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ruth5garcia5's review against another edition
4.0
Very enlightening and I enjoyed seeing things from her perspective.
iseefeelings's review
5.0
It was emotional when closing this book after months of taking it with me everywhere. If I'd read full five volumes of V W's diary, I bet I would be much more haunted. Oftentimes it was hard for me to continue reading while I was sinking into my mental breakdown. I dragged along with a flood of emotions; I found words that I had not known how to put together; I imagined how everything was falling apart... There were days I even thought that I saw her in strangers' faces. Owing to this book, I decided to write diary again on the first day of 2018. Yes Virginia Woolf gave me both sorrow and courage. I also did a tribute art for her as a way to lighten my heavy heart. I don't think she would be my favourite person if we met, but I do empathize with her personally.
Two of my favourite things about this book are Virginia's friendships with other artists and her invaluable marriage with Leonard Woolf.
Every time I flipped through a year, reading about a death of Virginia's circle of friends, it was like I was there watching her life fall apart, witnessing they were spending years together and out of the blue, death grabbed them rapidly leaving no traces except memories.
Despite the fact that the writer had many affairs with both sexes, her marriage with Leo Woolf utterly has my admiration. He was not only a comfort but a reliable one for her to ask opinions before publishing every single work throughout her life. Their marriage was built upon understanding and respect with no sex involved (due to traumatic events in Virginia's past that she fears of sexual intimacy, hence Leo Woolf was believed to have remained a celibate in the marriage with Virginia).
Then the coming of World War II. Virginia lived between wars (which would be the worst situation for me) and it actually affected her a lot. It is bizarre to think about this time: Hitler drove the world crazy; Anne Frank hid in the secret annex and Virginia spent the last few years of her life. However, I'm grateful that Virginia gave me a chance to get into the lives of people during this catastrophic world war by dashing words through the dark.
*One thing which is not really related to the content:
I should have never never underestimated the value of a book's dust jacket!!!
I usually read while traveling so I'm thankful for having it protect the inside cover as well as giving me the info of original price and bits of valuable book information at the time when it was published.
Page by page, it was full of grief reaching the end of this book. It is not the way you romanticize hopeless things but how it hurts you to feel that sometimes, nothing succeeds a disastrous mind. Even the purest love cannot save you.
I guess by reading and writing about this book, I pour too many feelings out.
full review
Two of my favourite things about this book are Virginia's friendships with other artists and her invaluable marriage with Leonard Woolf.
Every time I flipped through a year, reading about a death of Virginia's circle of friends, it was like I was there watching her life fall apart, witnessing they were spending years together and out of the blue, death grabbed them rapidly leaving no traces except memories.
Despite the fact that the writer had many affairs with both sexes, her marriage with Leo Woolf utterly has my admiration. He was not only a comfort but a reliable one for her to ask opinions before publishing every single work throughout her life. Their marriage was built upon understanding and respect with no sex involved (due to traumatic events in Virginia's past that she fears of sexual intimacy, hence Leo Woolf was believed to have remained a celibate in the marriage with Virginia).
Then the coming of World War II. Virginia lived between wars (which would be the worst situation for me) and it actually affected her a lot. It is bizarre to think about this time: Hitler drove the world crazy; Anne Frank hid in the secret annex and Virginia spent the last few years of her life. However, I'm grateful that Virginia gave me a chance to get into the lives of people during this catastrophic world war by dashing words through the dark.
*One thing which is not really related to the content:
I should have never never underestimated the value of a book's dust jacket!!!
I usually read while traveling so I'm thankful for having it protect the inside cover as well as giving me the info of original price and bits of valuable book information at the time when it was published.
Page by page, it was full of grief reaching the end of this book. It is not the way you romanticize hopeless things but how it hurts you to feel that sometimes, nothing succeeds a disastrous mind. Even the purest love cannot save you.
I guess by reading and writing about this book, I pour too many feelings out.
full review
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