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کتاب آزادی
ویرجینیا وولف نویسنده رمانهای تجربی است که سعی در تشریح واقعیتهای درونی انسان دارد. نظرات فمینیستی وی که از روح حساس و انتقادی او سرچشمه گرفته، در دهه ششم قرن بیستم تحولی در نظریات جنبش زنان پدید آورد. «کتاب آزادی» که در سال ۲۰۱۸ از سوی انتشارات پنگوئن منتشر شده است شامل گزیدهای از نوشتههای وولف در کتابهای موج ها، خیابان گردی در لند ن و سایر مقالات ویرجینیا وُلف است که همگی با موضوع آزادی به ویژه آزادی زنان است که خواننده در این مجموعه به درک دقیقتر و سر راستتری از مفاهیم او در این زمینه دست مییابد.
آنچه در اثر پیش رو از زبان وولف میخوانید رهیافتی برای پاسخ به این سوال است که چرا باید نیمی از عمر را آزاد زندگی کنیم و نیمی دیگر را با خموشی از کنار زمین تماشا کنیم. در این مجموعه متقن و آیندهنگر، ویرجینیا وولف با کمک قدرت رهایی بخش ذهن، ما را در سفری متحول کننده هدایت می کند.
این مقالهها و داستانها ولف را در پرشورترین لحظات حیاتش نشان میدهند و جستجوی آزادی را به شکل یکی از شاعرانهترین ماجراهای زندگی تفسیر میکنند.
آنچه در اثر پیش رو از زبان وولف میخوانید رهیافتی برای پاسخ به این سوال است که چرا باید نیمی از عمر را آزاد زندگی کنیم و نیمی دیگر را با خموشی از کنار زمین تماشا کنیم. در این مجموعه متقن و آیندهنگر، ویرجینیا وولف با کمک قدرت رهایی بخش ذهن، ما را در سفری متحول کننده هدایت می کند.
این مقالهها و داستانها ولف را در پرشورترین لحظات حیاتش نشان میدهند و جستجوی آزادی را به شکل یکی از شاعرانهترین ماجراهای زندگی تفسیر میکنند.
130 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2018
99 people are currently reading
1379 people want to read
About the author
Virginia Woolf
1,825 books28.7k followers(Adeline) Virginia Woolf was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
June 24, 2018
Always love a bit of Virginia Woolf.
December 16, 2022
["رهایی" از ویرجینیا وولف از نشر کتابسرای نیک]
این کتاب تیکههایی از ۳ تا از کتابا و جستارهای ویرجینیا رو یجا جمع کرده بود که من یکیشونو-اتاقی از آن خود-رو قبلا خونده بودم برای همین نصف کتاب برام تکراری بود🤡ولی خب درسته که اگه پشتشو بادقت تر میخوندم و میفهمیدم اینجوریه نمیخردیمش(آخه چه کاریه آدم تیکههاشو بخونه وقتی میخواد کلشو بخونه😭😂)،اما داشتنش ضرری نداره و خوندنشم تو اون لحظه هم حالمو خوب کرد هم به شدت ترغیبم کرد که اون یکی رمان هاشو هرچه زودتر بخونم😌☝🏼
*خلاصه که خیلی با دیدن اسم نویسنده و قیمت مناسب و جلد قشنگش ذوق زده و جوگیر نشید و قبل از خریدنش پشتشو کامل بخونید👍🏽
این کتاب تیکههایی از ۳ تا از کتابا و جستارهای ویرجینیا رو یجا جمع کرده بود که من یکیشونو-اتاقی از آن خود-رو قبلا خونده بودم برای همین نصف کتاب برام تکراری بود🤡ولی خب درسته که اگه پشتشو بادقت تر میخوندم و میفهمیدم اینجوریه نمیخردیمش(آخه چه کاریه آدم تیکههاشو بخونه وقتی میخواد کلشو بخونه😭😂)،اما داشتنش ضرری نداره و خوندنشم تو اون لحظه هم حالمو خوب کرد هم به شدت ترغیبم کرد که اون یکی رمان هاشو هرچه زودتر بخونم😌☝🏼
*خلاصه که خیلی با دیدن اسم نویسنده و قیمت مناسب و جلد قشنگش ذوق زده و جوگیر نشید و قبل از خریدنش پشتشو کامل بخونید👍🏽
August 31, 2017
Virginia Woolf is a genius.
January 18, 2025
“Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.”
December 30, 2018
Considering that I didn’t much enjoy my first introduction to Virginia Woolf, when I had to read Mrs Dalloway in a week for university, I was quite impressed here. I also thought it was fascinating purely because of the subject matter.
This is basically Woolf writing about the place that women have held in literature throughout history. That’s why it’s so interesting. She also examines her own place in that history, and that takes on a new sense of irony when you read it today as a modern reader. It’s also a good introduction to her range and it made me want to read more.
This is basically Woolf writing about the place that women have held in literature throughout history. That’s why it’s so interesting. She also examines her own place in that history, and that takes on a new sense of irony when you read it today as a modern reader. It’s also a good introduction to her range and it made me want to read more.
December 29, 2019
*3.75 ⭐️
May 10, 2022
Leste det første essayet, siden det var grunnen til at jeg plukket denne boken opp. Utdraget var tatt ut fra Virginia Wolf sitt essay A room of One’s Own. Jeg elsket det for å være helt ærlig. Den var litt treg til tider. Elsket hvordan hun hoppet fra en tanke til en annen på sekundet. Fikk lære litt om hvordan kvinner kunne skrive utrolige bra romaner, innestengt i stua i 1812. De andre utdragene var korte, men var noveller. Følte ikke for noe novelle akkurat nå😅
October 31, 2017
Nice to revisit some of the best parts of A Room of One's Own 💖
April 24, 2020
I read in English but this review is Bahasa Indonesia
Apa itu "liberty" mungkin jika diartikan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia memiliki arti yang tipis dengan terminologi "freedom." Namun, dalam kumpulan cuplikan tulisan Virgina Woolf, ia jelas-jelas menggarisbawahi mengenai kebebasan perempuan. Misalnya saja dalam beberapa bagian awal yang merupakan potongan dari A Room for One's Own. Di situ, ia jelas sekali mengatakan bahwa perempuan juga punya hak yang sama dengan laki-laki dalam menjalani kesehariannya. Bukannya malah harus memenuhi ekspektasi kaum laki-laki saja.
Tidak saja dari esai, dalam Liberty: Vintage Minis ini juga ada potongan dari novelnya yang berjudul The Waves. Di situ, meskipun bersifat fiksi, tetapi Woolf juga memberikan beberapa pemaparan yang agaknya merupakan pelampiasaannya terhadap ketidakadilan terhadap perempuan.
Bagian yang paling aku suka dari buku ini adalah bagian yang terakhir, "How Should One Read A Book." Membaca pun juga adalah bentuk kebebasan dalam berpikir, menurut Woolf seharusnya membaca dan bagaimana cara membaca buku tidak ada standarnya. Semua diberikan secara bebas dari penulis kepada pembaca. Dalam esai yang ini, Woolf mengatakan hal yang masih relevan hingga sekarang: betapa penilaian seseorang terhadap bacaan menjadi refleksi untuk menilai orang lain yang membacanya.
Untukku pribadi, Liberty: Vintage Minis ini lebih ringan daripada membaca A Room for One's Own. Berkenalan dengan Woolf melalui ide utamanya di buku ini rasanya menjadi sebuah pilihan yang tepat. Apalagi, ia hanya memakan waktu sekitar 2 jam saja untuk dilahap.
Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags.
Apa itu "liberty" mungkin jika diartikan ke dalam bahasa Indonesia memiliki arti yang tipis dengan terminologi "freedom." Namun, dalam kumpulan cuplikan tulisan Virgina Woolf, ia jelas-jelas menggarisbawahi mengenai kebebasan perempuan. Misalnya saja dalam beberapa bagian awal yang merupakan potongan dari A Room for One's Own. Di situ, ia jelas sekali mengatakan bahwa perempuan juga punya hak yang sama dengan laki-laki dalam menjalani kesehariannya. Bukannya malah harus memenuhi ekspektasi kaum laki-laki saja.
Tidak saja dari esai, dalam Liberty: Vintage Minis ini juga ada potongan dari novelnya yang berjudul The Waves. Di situ, meskipun bersifat fiksi, tetapi Woolf juga memberikan beberapa pemaparan yang agaknya merupakan pelampiasaannya terhadap ketidakadilan terhadap perempuan.
And since a novel has this correspondence to real life, its values are to some extent those of real life. But it is obvious that the values of women differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sex; naturally, this is so. Yet it is the masculine values that prevail.
Bagian yang paling aku suka dari buku ini adalah bagian yang terakhir, "How Should One Read A Book." Membaca pun juga adalah bentuk kebebasan dalam berpikir, menurut Woolf seharusnya membaca dan bagaimana cara membaca buku tidak ada standarnya. Semua diberikan secara bebas dari penulis kepada pembaca. Dalam esai yang ini, Woolf mengatakan hal yang masih relevan hingga sekarang: betapa penilaian seseorang terhadap bacaan menjadi refleksi untuk menilai orang lain yang membacanya.
Untukku pribadi, Liberty: Vintage Minis ini lebih ringan daripada membaca A Room for One's Own. Berkenalan dengan Woolf melalui ide utamanya di buku ini rasanya menjadi sebuah pilihan yang tepat. Apalagi, ia hanya memakan waktu sekitar 2 jam saja untuk dilahap.
The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions.
February 12, 2018
It is times like this that I really wish I was able to give books half stars, as this was definitely a 3.5/5 read.
Each extract/essay in this book was written so well, and I feel as though I have taken something out of each one - but some were just more enjoyable to read than others. I feel as though this is a case where I know how good, and important, a book was but it just wasn't entirely for me.
My favourites were 'Street Haunting: A London Adventure' and the extract from the novel 'The Waves'. They managed to hold my attention, and intrigue me, the most.
Each extract/essay in this book was written so well, and I feel as though I have taken something out of each one - but some were just more enjoyable to read than others. I feel as though this is a case where I know how good, and important, a book was but it just wasn't entirely for me.
My favourites were 'Street Haunting: A London Adventure' and the extract from the novel 'The Waves'. They managed to hold my attention, and intrigue me, the most.
Read
November 17, 2017I have read A Room of One's Own before, but I liked going back to it again in this abbreviated version, since it captured some of my favourite passages from that essay. I felt that the middle two excerpts lacked context (although I read this on the train so I wasn't very focused) but 'How Should One Read a Book', the last essay, was a treat. It's brief but it triggers thoughts on what reading means and that's something I always love to think about.
June 12, 2023
rip jo march who said;
"Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent as much as just beauty."
you would've loved virginia woolf.
"Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent as much as just beauty."
you would've loved virginia woolf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2021
Seri Vintages Mini ke tiga yang saya baca sebelumnya Language dan Work. Seri ini memudahkan pembaca yg tidak terbiasa membaca banyak tapi ingin mengenal bayak ide.
Tentang Virginia Woolf ini, saya pertama kali kenal waktu membaca Mrs.Dalloway (pinjem di perpustakaan Elsam), dengan versi terjemahan saja masih sangat melelahkan. Lalu mencoba baca A Room of One's Own versi inggris lantas tidak selesai karena pilihan bahasanya terlalu sulit jadi vintages mini cukup membantu. FYI Virginia Woolf bunuh diri dengan menghanyutkan dirinya di sungai. Sebagai perempuan, dia hidup sebebas itu.
Woolf mengajak kita memaknai liberty atau kebebasan dengan mengenalkan berbagai tokoh sastra di eranya berserta pemikirannya. Kemudian dia mengajak kita mengenali perempuan yang selalu dikekang pada zaman itu melakukan banyak pemberontakan. Hal penting yang selalu dibawa dalam setiap makna bebas, Woolf terus mengulang bagaimana manusia harus terus sadar sebab hanya dirinya yang bisa mengontrol dirinya sendiri. Tidak perlu terlalu mendengarkan petuah bijak orang lain meski tidak mungkin terjadi sebab kita bukan yang pertama hidup di bumi ini. Namun dengan mengikuti kata hatimu maka dirimu akan menemukan petualanganmu yang seutuhnya membebaskanmu. Kriteria sebuah pemikiran itu dapat dimaklumi atau tidak, ada padamu bukan pada penerimaan masyarakat.
Membaca essay atau buku Woolf, seperti belajar tahu diri dan sadar diri. Mungkin karena dia termasuk penulis awal yg selalu membawa isu kesehatan mentalnya dalam tiap karyanya atau mungkin perasaan senasib saya dengan Woolf semata.
#WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2021
Tentang Virginia Woolf ini, saya pertama kali kenal waktu membaca Mrs.Dalloway (pinjem di perpustakaan Elsam), dengan versi terjemahan saja masih sangat melelahkan. Lalu mencoba baca A Room of One's Own versi inggris lantas tidak selesai karena pilihan bahasanya terlalu sulit jadi vintages mini cukup membantu. FYI Virginia Woolf bunuh diri dengan menghanyutkan dirinya di sungai. Sebagai perempuan, dia hidup sebebas itu.
Woolf mengajak kita memaknai liberty atau kebebasan dengan mengenalkan berbagai tokoh sastra di eranya berserta pemikirannya. Kemudian dia mengajak kita mengenali perempuan yang selalu dikekang pada zaman itu melakukan banyak pemberontakan. Hal penting yang selalu dibawa dalam setiap makna bebas, Woolf terus mengulang bagaimana manusia harus terus sadar sebab hanya dirinya yang bisa mengontrol dirinya sendiri. Tidak perlu terlalu mendengarkan petuah bijak orang lain meski tidak mungkin terjadi sebab kita bukan yang pertama hidup di bumi ini. Namun dengan mengikuti kata hatimu maka dirimu akan menemukan petualanganmu yang seutuhnya membebaskanmu. Kriteria sebuah pemikiran itu dapat dimaklumi atau tidak, ada padamu bukan pada penerimaan masyarakat.
Membaca essay atau buku Woolf, seperti belajar tahu diri dan sadar diri. Mungkin karena dia termasuk penulis awal yg selalu membawa isu kesehatan mentalnya dalam tiap karyanya atau mungkin perasaan senasib saya dengan Woolf semata.
#WhatSekarReads #WhatSekarReads2021
April 25, 2024
"At this hour, this still early hour, I think I am the field, I am the barn, I am the trees; mine are the flocks of birds, and this young hare who leaps, at the last moment when I step almost on him."
Dios, este librito siempre me tranquiliza tanto. La primera vez que lo leí fue en el cumpleaños de Woolf en 2021, sentado en una plaza porque una amiga no venía.
Son fragmentos de A Room of One's Own, The Waves y cuentos. Y entra en el bolsillo. Está tan lleno de vida y de paz. Mi verdadero libro de mantras.
Woolf siempre va a ser la muestra de amor y empatía más grande que haya visto.
Your voice in the night
sing me to sleep soothe this insomnia
haunted dreams stages of grief
repressed memories anger and bargaining
your embrace healing my wounds
teach me to breathe, teach me to move
PTSD anxiety
genetic disease
thanatophobia
Dios, este librito siempre me tranquiliza tanto. La primera vez que lo leí fue en el cumpleaños de Woolf en 2021, sentado en una plaza porque una amiga no venía.
Son fragmentos de A Room of One's Own, The Waves y cuentos. Y entra en el bolsillo. Está tan lleno de vida y de paz. Mi verdadero libro de mantras.
Woolf siempre va a ser la muestra de amor y empatía más grande que haya visto.
Your voice in the night
sing me to sleep soothe this insomnia
haunted dreams stages of grief
repressed memories anger and bargaining
your embrace healing my wounds
teach me to breathe, teach me to move
PTSD anxiety
genetic disease
thanatophobia
February 19, 2020
Sjajno osmišljena mini serija džepnih knjižica u okviru edicije Vintage Minis donosi svetske klasike i njihovo shvatanje humanizma i njegovih najvažnijih tema.
Ova izdanja sam otkrila u jednoj od najlepših knjižara na svetu, koju sam imala privilegiju da posetim, mastrihtskoj Dominicanen. Tako da ima posebno mesto u mom čitalačkom doživljaju i iskustvu.
Kratka i deskriptivna zbirka eseja i isečaka iz Virdžinijinih dela "Sopstvena soba" i "Talasi" obuhvaćena je ovom zbirkom o slobodi. Spisateljica piše o razvoju ženskog pisma kroz istoriju, osvrćući se na engleskinje Džejn Ostin i sestre Bronte, na sve izazove i uslove u kojima su žene stvarale i njihovo konačno oslobođenje i osvajanje svih književnih formi. Piše o književnoj kritici i uživanju u literaturi i pokušaju da se delo doživi bez obzira na to ko je pisac i šta o njemu znamo i koje je naše obrazovanje i predznanje o datoj temi, već samo u umetničkom delu po sebi. Velika preporuka za sve ljubitelje Virdžinijinog dela, ali i za one koji se prvi put susreću sa njom. Dobra knjiga kao polazište za upoznavanje sa osnovama njene poetike i stila pisanja. I nije toliko zahtevna za čitanje u originalu, čega sam se ja posebno pribojavala.
"I have sometimes dreamt, at least, when the Day of Judgement dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards-their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble-the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, "Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading."
Ova izdanja sam otkrila u jednoj od najlepših knjižara na svetu, koju sam imala privilegiju da posetim, mastrihtskoj Dominicanen. Tako da ima posebno mesto u mom čitalačkom doživljaju i iskustvu.
Kratka i deskriptivna zbirka eseja i isečaka iz Virdžinijinih dela "Sopstvena soba" i "Talasi" obuhvaćena je ovom zbirkom o slobodi. Spisateljica piše o razvoju ženskog pisma kroz istoriju, osvrćući se na engleskinje Džejn Ostin i sestre Bronte, na sve izazove i uslove u kojima su žene stvarale i njihovo konačno oslobođenje i osvajanje svih književnih formi. Piše o književnoj kritici i uživanju u literaturi i pokušaju da se delo doživi bez obzira na to ko je pisac i šta o njemu znamo i koje je naše obrazovanje i predznanje o datoj temi, već samo u umetničkom delu po sebi. Velika preporuka za sve ljubitelje Virdžinijinog dela, ali i za one koji se prvi put susreću sa njom. Dobra knjiga kao polazište za upoznavanje sa osnovama njene poetike i stila pisanja. I nije toliko zahtevna za čitanje u originalu, čega sam se ja posebno pribojavala.
"I have sometimes dreamt, at least, when the Day of Judgement dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards-their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble-the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, "Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading."
August 9, 2025
“Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such
preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning.”
(From How Does One Read A Book?)
This is Virginia Woolf at her finest and most discerning, most convincingly argumentative. This collection pulled from her essays and novels center most importantly on women’s history in literature (or lackthereof), on the observance of the world and the moments that make up the stories we so deeply concern ourselves with reading, and of course some of the best advice on consuming literature. If you want some good introduction to Woolf, this is perhaps the best work to start.
preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning.”
(From How Does One Read A Book?)
This is Virginia Woolf at her finest and most discerning, most convincingly argumentative. This collection pulled from her essays and novels center most importantly on women’s history in literature (or lackthereof), on the observance of the world and the moments that make up the stories we so deeply concern ourselves with reading, and of course some of the best advice on consuming literature. If you want some good introduction to Woolf, this is perhaps the best work to start.
November 21, 2023
4.5
god i love woolf so so much,, favourite part was the final piece ‘how should one read a book?’ but i found the whole thing delightful. she just had a way with words that i haven’t found with anyone else. also,, the excerpt from ‘the waves’ has finally convinced me to pick up the copy that i own 🙏🙏
god i love woolf so so much,, favourite part was the final piece ‘how should one read a book?’ but i found the whole thing delightful. she just had a way with words that i haven’t found with anyone else. also,, the excerpt from ‘the waves’ has finally convinced me to pick up the copy that i own 🙏🙏
January 1, 2025
Grandísima manera de cerrar el año, era obvio que era una buena idea que el libro 24 sea un regalo de 🫶🏼Tefi🫶🏼
Me alegro de haberlo agarrado en contexto Novelas Eternas donde estoy leyendo clásicos. Definitivamente quiero releer este libro cuando esté más familiarizada con las autoras que nombra. Y también anotar ciertas frases que voy a recordar por mucho tiempo
Me alegro de haberlo agarrado en contexto Novelas Eternas donde estoy leyendo clásicos. Definitivamente quiero releer este libro cuando esté más familiarizada con las autoras que nombra. Y también anotar ciertas frases que voy a recordar por mucho tiempo
September 8, 2025
I love how she writes soooo much I love her mind I love how she thinks
“When however one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a surprised poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Brontë who dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture that her gift had put her to.”
“When however one reads of a witch being ducked, of a woman possessed by devils, of a wise woman selling herbs, or even of a very remarkable man who had a mother, then I think we are on the track of a lost novelist, a surprised poet, of some mute and inglorious Jane Austen, some Emily Brontë who dashed her brains out on the moor or mopped and mowed about the highways crazed with the torture that her gift had put her to.”
April 5, 2020
3.5 stars
a room of ones own was fascinating,
the extract from the waves was beautiful,
the other essays were meh.
a very interesting collection
a room of ones own was fascinating,
the extract from the waves was beautiful,
the other essays were meh.
a very interesting collection
July 10, 2024
There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.
May 11, 2022
this book contains three excerpts from three of woolf’s books. and man… now i can’t wait to read a room of one’s own. and the street haunting: a london adventure essay… i’ve never felt more connected with an author. i’m also quite intrigued about the waves now too!
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January 9, 2025I only really liked the pages from "a room of ones own" and "the waves" tbh. Super insightful.
May 31, 2023
Yes vintage minis, you did it again for me. I’m so proud of myself for choosing to buy a copy of this book to help with the burn out I was facing. Basically this piece brought me back to my reading race.
November 30, 2025
Nice little collection of selected chapters from different books. Enjoyed.
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May 26, 2025R.I.P Virginia, you would have loved 2 hour long video essays and Lana del Rey.
October 25, 2017
Easy 5/5! An exquisite collection which features an extract from 'A Room of One's Own'; an extract from Woolf's highly experimental novel 'The Waves' and two of Virginia Woolf's essays entitled 'Street Haunting: A London Adventure' and 'How Should One Read a Book?'. The name for the collection is apt since it deals with different approaches to the theme of Liberty - especially in 'A Room of One's Own', Woolf's feminist tract and 'Street Haunting', which starts from the mere mentioning of a pencil - a pencil which takes the reader on a mystifying journey across the streets of London. The extracts also deal with the reader's freedom to multiple interpretations - not being solely limited to one perspective. Woolf emphasises the fact that the reader should find his own method of reading and his own critical voice. Simply amazing!
February 19, 2024
Perfect as an introduction to Virginia Woolf, you get a taste of her stream of consciousness writing without having to follow it for long. And I could truly understand what Ursula Le Guin wrote about Woolf's writing, that it reads as she's actually talking to you - it has a rhythm so close to actual speech and once you find it, you feel like you're having a surreal one sided conversation with her. Loved the "How should one read a book?" essay.
Some of my favourite quotes:
•"The indifference of the world which Keats and Flaubert and other men of genius have found so hard to bear was in [the woman writer's] case not indifference but hostility. The worlds did not say to her as it said to them, Write if you choose; it makes no difference to me. The world said with a guffaw, Write? What's the good of your writing?"
•"It would be a thousand pities if women wrote like men, or lived like men, or looked like men, for if two sexes are quite inadequate, considering the vastness and variety of the world, how should we manage with one only?"
•"Still as we approach our own doorstep again, it is comforting to feel the old possessions, the old prejudices, fold us round, and shelter and enclose the self which has been blown about so many street corners, which has battered like a moth at the flame of so many inaccessible lanterns."
•"Are they not criminals, books that have wasted our time and sympathy; are they not the most insidious enemies of society, corrupters, defilers, the writers of false books, faked books, books that fill the air with decay and disease?"
•"Indeed, it is precisely because we hate and we love that our relation with the poets and the novelists is so intimate"
Some of my favourite quotes:
•"The indifference of the world which Keats and Flaubert and other men of genius have found so hard to bear was in [the woman writer's] case not indifference but hostility. The worlds did not say to her as it said to them, Write if you choose; it makes no difference to me. The world said with a guffaw, Write? What's the good of your writing?"
•"It would be a thousand pities if women wrote like men, or lived like men, or looked like men, for if two sexes are quite inadequate, considering the vastness and variety of the world, how should we manage with one only?"
•"Still as we approach our own doorstep again, it is comforting to feel the old possessions, the old prejudices, fold us round, and shelter and enclose the self which has been blown about so many street corners, which has battered like a moth at the flame of so many inaccessible lanterns."
•"Are they not criminals, books that have wasted our time and sympathy; are they not the most insidious enemies of society, corrupters, defilers, the writers of false books, faked books, books that fill the air with decay and disease?"
•"Indeed, it is precisely because we hate and we love that our relation with the poets and the novelists is so intimate"
April 12, 2022
On a very real level, this is the first Woolf I’ve read and actually understood. The first half is an excerpt from “A Room of One’s Own,” which I had heard of but not yet read, and was an interesting discussion on the significance of female writers. Then there was a passage from her novel “The Waves,” which gave Amy & Meg March from Little Women vibes, and then a little section about the pleasure of walking around London on a winter evening. The last bit covered how one should approach & read a book, and while it was all interesting, Woolf and I are similar in the way that we both like to use extremely long, dialogue-like sentences that can be hard to follow (lol). I know I am better for reading this, but unfortunately most of it didn’t excite me the way I had hoped. Perhaps I ought to stick to novels & poetry!
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