A Passionate Apprentice: The Early Journals, 1897-1909

by Virginia Woolf

These early journals record Virginia Woolf's "sublime trajectory" (Bloomsbury Review) from a gifted adolescent to a professional writer and complete the magnificent self-portrait provided by her published letters and diaries. Edited and with a Preface and Introduction by Mitchell A. Leaska; Index.

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Feminism, Diary, Literature

512 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 1990

About the author

(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."

Reviews

[Marko · Rating 5 out of 5]

PRIKAZ - http://www.optimist.rs/dnevnik-virdzi...

Dnevnik Virdžinije Vulf (I tom) možete naći u knjižarama Vulkan, Delfi, etc, pa i na Kupindu kod mene.

<3

[Александра · Rating 5 out of 5]

Целу рецензију ћу написати када завршим други део дневника, а сада ћу само искористити неколико речи којима бих похвалила одличан превод Марка Гилмора. Пре сам имала проблема са савладавањем Вирџинијиних реченица уколико сам их читала на српском језику, док овде то није био случај. Због тога сматрам да је велики труд уложен у процес превођења и било би бајно да је такав случај и с било којом другом књигом која постоји на свету.

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nešto se prevodilo...biće za sajam knjiga 2017. godine na štandu Ukronije :)

[Milan]

Nakon smrti svoje majke trinaestogodišnja Virdžinija doživela je svoj prvi nervni slom od kojeg se dugo vremena oporavljala. Kao jedan vid lečenja počela je da vodi dnevnik čiji je srpski prevod prvog (od ukupno šest) toma nedavno objavila pomalo šašava izdavačka kuća „Ukronija“.

Na početku dnevnika upoznajemo gotovo običnu petnaestogodišnju klinku da bi vremenom, kako zapisi odmiču, devojčurak na naše oči sazrevao i intelektualno i duhovno cvetao. I to veoma brzo jer je Virdžinija od terapije pisanje dnevnika pretvorila u vežbanje, da ne kažem treniranje, svojih spisateljskih sposobnosti.

U pitanju su izabrani zapisi, ideja prevodioca i priređivača bila je da nas upozna sa duhovnim svetom jedne od najvećih književnica, tako da su neki svakodnevni događaji propušteni da bi se našlo više mesta za Virdžinijine misli, osećanja, ideje… Ipak, ovo nije samo dnevnik osećaja, već i dnevnik događaja. U njemu su svoje mesto našli opisi Virdžinijih putovanja, isprva samo po Ostrvu, a kasnije i u Grčku, Italiju, Španiju… Tu su takođe i susreti sa kućnim prijateljima njene porodice i, docnije, njenim među kojima se nalaze brojne slavne i manje slavne ličnosti iz kulturnog i društvenog života Velike Britanije na samom koncu vladavine čuvene kraljice Viktorije.

Ovi zapisi će nam pomoći da upoznamo jednu drugačiju Virdžiniju. Ne onu sumornu žgoljavicu koja je jednog dana odlučila da uđe u reku sa kamenjem u džepovima. Ne. Čitajući stranice njenog dnevnika upoznajemo jednu drugačiju, obično-neobičnu, ženu. Ženu koja je bila jedna od najobrazovanijih i najinteligentnijih žena u Velikoj Britaniji. Ženu uvek nasmejanu i raspoloženu za šalu i ironiju. Ženu koja je bila draga sestra i prijateljica, obožavana tetka, supruga i spisatelj…ups… književnica kakvu svet retko viđa.

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read her journal entries starting from when she was fifteen--somewhat brief and boring entries at that time--progressing through somewhat whimsical writing to much stronger descriptive writing as a young adult. I especially love her travel journals and her descriptions of her beloved Cornwall coastline and the more desolate moors.

[Prerazmišljavanje - Katarina Kostić]

Prikaz možete pogledati na booktube kanalu Knjigoložnica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWSsD...

[Aljoša · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mnogo volim Virdžiniju Vulf kao ličnost. U prvom tomu dnevnika vidimo začetke pisanja i kritičkog mišljenja uz detalje iz njenog života.

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming to watch Woolf grow up; fascinating and sad to watch her put herself back together as a writer after several breakdowns.

Her accounts of travels in Greece, Italy, and Turkey, as well as in rural England, are especially delightful.

[Jennie Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for travel diaries but 5 glimmering, dusty stars for her London / Cornwall diaries — seascapes & tube rides & grassy fields & book lists & bus rides just to feel the wind blow in one’s face.

[Myi · Rating 4 out of 5]

La lecture du journal d'un futur écrivain a quelque chose de touchant, surtout quand, comme Virginia Woolf, ce journal est commencé assez tôt, à l'age de quinze ans. Si les premières entrées n'ont que très peu d’intérêt stylistique, on la sens assez vite tatonner, tenter, frayer son chemin vers la carrière d'écrivaine qu'on lui connaît, et c'est un processus fascinant à découvrir. Attention cela dis, comme beaucoup de témoignages d'époque, racisme et antisémitisme sont au rendez vous.

[Kristina Sofronić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gubila me je na momente, previše dugo sam čitala. Kroz dnevnik Virdžinija sazreva, tako da mi se dopalo što sam imala priliku da "proživim" zajedno sa njom neke događaje.

[Cath Van]

Having dedicated a shelf to Virginia Woolf makes me into a collector maybe but not a reader. Although I didn't plan to leave my small collection unread I have been a little intimidated by Woolf's writing. Last year I started at the very beginning with her very first diary, written when she was almost fifteen. Now it is as if I am tracing her steps in becoming a writer. The first section in A Passionate Apprentice is a collection of short accounts of her daily life in 1897.

During the summer holidays of 1899 at The Rectory, Warboys, Huntingdonshire, Virginia Woolf kept a journal that was very different from that of 1897. Rather than the accounts of daily life in 1897, she now is wondering how a reader would respond to her words and you can find her practicing the art of essay-writing for the first time. Where will she go from here?

[Andrew Darling · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1899, the 17-year-old Virginia Stephens (as she then was) enjoyed a holiday with other members of her family in Huntingdonshire. Even in those teenage years, writing was to her a compulsion. She kept a diary as many people do; but not simply a record of events. Her extraordinary gifts for observation and description are evident on almost every page of this wonderful book. Here she marks the end of summer (and the end of the holiday) in vivid prose - a little purple occasionally, but gloriously evocative:
A change has come over the country since I last wrote. Then it was summer; now it is autumn. I drove back alone from St Ives on Monday, & felt the change each step of the five miles. Where the corn stood yellow & luxuriant, there are now fields of brown clods, which leave a decided impression on ones eyes when one sees the country spread beneath one. The still days of haze & blue distance are over; a sharp wind comes racing over the plain, & brown coveys of partridges rise from the stubble that yet stands. The summer wealth of cultivation is over; & the earth is preparing for her time of sleep & slow reproduction. The hedges all along the road are laden with scarlet berries, which if nature shows in this liberality her intention of inflicting on bird & man a hard winter foretell months of ice & snow. The little brown birds rise in a cloud & go twittering high up in the air over the brown fields. There is that mellow clearness in the air, which softens & matures the land & the mens faces who till it. There is a look & feeling of melancholy in everything – that melancholy which is the sweetest tongue of thought.

[Arcadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invaluable insight into the blossoming of Virginia (then) Stephen. From avid reader and determined writer, these journals collect her private writings ages 15 to 27 and by reading them, not only does one become familiar with her priorities in her work and writing goals, but one can start to see the world through her eyes. Far from sentimentalist, these journals evidence Virginia's life, from aristocratic doings and views to a life soaked in culture encounters. The entries encompass the time when Virginia started to be able to claim that she was a writer for a living. Full of essayistic gems, this book invited you to regard Virginia as a friend and sheds a different, more personal light on her life's work.

[Poetic Diva504 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was impressed by the precision of her words at such young age. Reading this book gave me a clear blueprint on what I need to do. All published books act as guides in some way. This one shows writing apprentices how to strengthen writing muscles, and tighten up their writing skills. She reads people, interactions, and documents activities. She writes about what she’s going to write, and cents about writing struggles. Her progress is slow, but evident from beginning to end. If I hadn’t learned anything from all the other brilliant writers, this book shows years of free-writing for herself. Showing your work (journals and exercises) is an honest way to come up in the literary field.

[Jo Donoghue]

Spoiler within text - don't read on...

Interesting but couldn't finish someone's diary, so I will be putting it down as not finished. Maybe I will pick up at another date but for now I wander away from Virginia Woolf, enchanted to of met her although sad to learn she takes her life from____, before I got there on my own. Why lingers and maybe another book of hers will be easier reading. Such a high class life but even that holds despair. Who would of thought that.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well documented edition of Virginia Woolf (more properly Virginia Stephens) diaries. Hermione Lee provides a detailed and lengthy introduction that prepares the reader for the details of the diaries. The young years are also years of trauma and illness and discovery. A superbly done history of the formative years of on of Modernism best writers.

[evelyn]

"This one night we will be mad - dance lightly - raise our hearts as the beat strengthens, grows buoyant - careless, defiant. What matters anything so long as ones step is in time - so long as one's whole body & mind are dancing too - what shall end it?"

[Julián · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disfruté la manera detallada en la que describe su mundo interior. Pero y esto es inevitable en la escritura de una mujer británica acomodada de inicios de s. XX, su prejuicio racial y cultural que se nota en sus relatos de viajes por Grecia y Turquía es francamente detestable

[Marija · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ova ocena jedino i samo zbog užasbog prevoda i lekture.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful diary writings of the young Virginia Woolf.

[Nilay Kaya]

Dear Goodreads community,

Please consider how meaningful it is to rate diaries and give them stars.
Thank you.

[Kristin]

I hesitate to "star" a journal, because the writer didn't compose his or her diary for the benefit, enjoyment or enrichment of others, however self-conscious said author might be. However, I would say while this journal had some lovely passages, it wasn't illuminating on the whole. It was actually quite depressing. Written during the most difficult period of Virginia Woolf's life, it shows more about her psyche but why she doesn't say than what she does. It's very methodical and routine in the first few years. You could tell she was trying to rebuild her mind after her first nervous breakdown. The diary just stops before difficult periods and resumes after she recovers. The travel sections are actually less interesting despite being more than just an account of her daily tasks, because they feel more straightforward in a way. You infer less about her life at this point, because she's merely outlining travel. It was clear, however, that she was deeply devoted to becoming a writer and did all she could to make that happen. I was hoping this set of journals would shed some light on the difficult events that characterized the rest of her life, but it shows how even in the seemingly open and free world of journal writing, we lie to ourselves or merely examine what we choose to examine. The memoirs she did that comprise Moments of Being are much more illuminating, open and honest.

One small section does provide some chilling backdoor insight, and it was hard to read. While vacationing in the country with her family (shortly before her father became ill), Virginia learned of a local woman's recent suicide by drowning in the Serpentine River. While shaken by this story, she writes about it in detail, speculating about the woman's motives for committing this act. Her writing about this incident has a fascinated feel to it, and it is an eerie sign of things to come for her. Like I said, this journal was an unpleasant read in many cases...

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read all of her later journal and most of her other books before reading this one. If you are deeply interested in her work, or in the development of a great writer, this is well worthwhile. Woolf overcame a lot of emotional and psychological instability with sheer doggedness and a fine work ethic, and started early. She is consciously practicing in most of these entries, writing descriptions, working out ideas, and she improves steadily of course. She begins to publish book reviews and essays and starts writing her first novel. By the end she is questioning what kind of artist she wants to be, what is possible for her, and has begun to develop an identity as an artist.

[lethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Onverwacht vond ik de beschrijvende essays (maar niet de buitenlandse) wonderlijk mooi. Citaat uit 'The Lands End', 14 Sept. 1905 (p. 295):

Lovely are these autumn days on the heath; the gorse is still as smooth as silk, & the air fragrant. I had almost said, regretful, as though there were some tinge of melancholy in its sweetness. All the months are crude experiments out of which the perfect September is made.

[Rosy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars for its lack of rivetingness, but worth reading for anyone who is interested in Virginia Woolf, her work, or even in writing--for its buried gems. I only remember a few, but a couple of these gems were stunning. One piece of description, of the stones of a cathedral wall "fairly piled," and a couple of pieces of insight into writing itself.

[Katyaakan · Rating 4 out of 5]

read till the end of the 1903 hyde park gate diary