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jenniey3's review against another edition
5.0
“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Arguably one of the novel’s most memorable quotes, Woolf masterfully captures the struggles of an aspiring female writer , reflecting upon the experiences of notable predecessors like Jane Austen and George Eliot. She constructs her argument by introducing Judith, the fictitious sister of Shakespeare. Even if Judith was endowed with a similar affinity for the written word, her plays would have never been as successful and critically acclaimed as her brother’s. Without the opportunity, Judith’s words would be forever buried within a mountain of manuscripts; her name lucky to appear as a footnote in her brother’s biography.
Woolf also brings to light the issues of academia as a whole, for “intellectual freedom depends on material things.” It is a privilege to be able to pursue a higher education, arguably an education of any sort. In particular, the arts are a space where creativity and productivity are often treated as separate entities. Certainly, there must be a level of financial security in place for one to pursue it.
Personally, I believe that there is much merit in pursuing the arts, and there is much importance for an artist to consume the craft of his predecessors. If only select voices shall grace the canvas and sculptures and paintings and music and books that we see and hear, let art be a mode of transmission. Simply put, art can act as a vessel that holds an abundance of perspectives, each brimming with boundless effervescence, each a voice begging to be heard.
Woolf also brings to light the issues of academia as a whole, for “intellectual freedom depends on material things.” It is a privilege to be able to pursue a higher education, arguably an education of any sort. In particular, the arts are a space where creativity and productivity are often treated as separate entities. Certainly, there must be a level of financial security in place for one to pursue it.
Personally, I believe that there is much merit in pursuing the arts, and there is much importance for an artist to consume the craft of his predecessors. If only select voices shall grace the canvas and sculptures and paintings and music and books that we see and hear, let art be a mode of transmission. Simply put, art can act as a vessel that holds an abundance of perspectives, each brimming with boundless effervescence, each a voice begging to be heard.
itsbradleycole's review against another edition
5.0
Virginia Woolf is a blessed genius that is too good for this world. I really enjoyed how she used Mary Beton to write this classic essay. My favourite part was how through each chapter we went with Beton through the years discussing how women would not have had the same opportunities as men, and how this difference would prevent women from writing. I also loved how several famous authors were brought up and how each one had varying backgrounds and yet became accomplished in their own right. The cherry on top of it all is found in the final chapter at the end where Woolf goes in and explains "Beton" and her thought process. A recommend for everyone.
hoffnungswolke's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
german and english review
netgalley audiobook
Es als Hörbuch zu hören, war wirklich absolut perfekt. Ich hab es gleich in einem Rutsch gehört, weil ich einfach an jedem Wort gehangen habe und wissen wollte was sie als nächstes zu sagen hat.
Das Thema (Frauen in der Literatur) war wirklich richtig gut verpackt und mit Anekdoten ausgeschmückt, was alles viel zugänglicher gemacht hat. Ich denke aber, dass ich es noch ein oder zwei Mal hören oder lesen werde, weil ich denke, dass mir doch das ein oder andere entgangen ist.
***
Listening to the audiobook version of this was absolutely perfect. I listened to it in one go, cause I was hanging on every word and wanted to know what she had to say next.
The theme (women in literatur) was really delved into and a few anecdotes sprinkled in, which made everything much more accessible. I still think that I will listen or read it a few more times, cause I'm sure there are still things in there that went over my head.
netgalley audiobook
Es als Hörbuch zu hören, war wirklich absolut perfekt. Ich hab es gleich in einem Rutsch gehört, weil ich einfach an jedem Wort gehangen habe und wissen wollte was sie als nächstes zu sagen hat.
Das Thema (Frauen in der Literatur) war wirklich richtig gut verpackt und mit Anekdoten ausgeschmückt, was alles viel zugänglicher gemacht hat. Ich denke aber, dass ich es noch ein oder zwei Mal hören oder lesen werde, weil ich denke, dass mir doch das ein oder andere entgangen ist.
***
Listening to the audiobook version of this was absolutely perfect. I listened to it in one go, cause I was hanging on every word and wanted to know what she had to say next.
The theme (women in literatur) was really delved into and a few anecdotes sprinkled in, which made everything much more accessible. I still think that I will listen or read it a few more times, cause I'm sure there are still things in there that went over my head.
tristansreadingmania's review against another edition
4.0
HOWLING WITH WOOLF
“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
A private, preferably four-walled space to call your own.
Both in the literal sense and as a metaphor for financial independence, a room as refuge from the world is a basic necessity for any person - regardless of sex – to enter into full bloom as a writer.
So Virginia Woolf forcefully argues in her incandescent, unflinching essay, a foundational feminist text.
This frank - and still refreshingly unromantic - statement is such a given that it comes close to sounding trite to modern sensibilities. However, at time of publication (1929), to the overwhelming majority of women having such a place to just exist, let alone think or write in, still was that most rarefied of luxuries. Additionally, for a woman to even express a desire to create art was often met with either considerable condescension, derision or worse. Times, most fortunately, have clearly changed since then.
Men and women, Woolf continues, if given free reign will produce unique, vibrant works, greatly enriching the field of literature, without a need for any one group to achieve dominance in it. Both sexes can grow, flourish and come to fruition in their own particular way. Biological sex, even if it does – on the whole - grant sex-specific traits and preoccupations (Woolf acknowledges the reality of biological dimorphism, though she does emphasize a mind ideally is never fully male or female, but a mixture), should never be a major consideration in the appraisal of a work. The aesthetic merit of the piece itself is all that counts, and is the raison d’être of the writer:
Self-actualization for the individual, be it man or woman, is what Woolf proposes, not a senseless battle of the sexes, since each has their own strengths and weaknesses:
The above quote – surely the epitome of reason – begs reflection, since the contrast to today’s women’s liberation movement could hardly be more immense. Compared to the world as it is now, with its increasingly authoritarian, man-shaming policies being proposed – and implemented - left and right, with navel-gazing victimhood narratives being aired by classical feminism’s screeching offspring who, possessed by identity politics have gathered under the so-called “third wave, intersectional feminism” umbrella, this one simple idea is a positively quaint one.
'Away with the individual, in-group loyalty is the one and only consideration!', implicitly has become the reigning credo. Just to have reservations about a minor point in the latest addition to feminist doctrine, means ostracization, banishment from the in-crowd, and being branded as a ‘women hater’. ‘O tempora! O mores!’ indeed.
One can confidently assume that Woolf, this incredibly sophisticated, astute woman of great intellect would be thoroughly repulsed by how feminism turned out. Well, I’m right there with you, Virginia. How pathetic, how bereft it is of any intellectual – even moral – integrity. Where’s the class, where’s the nobility? Remember when feminism actually used to mean something?
To great puzzlement by many of my friends of a liberal bent, it is because of this toxicity that I have steadfastly refused to ever call myself a feminist. It just seemed inauthentic to myself and thus wrong to proclaim membership of it. ‘Equal opportunity advocate’, however – which I grant has an unmistakable highfalutin ring to it – more than covers my position. As far as I know, there is no such movement in existence, which gives me the blissful luxury not to have to keep track of – never mind attempt to defend - its excesses or idiocies.
I can’t help but notice that me venting has veered this review into the perilous morass of current politics, which is rather unnecessary, for ‘A Room of One’s Own’ doesn’t even read as a nuts and bolts political treatise, nor does it purport to be. Even if the subject is squarely planted in the realm of non-fiction, Woolf wants to tell an engaging tale first and foremost, and consequently treats it as such, leaving ample room for invention, which she is open about:
The most famous of these fabrications of course is the tragic existence of a sister of Shakespeare’s. Equally gifted and equally filled with ambition to reach the top of Parnassus, because of her being a woman she was denied the privileges her male sibling had, and therefore was driven to suicide as a last resort. Melodramatic, even emotionally manipulative? A fair argument to make, but such creative licence does serve to illustrate Woolf's point exceedingly well.
Even if its primary sociopolitical message has somewhat dissipated in terms of urgency, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, I would argue, is invaluable. If only as a passionate love letter to the possibilities of a literature freed from any restraints, and for its historical importance, it has secured its spot in the canon.
A spot of one’s own, if you will.
“There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
A private, preferably four-walled space to call your own.
Both in the literal sense and as a metaphor for financial independence, a room as refuge from the world is a basic necessity for any person - regardless of sex – to enter into full bloom as a writer.
So Virginia Woolf forcefully argues in her incandescent, unflinching essay, a foundational feminist text.
This frank - and still refreshingly unromantic - statement is such a given that it comes close to sounding trite to modern sensibilities. However, at time of publication (1929), to the overwhelming majority of women having such a place to just exist, let alone think or write in, still was that most rarefied of luxuries. Additionally, for a woman to even express a desire to create art was often met with either considerable condescension, derision or worse. Times, most fortunately, have clearly changed since then.
Men and women, Woolf continues, if given free reign will produce unique, vibrant works, greatly enriching the field of literature, without a need for any one group to achieve dominance in it. Both sexes can grow, flourish and come to fruition in their own particular way. Biological sex, even if it does – on the whole - grant sex-specific traits and preoccupations (Woolf acknowledges the reality of biological dimorphism, though she does emphasize a mind ideally is never fully male or female, but a mixture), should never be a major consideration in the appraisal of a work. The aesthetic merit of the piece itself is all that counts, and is the raison d’être of the writer:
"It would be a thousand pities if women wrote like men, or lived like men, or looked like men, for if two sexes are quite inadequate, considering the vastness and variety of the world, how should we manage with one only? Ought not education to bring out and fortify the differences rather than the similarities?"
Self-actualization for the individual, be it man or woman, is what Woolf proposes, not a senseless battle of the sexes, since each has their own strengths and weaknesses:
"All this pitting of sex against sex, of quality against quality; all this claiming of superiority and imputing of inferiority, belong to the private-school stage of human existence where there are 'sides,' and it is necessary for one side to beat another side, and of the utmost importance to walk up to a platform and receive from the hands of the Headmaster himself a highly ornamental pot.”
The above quote – surely the epitome of reason – begs reflection, since the contrast to today’s women’s liberation movement could hardly be more immense. Compared to the world as it is now, with its increasingly authoritarian, man-shaming policies being proposed – and implemented - left and right, with navel-gazing victimhood narratives being aired by classical feminism’s screeching offspring who, possessed by identity politics have gathered under the so-called “third wave, intersectional feminism” umbrella, this one simple idea is a positively quaint one.
'Away with the individual, in-group loyalty is the one and only consideration!', implicitly has become the reigning credo. Just to have reservations about a minor point in the latest addition to feminist doctrine, means ostracization, banishment from the in-crowd, and being branded as a ‘women hater’. ‘O tempora! O mores!’ indeed.
One can confidently assume that Woolf, this incredibly sophisticated, astute woman of great intellect would be thoroughly repulsed by how feminism turned out. Well, I’m right there with you, Virginia. How pathetic, how bereft it is of any intellectual – even moral – integrity. Where’s the class, where’s the nobility? Remember when feminism actually used to mean something?
To great puzzlement by many of my friends of a liberal bent, it is because of this toxicity that I have steadfastly refused to ever call myself a feminist. It just seemed inauthentic to myself and thus wrong to proclaim membership of it. ‘Equal opportunity advocate’, however – which I grant has an unmistakable highfalutin ring to it – more than covers my position. As far as I know, there is no such movement in existence, which gives me the blissful luxury not to have to keep track of – never mind attempt to defend - its excesses or idiocies.
I can’t help but notice that me venting has veered this review into the perilous morass of current politics, which is rather unnecessary, for ‘A Room of One’s Own’ doesn’t even read as a nuts and bolts political treatise, nor does it purport to be. Even if the subject is squarely planted in the realm of non-fiction, Woolf wants to tell an engaging tale first and foremost, and consequently treats it as such, leaving ample room for invention, which she is open about:
“Lies will flow from my lips, but there may perhaps be some truth mixed up with them; it is for you to seek out this truth and to decide whether any part of it is worth keeping.”
The most famous of these fabrications of course is the tragic existence of a sister of Shakespeare’s. Equally gifted and equally filled with ambition to reach the top of Parnassus, because of her being a woman she was denied the privileges her male sibling had, and therefore was driven to suicide as a last resort. Melodramatic, even emotionally manipulative? A fair argument to make, but such creative licence does serve to illustrate Woolf's point exceedingly well.
Even if its primary sociopolitical message has somewhat dissipated in terms of urgency, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, I would argue, is invaluable. If only as a passionate love letter to the possibilities of a literature freed from any restraints, and for its historical importance, it has secured its spot in the canon.
A spot of one’s own, if you will.