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sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
“...who shall measure the heat and violence of a poet's heart when caught and tangled in a woman's body?”
Starts in middle of a sentence, is surprisingly brief despite having talked about what she had for lunch, scolds with out offending - there is something so entirly modern about Woolf - specially given her times. Instead of first lecturing you and then arguing to convince you;she takes you on a trip on the train of thoughts she herself had taken. And she is frequently funny. She makes you laugh even when she is hitting you along with other men right in middle of eyes. And she manages to be fair giving devils (in this case, men) their due - something you won't always expect from feminists.
Her study of writters' psychology is perfect. A little privacy And financial independence are must and it took her genius to show us the obvious corrolory of that justifying lack of female authors.
Now I can justify myself for having read so few books by women authors.
May be sexual disparity no longer exists now as far as ability to write is concerned- at least in financialy well off families but one can't say the same in case of financial disparity or worse deprivation of education. Authors continue to come from well-to-do families. Almost all major authors in India hail from big cities (which goes on to show their financial well being) or worse still are settled outside India. And one obviously needs to be literate to be able to write - which is saying a lot. Woolf wants you to write while you are earning, and that is only point I disagree upon. Writing must be a full time job. Inspiration won't wait till end of shift- and by then you will be tired. It is a hard truth but artists can only do well when they don't have to worry for next meal.
It kills one - the waste of genius because of lack of nourishing conditions in whatever sex. One could look at the boy waiting on me in this restaurant, he can speak charmingly despite never having went to school - can handle customers well - and there are thousands of them all around;and we are so used to these poor fellows that we no longer notice them - we are too busy to give a thought to how many Einsteins, Shakespeares, Mozarts and Picassos are being wasted in serving our tables.
Starts in middle of a sentence, is surprisingly brief despite having talked about what she had for lunch, scolds with out offending - there is something so entirly modern about Woolf - specially given her times. Instead of first lecturing you and then arguing to convince you;she takes you on a trip on the train of thoughts she herself had taken. And she is frequently funny. She makes you laugh even when she is hitting you along with other men right in middle of eyes. And she manages to be fair giving devils (in this case, men) their due - something you won't always expect from feminists.
Her study of writters' psychology is perfect. A little privacy And financial independence are must and it took her genius to show us the obvious corrolory of that justifying lack of female authors.
Now I can justify myself for having read so few books by women authors.
May be sexual disparity no longer exists now as far as ability to write is concerned- at least in financialy well off families but one can't say the same in case of financial disparity or worse deprivation of education. Authors continue to come from well-to-do families. Almost all major authors in India hail from big cities (which goes on to show their financial well being) or worse still are settled outside India. And one obviously needs to be literate to be able to write - which is saying a lot. Woolf wants you to write while you are earning, and that is only point I disagree upon. Writing must be a full time job. Inspiration won't wait till end of shift- and by then you will be tired. It is a hard truth but artists can only do well when they don't have to worry for next meal.
It kills one - the waste of genius because of lack of nourishing conditions in whatever sex. One could look at the boy waiting on me in this restaurant, he can speak charmingly despite never having went to school - can handle customers well - and there are thousands of them all around;and we are so used to these poor fellows that we no longer notice them - we are too busy to give a thought to how many Einsteins, Shakespeares, Mozarts and Picassos are being wasted in serving our tables.
tanrguez's review against another edition
5.0
Nunca he realizado una reseña y no pretendo hacerlo ahora. Solo diré que, al menos para mí, ha sido imposible leer “Una habitación propia” y querer volver a ser la misma.
Y cito: “Muchachas, podría deciros, y os ruego prestéis atención porque empieza la peroración, sois, en mi opinión, vergonzosamente ignorantes… admitiréis que la excusa que os han faltado las oportunidades, la preparación, el estímulo, el tiempo y el dinero necesario no os sirve… Así, pues, con un poco de tiempo en vuestras manos y unos cuantos conocimientos librescos en vuestros cerebros, sin duda entraréis en otra etapa de vuestra larga, laboriosa y oscurísima carrera.”
Y cito: “Muchachas, podría deciros, y os ruego prestéis atención porque empieza la peroración, sois, en mi opinión, vergonzosamente ignorantes… admitiréis que la excusa que os han faltado las oportunidades, la preparación, el estímulo, el tiempo y el dinero necesario no os sirve… Así, pues, con un poco de tiempo en vuestras manos y unos cuantos conocimientos librescos en vuestros cerebros, sin duda entraréis en otra etapa de vuestra larga, laboriosa y oscurísima carrera.”
erinastin's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 Stars
Wow, ok. It’s 3 in the morning, and I’m currently on hour 15 of a 24-hour readathon, so I apologize in advance if my review makes no sense:
I thought I was going to love this. I went into this thinking it was one of those classic, feminist, “every woman should read this” pieces. Um, no. Woolf makes some excellent points about the ways in which women like the Bröntes and Jane Austen had to struggle just to be afforded a modicum of the privileges their male counterparts enjoyed. Her essay could have simply been an ardent cry for equality and women’s liberation framed through the lens of women authors and I would’ve thought, hm, interesting, I see how this could’ve been revolutionary in the 1920s. But no…
Woolf’s rampant internalized misogyny was quite shocking. It presented itself when she denigrated Charlotte Bronte for seeping her own frustration, pain, and passion into Jane Eyre. Woolf argues that it ruins Charlotte’s prose, while someone like Jane Austen who maintains a clear head, is able to produce higher caliber fiction despite being less of a “genius.” I found it absolutely bizarre that Woolf was essentially telling her audience to not put themselves into their work. Isn’t that what makes art great?
I appreciated the overall message of “women deserve better,” but not for the reasons that if they have a room of their own and five hundred a year they will no longer need to sour their writing with their outrageous emotions. I understand this may have been revolutionary at the time, but they way we view feminism has changed so much in the past 90 years, that I do not understand why people are saying every woman needs to read this without at least applying a critical eye to the work.
Wow, ok. It’s 3 in the morning, and I’m currently on hour 15 of a 24-hour readathon, so I apologize in advance if my review makes no sense:
I thought I was going to love this. I went into this thinking it was one of those classic, feminist, “every woman should read this” pieces. Um, no. Woolf makes some excellent points about the ways in which women like the Bröntes and Jane Austen had to struggle just to be afforded a modicum of the privileges their male counterparts enjoyed. Her essay could have simply been an ardent cry for equality and women’s liberation framed through the lens of women authors and I would’ve thought, hm, interesting, I see how this could’ve been revolutionary in the 1920s. But no…
Woolf’s rampant internalized misogyny was quite shocking. It presented itself when she denigrated Charlotte Bronte for seeping her own frustration, pain, and passion into Jane Eyre. Woolf argues that it ruins Charlotte’s prose, while someone like Jane Austen who maintains a clear head, is able to produce higher caliber fiction despite being less of a “genius.” I found it absolutely bizarre that Woolf was essentially telling her audience to not put themselves into their work. Isn’t that what makes art great?
I appreciated the overall message of “women deserve better,” but not for the reasons that if they have a room of their own and five hundred a year they will no longer need to sour their writing with their outrageous emotions. I understand this may have been revolutionary at the time, but they way we view feminism has changed so much in the past 90 years, that I do not understand why people are saying every woman needs to read this without at least applying a critical eye to the work.
bibliocinephile's review against another edition
4.0
woolf's ability to not only point out sexism but to do so through a lens of class and social hierarchy as a whole was refreshing, as was the consideration of whether or not criticism in society is necessary for the arts. provoking in the end but a little muddled.
the_pinecone's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
milaniezh's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
this book has contributed to feminism how we know it now. written in the late 20’s of 20th century, it shows a quite modern view on different aspects of women’s lives through decades. starting from importance of room of one’s own and ended up with internalised misogyny, Virginia Woolf reflected all pain of boundaries that accompanied women.
this book has contributed to feminism how we know it now. written in the late 20’s of 20th century, it shows a quite modern view on different aspects of women’s lives through decades. starting from importance of room of one’s own and ended up with internalised misogyny, Virginia Woolf reflected all pain of boundaries that accompanied women.
ziliav's review against another edition
5.0
Ahora estoy enojada con la vida por haber tardado tanto en leer esto. Maravillosa y grandiosa Virginia.
“De modo que cuando os pido que ganéis dinero y tengáis una habitación propia, os pido que viváis en presencia de la realidad, que llevéis una vida, al parecer, estimulante, os sea o no os sea posible comunicarla.”
“De modo que cuando os pido que ganéis dinero y tengáis una habitación propia, os pido que viváis en presencia de la realidad, que llevéis una vida, al parecer, estimulante, os sea o no os sea posible comunicarla.”
abby_bookworm's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
"A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf 5/5
There's nothing like rereading Woolf to remind me why I love literature so much. I first read "A Room of One's Own" when I was 18, writing a research paper about Woolf's feminism for Prof. Sununu's class. It's a quick book, and when I was unpacking my books at home, I felt the need to reread it. Maybe it's because it's so short (and I'm behind on my reading goal), or maybe it's because I associate Woolf with summer for some reason, but I'm glad I picked it back up either way.
"A Room of One's Own" is one of my favorite essays. In it, Woolf outlines *exactly* why she believes women need $500 and a room of their own in order to write worthwhile and artistic pieces of fiction. I love the way Woolf breaks down her argument, walking the reader through each step in her thought process. She does it beautifully, too, weaving beautiful and luscious scenes throughout the essay.
One thing | *don't* love is Woolf's classism. Woolf is solely focused on upper class women in this essay, and goes so far as to argue that it is impossible for a person to create genius works of art if they are poor. Her emphasis on wealth as necessary for art reminds me how important it is to read critically and to understand how classism and feminism have overlapped throughout history.
Overall, though, "A Room of One's Own" is groundbreaking in its support of women writers and in its deep consideration of literature as a concept.
elfdomin's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0