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A Room of One’s Own

Virginia Woolf

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: August 31, 2020

Discussion: Non-Fiction Classics

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What Members Thought

Mar 01, 2016 Chrissie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: shorts, feminism, deals, england, classics, arts, history, audible-us, great-britain, disliked

I totally disliked this book. I have read Woolf previously and enjoyed several of her volumes. I cannot imagine that the few lines of stream of consciousness writing could be a stumbling block to readers. The problem here is instead that this is a polemic. A polemic is by definition:

-an aggressive attack or refutation of the opinions or principles of another
-the art or practice of disputation by controversy

Aggressive is the word to focus upon.

The substance of this novel is based on lectures giv I totally disliked this book. I have read Woolf previously and enjoyed several of her volumes. I cannot imagine that the few lines of stream of consciousness writing could be a stumbling block to readers. The problem here is instead that this is a polemic. A polemic is by definition:

-an aggressive attack or refutation of the opinions or principles of another
-the art or practice of disputation by controversy

Aggressive is the word to focus upon.

The substance of this novel is based on lectures given by Virginia Woolf at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. A fictional narrator is woven around the “extended essay” based on the named lectures. These lectures are about women both as authors and as characters in fiction. A second fictional character is added by Woolf - Judith, Shakespeare's sister.

The fictional characters and narrative allow the author to use her distinctive "stream of consciousness" technique but it is used sparingly and not hard to follow.

What I objected to was the aggressive, angry and negative tone of the lectures, the central and most important focus of the book, i.e. the non-fiction part of the book. Over and over again with example after example Woolf illustrates how historically women have been dominated and repressed by men. She rants that society has made it impossible for women to promote themselves. To succeed they must have both money and "a room of their own" where they can write undisturbed. Rather than ranting about the past I would have preferred that Woolf focused not upon the negative but those few women who have succeeded. Give positive examples for other women to follow rather than focus on past failures. There have been female authors who wrote and were acclaimed as early as in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Aphra Benn (1640-1689), Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), Mary Masters (1706?-1759?), Fanny Berney (1752-1840) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) to name but a few! There are female artists too. I say encourage rather than discourage.

There are a few descriptive lines in the fictional sections that I enjoyed. I could scarcely appreciate them due to the anger boiling up in me.

The audiobook I listened to is narrated by Juliet Stevenson. She is utterly magnificent. It was not the narration that caused me trouble. The audiobook has no introduction but at the end there are fragments of poems. These poems are called short stories, which they really were not. Merely very short fragments of something…… They did not speak to me.
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18 likes · Like · see review

Jan 17, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

I cannot believe it took a challenge to read this witty, intelligent, thought-provoking, challenging wonderful essay. Ms. Woolf is a feminist of the variety that I wish to be. She is bright and intuitive and clever. Her insight into what makes us male, female -- human! -- is something that I wish I had read 35 years ago when I was serving in the military. I will definitely read this again in an attempt to expand and grow.

If you believe in equality between genders, races, religions, sexual orient ...more

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Jan 20, 2018 Laura marked it as to-read

Shelves: literary-criticism, books-on-books, e-books, gutenberg, 3ms

Free download available at Faded Page.

This work is in the Canadian public domain, but may be under copyright in some countries. If you live outside Canada, check your country's copyright laws. IF THE BOOK IS UNDER COPYRIGHT IN YOUR COUNTRY, DO NOT DOWNLOAD OR REDISTRIBUTE THIS FILE.

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Feb 01, 2009 Karen rated it liked it

I like Woolf's writing style. This book was actually taken from a speech she gave, but it made for a good book as well. I will be reading more of her. ...more

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