- Paperback: 138 pages
- Publisher: Dover Publications Inc. (1 Jan 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 048640109X
- ISBN-13: 978-0486401096
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.2 x 1.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,272,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Jacob's Room
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Jacob Flanders died in the First World War. The life he left behind wasn't just unfinished, but unresolved: he'd never been able to reconcile his passsion for classical culture with the jarring reality of the world around him; never been able to comne to terms with lonelieness; never, in the end, been able to complete what passes for a rite of massage in a world still coming to grips with the reality of modernity (as, in the end, we still are today). All that remains of Jacob's life he bits of clutter that he left behind him -- and those who loved him must come to terms with those. If they can. If we can.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From the Publisher
With introductions by Lawrence Norfolk and Elisabeth Bronfen
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A typically wonderful read from the great Virginia Woolf. While Jacob is on the one hand the centre of this book, he is also the enigma which the reader never quite finds. We hear many others talking of Jacob, but we catch only fleeting glimpses of Jacob himself, making this book a strange, at times disorientating read. This however, is clearly Woolf's intention, as she plays with notions of character, authorial omniscience, and coherent plotting. A great example of classic modernist fiction from one of Britain's most celebrated authors. If you are prepared for a challenging read, then buy this book- but prepare for your expectations of what constitutes a novel to be put under the spotlight.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm in a Woolf phase right now and came to this book after reading her later works: 'Mrs Dalloway', 'To the Lighthouse', 'Orlando' as well her non-fiction piece 'A Room of One's Own'. Although lacking the brilliance of these later works, 'Jacob's Room' is well worth a read if only to see Woolf starting out on the process of trying to dismantle the idea that novel = linear narrative, fully rounded characterisation, and an omniscient author.
I think 'Jacob's Room' is a very 'impressionistic' novel in that we get no concrete sense of who the main character, Jacob Flanders, is. As another reviewer has said, we only catch glimpses of him. There is no god-like omniscient author forever telling you what the character thinks or feels. (To me this reflects the increasingly godless modern world we live in.) Also, the dialogue in the novel is often disjointed and I think this reflects the atomised modern world we live in. I assume that by writing dialogue which lacks linearity and fluidity Woolf more truthfully reflects human to human interaction: it's often full of non-sequitors, fails to flow easily, is interrupted etc.
If you're prepared for a challenging read and want to see how Woolf got started on the process of challenging the then accepted norms of fiction wfiting - then buy this book.
I think 'Jacob's Room' is a very 'impressionistic' novel in that we get no concrete sense of who the main character, Jacob Flanders, is. As another reviewer has said, we only catch glimpses of him. There is no god-like omniscient author forever telling you what the character thinks or feels. (To me this reflects the increasingly godless modern world we live in.) Also, the dialogue in the novel is often disjointed and I think this reflects the atomised modern world we live in. I assume that by writing dialogue which lacks linearity and fluidity Woolf more truthfully reflects human to human interaction: it's often full of non-sequitors, fails to flow easily, is interrupted etc.
If you're prepared for a challenging read and want to see how Woolf got started on the process of challenging the then accepted norms of fiction wfiting - then buy this book.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Jacob's Room is Virginia Woolf's third novel being published in 1922. The main protagonist of the book (Jacob Flanders) represents her brother Thoby Stephen who had died earlier in 1906. The narrative of Jacob's Room differs from her first two novels as Woolf experimented with a different style from the fictional norms she had used in her first two books but which she felt had inhibited her.
The storyline of Jacob's Room follows the life of Jacob Flanders from adolescence through his time in college and then to adulthood. It is narrated in the main from a female perspective by the different characters who knew him best thus the readers interpretation of Jacob is formed from an eclectic mix of opinions. I do not feel this is a bad thing as different readers will gain different viewpoints from the novel. In part replicating how individuals perceive differently from the information and environment that is presented to them. Even though the style of this novel may differ from her earlier works it is still worth reading if you want to gain a fuller representation and appreciation of Virginia Woolf's literary output.
The storyline of Jacob's Room follows the life of Jacob Flanders from adolescence through his time in college and then to adulthood. It is narrated in the main from a female perspective by the different characters who knew him best thus the readers interpretation of Jacob is formed from an eclectic mix of opinions. I do not feel this is a bad thing as different readers will gain different viewpoints from the novel. In part replicating how individuals perceive differently from the information and environment that is presented to them. Even though the style of this novel may differ from her earlier works it is still worth reading if you want to gain a fuller representation and appreciation of Virginia Woolf's literary output.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
