The Cambridge Introduction to Virginia Woolf: An Introduction

Cambridge Introductions to Literature

by Jane Goldman

For students of modern literature, the works of Virginia Woolf are essential reading. In her novels, short stories, essays, polemical pamphlets and in her private letters she explored, questioned and refashioned everything about modern cinema, sexuality, shopping, education, feminism, politics and war. Her elegant and startlingly original sentences became a model of modernist prose. This is a clear and informative introduction to Woolf's life, works, and cultural and critical contexts, explaining the importance of the Bloomsbury group in the development of her work. It covers the major works in detail, including To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway, The Waves and the key short stories. As well as providing students with the essential information needed to study Woolf, Jane Goldman suggests further reading to allow students to find their way through the most important critical works. All students of Woolf will find this a useful and illuminating overview of the field.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

171 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2014

Reviews

[Traveller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm... highly inadequate as far as depth is concerned. Really, I can get more off the internet just by googling.
Not much to see here, people, let's move on...

Sadly it's very short. It spans quite a few subjects, for instance a short bio, and some background and a short treatment of most of her works, but each of them not treated in much depth.

On the other hand, it certainly deserves at least 3 stars because it is quite adequate in scope, if not in depth.

So, if you don't know a thing about Virginia Woolf, this is indeed a good place to start, as the word "introduction" implies. However, if you have studied Virginia and her works a bit already, rather look for something more substantial.

[Seyed Mohammad · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extensive and informative survey of Woolf's work. However, It is not as insightful as one might expect. Each section contains helpful suggestions for further reading.

[beesp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly thorough overlook on Virginia Woolf's writing and life. A must-read for everyone who's interested in learning how to approach her work as an author and as an essayist. Jane Goldman is able to give her readers a satisfying education on Woolf's time and influences, on her life and how it affected her writing process. If you want to understand HOW TO READ Virginia Woolf, you can spare your time and start by reading this book.

[Stanzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but relevant guide to Virginia Woolf's biography and work. The book presents a thematic approach of her major publications which makes it really easy to navigate. The evolution of the critical reception of her books is studied throughout the years and numerous works are mentioned for those who wants to learn more.

[spiritmadeofstars · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good source id you are interested in Woolf and want to know more about her works.

[Maryam · Rating 2 out of 5]

نتونستم باهاش ارتباط بگیرم تاحدودی اصطلاحات تخصصی داشت و برای مخاطب عام نوشته نشده بود.

[Enya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I would have got a lot more from this had I been an English literature student rather than a general interest reader looking for context and background before reading Woolf's works. For that reason, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt with four stars instead of the rough three stars I otherwise would have gave it if it hadn't been aimed specifically at students.

My main problem about the whole thing was how dry it was. The language used is clearly meant to make it more concise but by cutting that corner it also makes it dry and pretentious. It would've went down a lot better with an extra fifty pages and with more interesting language but again, that's from someone who has never studied English literature except for two years in secondary school.

It has made me curious about Woolf - I'll definitely be reading more at some point but has it got me excited about her or her work? Not really.

It did do what it said on the tin however so for that, I can't fault it.

[Andria Caputo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to the works, themes and concerns in Woolf's extensive body of prose. Obvisouly, you should look elsewhere to find more indepth analysis and critiques of her works, but I found this particularly usefull to class the more substantial works that should be read to work my way through her novels and essays. As always, the Cambridge University Press never disappoints.