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notafraidofvirginiawoolf's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than that splendidly pointless Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf is a skilled writer--particularly when she has an objective in mind--and keeps the mind going as she goes--carefully making her way from author to author, offering careful, precise insights on each one. I do wish she'd spoken of Dickens, though--I'd love to know her opinions on him.
Immensely well-written and wonderfully not-morbid.
Immensely well-written and wonderfully not-morbid.
s_books's review against another edition
2.0
Woolf writes for her own time, which unfortunately, means that this book does not translate so well into our own. Save for some pieces written about great authors of literature who are still read (at least in some circles) today, such as Jane Austen, many of her essays are very easily ignorable because they have no familiarity or importance to today's reader; I had no knowledge about many, probably most, of the people she writes about. The book is not so much for the common reader as about common (that is, non-royal) readers of times gone by.
rutajwaha's review against another edition
4.0
The common reader... differs from the critic and the scholar. He is worse educated, and nature has not gifted him so generously. He reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole — a portrait of a man, a sketch of an age, a theory of the art of writing.
Virginia Woolf. The Common Reader: First Series
I too am a common reader and I felt in great company with her when reading this. Her hunger for books is not much unfamiliar to mine, and as far as reading is concerned this felt like a conversation with myself about my relationship with the books I own, have read, have abandoned, inherited, borrowed or forgotten.
The Common Reader is a slim collection of 18 essays about her lifelong affair with books. While some essays went over my head, her take on writers and subjects I'm familiar with was really thrilling. I enjoyed her pieces on Montaigne, Austen and the Brontë's in particular, also her writing on literary criticism and contemporary art really interested and it felt just as relevant and insightful now as it must have been at the time. She is as sharp and illuminating as always.
Virginia Woolf. The Common Reader: First Series
I too am a common reader and I felt in great company with her when reading this. Her hunger for books is not much unfamiliar to mine, and as far as reading is concerned this felt like a conversation with myself about my relationship with the books I own, have read, have abandoned, inherited, borrowed or forgotten.
The Common Reader is a slim collection of 18 essays about her lifelong affair with books. While some essays went over my head, her take on writers and subjects I'm familiar with was really thrilling. I enjoyed her pieces on Montaigne, Austen and the Brontë's in particular, also her writing on literary criticism and contemporary art really interested and it felt just as relevant and insightful now as it must have been at the time. She is as sharp and illuminating as always.
gh7's review against another edition
4.0
It’s appropriate that my 100th GR review should be a book that attempts to shift literary criticism from the hallowed office into the sitting room as all of us here on Goodreads are “the common reader”, a voice that in Woolf’s day barely existed. In the final essay she has a dig at (her) contemporary professional critics. I’m presently reading a novel which according to The New York Times Book Review and The Boston Globe is the work of a rare genius; the truth though is, as any common reader endowed with a functioning critical faculty would no doubt agree, that it’s simply a very ordinary novel with no distinguishing virtue. So can we trust professional critics now any more than we can trust marketing departments to give us an honest assessment of the worth of a book? The answer, of course, is no. To a far greater extent we can trust our fellow readers here.
One of the overriding impressions here is that Woolf is much more generous and kind in her criticism than in her praise. My favourite essays were those on obscure writers of memoirs. None of these clearly had much literary merit and yet with what delight and affection she read them and how brilliantly she brought before our eyes the eccentricities of their authors. These were the ones that made me laugh out loud. That gave me a vivid sense of Virginia Woolf’s conversation at a dinner table. I’ve always imagined Woolf to be like a female Byron in conversation, witty, yes, a bit snotty but also expansive and ultimately self-effacing. Because of this it has always annoyed me that she is invariably portrayed on screen as some kind of mawkish, gibbering bag-woman as was the case in the recent BBC Bloomsbury drama and in Nicole Kidman’s interpretation of her in the film of The Hours.
On the other hand she tends to be a little mean and begrudging in her praise. She can write about Joyce: “Mr Joyce is spiritual; he is concerned at all costs to reveal the flickerings of that innermost flame which flashes its messages through the brain, and in order to preserve it he disregards with complete courage whatever seems to him adventitious, whether it be probability, or coherence, or any other of these signposts which for generations have served to support the imagination of a reader when called upon to imagine what he can neither touch or see.” Only to later dismiss [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224] as a “memorable catastrophe”. Lawrence gets similar treatment. And the chapter on Emily Bronte is probably the most uninspired. It was her belief that Emily Bronte’s poems would outlive her novel. [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Brontë|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388212715s/6185.jpg|1565818] however can be found on every list of the greatest novels ever written, something not true of Conrad’s early work which Woolf, unusually, praises without reservations. So even Woolf wasn’t foolproof in her assessments. There’s also a sense of how competitive she is with both contemporaries and other women – a major factor in her friendship with Katherine Mansfield. There’s her famous comment about [b:Middlemarch|19089|Middlemarch|George Eliot|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924110s/19089.jpg|1461747] but then she will help us understand why it’s not as grown up as [b:War and Peace|656|War and Peace|Leo Tolstoy|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413215930s/656.jpg|4912783] where every relationship is so much more finely tuned and the imaginative reach of Tolstoy excels anything Eliot is capable of. She remarks that Eliot’s heroines talk too much and comments on “the fumbling which shook Eliot’s hand when she had to conceive a fit mate for her heroines.” And I remembered how Dorothea’s relationship with Ladislaw, written perhaps with all critical faculties in abeyance, borders on being the kind of young girl’s wish fulfilment liaison we expect from formulaic romantic fiction.
Above all else, reading this helped me understand the nature of the imperatives behind what Woolf wanted to achieve in her own work.
One of the overriding impressions here is that Woolf is much more generous and kind in her criticism than in her praise. My favourite essays were those on obscure writers of memoirs. None of these clearly had much literary merit and yet with what delight and affection she read them and how brilliantly she brought before our eyes the eccentricities of their authors. These were the ones that made me laugh out loud. That gave me a vivid sense of Virginia Woolf’s conversation at a dinner table. I’ve always imagined Woolf to be like a female Byron in conversation, witty, yes, a bit snotty but also expansive and ultimately self-effacing. Because of this it has always annoyed me that she is invariably portrayed on screen as some kind of mawkish, gibbering bag-woman as was the case in the recent BBC Bloomsbury drama and in Nicole Kidman’s interpretation of her in the film of The Hours.
On the other hand she tends to be a little mean and begrudging in her praise. She can write about Joyce: “Mr Joyce is spiritual; he is concerned at all costs to reveal the flickerings of that innermost flame which flashes its messages through the brain, and in order to preserve it he disregards with complete courage whatever seems to him adventitious, whether it be probability, or coherence, or any other of these signposts which for generations have served to support the imagination of a reader when called upon to imagine what he can neither touch or see.” Only to later dismiss [b:Ulysses|338798|Ulysses|James Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428891345s/338798.jpg|2368224] as a “memorable catastrophe”. Lawrence gets similar treatment. And the chapter on Emily Bronte is probably the most uninspired. It was her belief that Emily Bronte’s poems would outlive her novel. [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Brontë|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388212715s/6185.jpg|1565818] however can be found on every list of the greatest novels ever written, something not true of Conrad’s early work which Woolf, unusually, praises without reservations. So even Woolf wasn’t foolproof in her assessments. There’s also a sense of how competitive she is with both contemporaries and other women – a major factor in her friendship with Katherine Mansfield. There’s her famous comment about [b:Middlemarch|19089|Middlemarch|George Eliot|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924110s/19089.jpg|1461747] but then she will help us understand why it’s not as grown up as [b:War and Peace|656|War and Peace|Leo Tolstoy|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413215930s/656.jpg|4912783] where every relationship is so much more finely tuned and the imaginative reach of Tolstoy excels anything Eliot is capable of. She remarks that Eliot’s heroines talk too much and comments on “the fumbling which shook Eliot’s hand when she had to conceive a fit mate for her heroines.” And I remembered how Dorothea’s relationship with Ladislaw, written perhaps with all critical faculties in abeyance, borders on being the kind of young girl’s wish fulfilment liaison we expect from formulaic romantic fiction.
Above all else, reading this helped me understand the nature of the imperatives behind what Woolf wanted to achieve in her own work.
saddlebowl123's review
4.0
This anthology of essays by Virginia Woolf on English literature is arranged chronologically by writer from the high medieval (the Paston documents and Chaucer) to the then current era (post WWI). Many of these have gained classic status, and no wonder. The Paston essay places the documents within their historical context to an extent that you can relate to the persons described as living, breathing, human beings. If there has ever been a better piece on Jane Austen's genius I've never read it. Her portraits of the more obscure writers whose fame either died with them, or at best has flickered on, is of interest to readers of Woolf even if it is not for the subjects themselves. She skewers Wells, Galsworthy and Bennett as writers whose work has outlived their time and purpose (and admirer though I am of these three she does have a point). Her essay on the Brontes is of historical issue inasmuch as it shows the degree to which Anne's work has been rehabilitated since this essay was written (she is not even mentioned here). In her famous essay on George Eliot Woolf dances round Eliot without really getting to grips with her subject. Woolf clearly prefers the loam operas to Romola and Daniel Deronda; Middlemarch she damns with faint praise. I would have liked Woolf's opinion on why water is such a symbol of death throughout Eliot's novels, with the high number of drownings and near-drownings that occur - but hey-ho I'm not a professional literary critic. The last essay featured here, 'How It Strkes A Contemporary', is a passionate defence of modern (and Modernist) literature.
This collection demonstrates that Virginia Woolf was one of the most perceptive writers on English literature of the first half of the 20th century.
This collection demonstrates that Virginia Woolf was one of the most perceptive writers on English literature of the first half of the 20th century.
shewritesinmargins's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
thesubmariner's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
A great collection of extremely educational essays on a variety of literary topics. Recently I’ve been getting into essays and memoirs from writers such as James Baldwin. My favorite type of essays is when I learn about artists that I never heard of or know every little about and this collection delivers and then some, at least for me. I will look to read more essays for Virginia Woolf. From this collection I will definitely pick up some of the writers' work that intrigued me the most.
This collection of essays can be found for free on numerous websites:
https://archive.org/details/commonreader00wool_0
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457
Here is a summary of the essays:
1. The Pastons and Chaucer – Essay on the Paston family with focus on Sir John Paston and the Paston Letters, Caister Castle built by Sir John Fastolf which was the inspiration for Falstaff by William Shakespeare. Geoffrey Chaucer’s poetry is also mentioned.
This collection of essays can be found for free on numerous websites:
https://archive.org/details/commonreader00wool_0
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457
Here is a summary of the essays:
1. The Pastons and Chaucer – Essay on the Paston family with focus on Sir John Paston and the Paston Letters, Caister Castle built by Sir John Fastolf which was the inspiration for Falstaff by William Shakespeare. Geoffrey Chaucer’s poetry is also mentioned.
2. On Not Knowing Greek – Essay on Ancient Greek literature.
3. The Elizabethan Lumber Room – Essay on how the Collection of the Early Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries of the English Nation by Richard Hakluyt had a transformation on the English language. Sir Thomas Browne
4. Notes on an Elizabethan Play – A critique on Elizabethans plays including the works of Robert Greene, Thomas Dekker, George Peele, George Chapman, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher.
5. Montaigne – Essay on Michel Eyquem de Montaigne aka Lord of Montaigne - "Que sçay-je?" “how many people have succeeded in drawing themselves with a pen?”
6. The Duchess of Newcastle – Essay on Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
7. Rambling Round Evelyn – Essay on John Evelyn
8. Defoe – Essay on Daniel Defoe and on his novel Robinson Crusoe
9. Addison – Essay on Joseph Addison with reflection on “An essay on Addison” by The Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay
10. The Lives of the Obscure: – Hagiography for librarians
Part I – Taylors and Edgeworths – Essay on Taylors of Ongar, Richard (Dick) Lovell Edgeworth and Maria Edgeworth.
Part II – Laetitia Pilkington – Essay on her “Memoirs” and Jonathan Swift.
11. Jane Austen – Great essay on Jane Austen
12. Modern Fiction – Critiques the generation that preceded hers on H.G. Wells, Arnold Bennett and John Galsworthy with mentions and praise of the generation that preceded theirs, including Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, William Henry Hudson, James Joyce and Anton Chekhov.
13. “Jane Eyre” And “Wuthering Heights” – Essay on the Brontë focusing on their differences and general ambition and motive through the eyes of their two famous novels.
14. George Eliot – Essay on Mary Ann Evans, a Victorian novelist who wrote under male pseudonym of George Eliot.
15. The Russian Point of View – The main focus is on translated fiction of Russian writers Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
16. Outlines:
Part 1 – Miss Mitford – Essay on Mary Russell Mitford and her most famous work Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery.
Part 1 – Miss Mitford – Essay on Mary Russell Mitford and her most famous work Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery.
Part 2 – Dr. Bentley – Essay on The Reverend Richard Bentley.
Part 3 – Lady Dorothy Nevill – Essay Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill who was a writer and a daughter of Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford.
Part 4 – Archbishop Thomson – Essay on William Thomson the Archbishop of York
17. The Patron and the Crocus – Essay for young writers.
18. The Modern Essay – Great discussion on essays with reflection on Victorian essayists.
19. Joseph Conrad – Essay on Joseph Conrad who was Polish-British writer and while the English wasn’t his first language, he still became highly regarded for his prose in English language. The recurring character from his work Charles Marlow is also analyzed.
20. How it Strikes a Contemporary – Essay on her contemporaries with reflection on the previous generation of writers.