature prominently throughout her life, such as Ethel Smyth, T.S. Eliot and E.M. Forster. Harris did a sound job in connecting the nodes of these literary giants.
Harris also briefly touched on each one of Woolf's work and how they came about. I read To The Lighthouse a long time ago, but still remember the book vividly. I knew little that the main characters of the book was based on her parents, and the loss of the mother figure in the middle of the book mirrors the loss of Woolf's own mother, Stella Stephen. Harris takes you on a tour of Woolf's opera as a tour guide would, giving just enough details to get you interested if you want to dive deeper into it later.
But knowing what I know now about Virginia Woolf, and the fact that her works are some of my favourite in the English language, I hunger for more of her work. I will need to finish all her books and read her letters. But even if you only have a slight appreciation of Woolf's works, Virginia Woolf is a good introduction to her life.
September 12, 2024
I came to Virginia Woolf by Alexandra Harris expecting a more intimate exploration of Woolf's mental illness and the psychological depth behind her complex personality. Given Woolf’s well-documented struggles with mental health, I was looking forward to gaining insight into how these challenges influenced her life and writing. However, the book took a different approach.
As a piece of literary criticism, it is excellent. Harris provides clear and insightful analysis of Woolf’s works, contextualizing them within her time and offering thoughtful perspectives on her contributions to modernist literature. The writing is engaging, and Harris does an admirable job of weaving Woolf’s intellectual development into the broader landscape of early 20th-century literary culture.
That said, I finished the book feeling disappointed. It fell short of delivering the depth of psychological exploration I was hoping for. Woolf’s internal pain, her struggles with mental illness, and the impact of these on her personal and creative life weren’t explored in the way I expected. While Harris touches on these aspects, they remain on the periphery, and I was left wanting more insight into Woolf as a person. Overall, an excellent work of literary criticism, but not quite what I had hoped for in terms of understanding the psychological dimensions of Woolf’s life.
As a piece of literary criticism, it is excellent. Harris provides clear and insightful analysis of Woolf’s works, contextualizing them within her time and offering thoughtful perspectives on her contributions to modernist literature. The writing is engaging, and Harris does an admirable job of weaving Woolf’s intellectual development into the broader landscape of early 20th-century literary culture.
That said, I finished the book feeling disappointed. It fell short of delivering the depth of psychological exploration I was hoping for. Woolf’s internal pain, her struggles with mental illness, and the impact of these on her personal and creative life weren’t explored in the way I expected. While Harris touches on these aspects, they remain on the periphery, and I was left wanting more insight into Woolf as a person. Overall, an excellent work of literary criticism, but not quite what I had hoped for in terms of understanding the psychological dimensions of Woolf’s life.
January 1, 2026
The high rating is solely due to the fact that I enjoyed learning about Virginia Woolf. I didn’t know anything about her so I was easily surprised (frequently pleasantly so) by what I learned about her. The writing in the biography was very plain and straight forward. Toward the end i realized that the biographer was trying to adamantly to avoid making the common mistake of psychoanalyze her diaries, or peg her as a certain type woman. Yet Woolf left behind enough evidence about herself and her life to form a pretty good opinion of her. I understand trying not to impose your own personal opinion into the biography, but this biography seemed to gloss over certain things as if trying to prevent even the readers to for their own opinions. What I mean is that there was a sense of something being left out here. The biographer assumes we already know everything about Woolf and that there is no point in delving into anything too deeply. She also assumes we’ve read all of Woolf’s work and this book is filled with spoilers. It was especially annoying to spoil the ultimate death of the main character in the very book I plan to read next. I feel that she could have instead alluded to a certain part of the book without explicitly describing what happens. For those who have read the book, it will make sense, for those who haven’t, it will make sense when they get to that part of the book. No spoiler necessary. Yet this biography spoils every single book Wolf ever wrote. Shame.
I look forward to reading another biography. For now, I guess this was a good enough start.
I look forward to reading another biography. For now, I guess this was a good enough start.
January 17, 2021
In this refreshingly short biographical account of Virginia Woolf, Alexandra Harris gallops through events that surround and shape Woolf's major works. Harris offers a brisk insight into Woolf's formation as one of the best writers in English Literature. This work offers an introduction to the Woolfian canon, and is sensitive to her literary experimentation, presenting Woolf as an innovator who is always one step ahead of the reader. Harris considers the ongoing critical reception of Woolf, noting that this continues to evolve, casting speculation that she will enter the mainstream of "Sunday evening costume drama" once more people read her for pleasure. This work goes some way to whet the appetite. In its brevity, the book omits details that will be sought by the reader elsewhere. I do think this book is somewhat reliant on its ancestors (i.e. Hermione Lee's biography), but it is evident that Harris has distilled a tremendous amount of research into an accessible, light-handed tour through the landscape of a formidable writer's life and works.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 16, 2021This book has a tone of love and tenderness towards its subject, through which it conjures an impression of the kind of person Virginia may have been and the world in which she lived. Harris is clearly in love with Virginia’s writing, and summarises her works in images and adoring parallels. In all these ways it is a book I was compelled to read.
However, for anyone truly interested in Virginia, this book will not do. It skips very lightly over her life, rarely pausing to examine or expand upon important moments, and even when it hesitates it does so very briefly; the longest pauses are given to summarising and reflecting on her work—which of course one could just read!—rather than on her life. Her death, for example, is handled with a shocking brevity that left me a little cold. (Thankfully there is an Afterword to help soften that abrupt ending.)
All in all this may be a good introduction to Virginia (albeit filled with plot spoilers where her work is concerned), but it must fail to satisfy anyone with a true interest; and I’m not sure who else would pick up such a biography.
However, for anyone truly interested in Virginia, this book will not do. It skips very lightly over her life, rarely pausing to examine or expand upon important moments, and even when it hesitates it does so very briefly; the longest pauses are given to summarising and reflecting on her work—which of course one could just read!—rather than on her life. Her death, for example, is handled with a shocking brevity that left me a little cold. (Thankfully there is an Afterword to help soften that abrupt ending.)
All in all this may be a good introduction to Virginia (albeit filled with plot spoilers where her work is concerned), but it must fail to satisfy anyone with a true interest; and I’m not sure who else would pick up such a biography.
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