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The common reader: First and second series
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Complete Common Reader: First & Second Series (1925 & 1935)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. The Common Reader' is a collection of essays by Virginia Woolf, published in two series, the first in 1925 and the second in 1932. The title indicates Woolf's intention that her essays be read by the educated but non-scholarly "common reader," who examines books for personal enjoyment. Woolf outlines her literary philosophy in the introductory essay to the first series, "The Common Reader," and in the concluding essay to the second series, "How Should One Read a Book?" The first series includes essays on Geoffrey Chaucer, Michel de Montaigne, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Joseph Conrad, as well as discussions of the Greek language and the modern essay. The second series features essays on John Donne, Daniel Defoe, Dorothy Osborne, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas Hardy, among others.
Published January 1, 1930
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About the author
Virginia Woolf
1,851 books28.9k 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 26, 2020
In "How Should One Read a Book?", Woolf advises that readers should endeavour to
She isn't without her faults: she tends to read female authors -- whether because the content forces this kind of interpretation or not -- with more sensitivity and personably thus imbuing more of her philosophy unto female authors than she could practicably know as certain; she tends to be more technically critical towards male authors and more forgiving with female authors; and, she favours fiction that speak to larger, contextual humanistic values rather than deadpan, obvious, and truncated arguments for the sake of brevity.
And to all of that, I say: I'm all in.
Each essay arguably falls into one of the following categories: biographical sketch that presents context of the writer in question (most often reserved for the female authors and poets), critical analysis of the socially contextual and historical impact of the writers output (often, but not always, written with male authors and poets in mind), or the distillation of the writing process and the integrity of writing as an art form whilst also being integral in the experience of being human.
There is something to be said about each of these styles.
The biographical sketches are not only necessary (since many of the female authors she chooses are somewhat obscure, or, they have not been warranted sufficient acclaim) but they also show how Woolf places herself and her sex in light of artistic passion continuously thwarted in one way or another by circumstances or societal pressures. They aren't complaints -- they appear as more as honest evaluations of a life attempting to be heard, which speaks volumes about gender inequality without it being about gender inequality in the least.
The more analytical criticisms towards mostly all of the male authors and poets shouldn't be seen as preference over one sex or another; male authors and poets have the privilege of being more free with style, theory, and philosophy because they have access to these ideas and are able to express these ideas with confidence. It makes sense then that anaylsing Hardy's exceptional quality as a writer as being one that removes himself and his characters from subtleties of realism in personality to speak of the comprehensive experience of humanity as a whole or how Hazlitt, devoid of any amiable qualities, can be a curmudgeon while also extolling humanistic philosophy on that very world he appears to despise, makes sense.
Probably though, my favourite kind of essay in this collection is the window Woolf offers, unintentionally, on how she, herself, reads and her own philosophy of life weaves within her analysis, translating that through her interpretations of other writers -- female or male. Woolf has often been called elitist but I think if readers and critics read some of the essays within this collection, they'll find that Woolf always identifies more than one thing that's admirable in a writer. Whether she's criticising John Evelyn's form but congratulating him on being so exceptionally brilliant in how he sees the world, how Donne's vacillation in character and art expresses the need of art is ever moving as the artist, on the tragic shame she feels that Dorothy Osborne never wrote after her marriage, or how Meredith is forgettable if not for his wit -- she always finds a way to appreciate the individual and therefore, she always finds a way to appreciate what it means to be human.
Consequently, in each of these essays, she does become the author, in order to find the fineness, so as to appreciate the human being.
"...not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow-worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve and criticise at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other."Woolf is not only insisting this of others, she practices exactly this form of interpretation, as demonstrated in this vast collection of, arguably, diverse topics that span human conduct as well as authorial responsibility.
She isn't without her faults: she tends to read female authors -- whether because the content forces this kind of interpretation or not -- with more sensitivity and personably thus imbuing more of her philosophy unto female authors than she could practicably know as certain; she tends to be more technically critical towards male authors and more forgiving with female authors; and, she favours fiction that speak to larger, contextual humanistic values rather than deadpan, obvious, and truncated arguments for the sake of brevity.
And to all of that, I say: I'm all in.
Each essay arguably falls into one of the following categories: biographical sketch that presents context of the writer in question (most often reserved for the female authors and poets), critical analysis of the socially contextual and historical impact of the writers output (often, but not always, written with male authors and poets in mind), or the distillation of the writing process and the integrity of writing as an art form whilst also being integral in the experience of being human.
There is something to be said about each of these styles.
The biographical sketches are not only necessary (since many of the female authors she chooses are somewhat obscure, or, they have not been warranted sufficient acclaim) but they also show how Woolf places herself and her sex in light of artistic passion continuously thwarted in one way or another by circumstances or societal pressures. They aren't complaints -- they appear as more as honest evaluations of a life attempting to be heard, which speaks volumes about gender inequality without it being about gender inequality in the least.
The more analytical criticisms towards mostly all of the male authors and poets shouldn't be seen as preference over one sex or another; male authors and poets have the privilege of being more free with style, theory, and philosophy because they have access to these ideas and are able to express these ideas with confidence. It makes sense then that anaylsing Hardy's exceptional quality as a writer as being one that removes himself and his characters from subtleties of realism in personality to speak of the comprehensive experience of humanity as a whole or how Hazlitt, devoid of any amiable qualities, can be a curmudgeon while also extolling humanistic philosophy on that very world he appears to despise, makes sense.
Probably though, my favourite kind of essay in this collection is the window Woolf offers, unintentionally, on how she, herself, reads and her own philosophy of life weaves within her analysis, translating that through her interpretations of other writers -- female or male. Woolf has often been called elitist but I think if readers and critics read some of the essays within this collection, they'll find that Woolf always identifies more than one thing that's admirable in a writer. Whether she's criticising John Evelyn's form but congratulating him on being so exceptionally brilliant in how he sees the world, how Donne's vacillation in character and art expresses the need of art is ever moving as the artist, on the tragic shame she feels that Dorothy Osborne never wrote after her marriage, or how Meredith is forgettable if not for his wit -- she always finds a way to appreciate the individual and therefore, she always finds a way to appreciate what it means to be human.
Consequently, in each of these essays, she does become the author, in order to find the fineness, so as to appreciate the human being.
February 4, 2015
A treasure trove of literary essays covering writers from the Elizabethan times to the end of the nineteenth century, all written in Virginia Woolf's beautiful, inimitable style. As the most recent authors are as much removed in time from Woolf as she is from us, she provides us with a telescope into a world of literary art that has somewhat fallen victim to modern fashions. Woolf's knowledge of the authors and her ability to empatise with them, combined with her considerable intellect and powers of expression, is an experience every reader of English literature should expose her/himself to.
May 11, 2018
I persisted with this book a collection of essays. At times I found the reading laborious, but, I continued. Not her best work but worth reading if you want to find out what she thinks of the people mentioned.
May 21, 2021
3.5, in realtà...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews