- Paperback: 372 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books (April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156027917
- ISBN-13: 978-0156027915
- Product Dimensions: 20.7 x 13.5 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 243,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
There are many who will be grateful for the view Leonard Woolf affords in opening the doors of Mrs. Woolf's room of her own, her diary of works in progress, to the public. Musing at various moments during the years from 1918 to 1941 as we come to know them here, Mrs. Woolf saw her diary as a "kindly, blankfaced old confidante", a quarry of precious memories to which she might return for sustenance, a place where she practiced writing - like doing her scales - and where she really almost wrote her books. The confidences we see are esentially literary and yet at the core of her being as she lives through the long pull of writing with its driving excitement, sinks on the peak of achievement when a book is done to worry at what L. and the others will say, worry and waive the criticism which falls from her as she loses herself in another work already projected. We witness the growth of her powers and extension of her exploration as the novels themselves rise before us, from the days of Jacob's Room through the consuming Waves to the further voyage of The Years To be a writer meant to be a sensibility, an interesting novelist, perhaps, to be driven to write for what goal - a queer individuality?- always to analyse oneself... reading and criticism formed an important part of her life: we see her steeped in Shakespeare, coming to him with "mind agape and red-hot" to feel him out-distance her, remarking on Proust's utmost sensibility and tenacity, drawing strength and separateness from the classics. And all the time her works of criticism, her contacts with the figures of the literary world - Bennett, Hardy, Elizabeth Bowen, Maynard Keynes, and the others, weave in and out of her inner life. Virginia Woolf, novelist, critic, person, comes to us with all the brilliance, perceptiveness, and restraint we could wish for her, and we are privileged to have her so. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, "A Writer's Diary" was drawn by her husband from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years. Included are entries that refer to her own writing and those that are clearly writing exercises, accounts of people and scenes relevant to the raw material of her work, and finally, comments on books she was reading. The first entry is dated 1918 and the last, three weeks before her death in 1941. Between these points of time unfolds the private world - the anguish, the triumph, the creative vision - of one of the great writers of our century.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
While waiting to buy a book in which to record my impressions first of Christina Rossetti, then of Byron, I had better write them here. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
While waiting to buy a book in which to record my impressions first of Christina Rossetti, then of Byron, I had better write them here. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A lovingly edited collection of diary entries which capture Wolf's emotional desire to write 'something good'. which shines 'as bright as diamonds'. The book focuses on the process of writing, it is a reminder to writers that they are not alone when they feel that their work is in vain. Some critics might state that the highs and lows of Wolf stream of conciousness is tiring to read but this is her personal account, which I feel provides an interesting insight into her life. Her entries paint such vivid pictures, I feel so sad that she did not get to see how much her work is truely valued. Frustrating, vivid but some what reassuring read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I studied Virginia Woolf many years ago in school, and recently purchased this book. Reading the diaries makes me want to go back and reread her work. They offer a lot of insight into her books, and for writers they provide a great perspective on how to receive criticism, how to tap into the flow of a book, and some great day-to-day advice on the life of a writer.
7 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Yes, well, I thought I should read this because it is about up-market literature, the Bloomsbury group and all that, and like Rita, I do need educating. I scribble a bit myself, journals/dairies/short jottings, but am not published.
I allowed myself to let go whilst reading this - always a good idea when reading authors with the stream of consciousness approach, and it was interesting in parts, like the curate's egg, but more from an historical point of view. Afraid to say I still cant get my head round her novels, many of which are mentioned in this diary. Watching the films Mrs Dalloway and Orlando have helped but I really do need a Virginia Woolf tutor, please. Glad I read it though.
I allowed myself to let go whilst reading this - always a good idea when reading authors with the stream of consciousness approach, and it was interesting in parts, like the curate's egg, but more from an historical point of view. Afraid to say I still cant get my head round her novels, many of which are mentioned in this diary. Watching the films Mrs Dalloway and Orlando have helped but I really do need a Virginia Woolf tutor, please. Glad I read it though.
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