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108 reviews for:
A Writer's Diary: Being Extracts from the Diary of Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf, Lyndall Gordon, Leonard Woolf
4.16 AVERAGE
108 reviews for:
A Writer's Diary: Being Extracts from the Diary of Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf, Lyndall Gordon, Leonard Woolf
4.16 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts
2021 -
This is my second time reading this book. Each time I read this book, I am in an awe of the life of Virginia Woolf lived despite all her struggles. She had her struggles with mental health but she lived an incredibly productive life. The diary clearly shows the other side of her that she is not known of. She was just a melancholy and moody sort of person but an incredibly creative, witty, and at times, hilarious. Without her diaries, we can never know that other side. This is an incredible book - highly, highly recommend.
2020 -
This was such a good insight into Woolf’s life. It is interesting to read her everyday life account on how she feeling about various authors, how she is going on with her writing, her anxiety about the publication of her books, and so on. Absolutely fascinating!
This is my second time reading this book. Each time I read this book, I am in an awe of the life of Virginia Woolf lived despite all her struggles. She had her struggles with mental health but she lived an incredibly productive life. The diary clearly shows the other side of her that she is not known of. She was just a melancholy and moody sort of person but an incredibly creative, witty, and at times, hilarious. Without her diaries, we can never know that other side. This is an incredible book - highly, highly recommend.
2020 -
This was such a good insight into Woolf’s life. It is interesting to read her everyday life account on how she feeling about various authors, how she is going on with her writing, her anxiety about the publication of her books, and so on. Absolutely fascinating!
challenging
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
This book is a collection of various parts of Virginia Woolf’s diary which pertain to writing. Not a complete diary, as that would take volumes. There are many lessons that writers and readers can learn such as to apply the appropriate feelings and their weights to the text. Woolf questions the meaning in emotions in books as they are a product of the generation so are seen differently per generation. Writings is always difficult but it gets more difficult the further into the book one gets as the author tries to maintain consistency and the shape of writing. Determination not to give up is necessary for writing. Holding to ideas while beautify them with language. Depending on what is being written, some qualities need to be sacrificed in order to bring about others.
Containing many short book reviews or rather, what she thought of the book’s writing. Very critical and understanding of the content of the book. Even though it is edited to include mostly the parts on writing, many criticisms of others remain as they form appropriate expression of ideas. She expresses anxieties around reviews of her books as well. Anxieties such as not being able to sell many books or opinions of a particularly bad review of her book. Woolf tired not to be bothered by praise or blame but they did interrupt the flow of writing as she wanted to investigate the claims. There were times where she specified how many copies were sold.
As this is a diary, there are many sporadic and unrelated musings. The seemingly random musings cannot really be used against the author as this is a diary. Musings are ubiquitous and do show many of life’s moments. Many meetings with members of the Bloomsbury Group such as John Maynard Keynes. Tea, illness, passage of time, and remorse on who died are all part of the musings. Later in the book there are statements of life during the WWII and its prelude.
What can be said of Virginia Woolf is that she did not appreciate people who were insincere and dishonest as she was very critical of those aspects of politics.
Containing many short book reviews or rather, what she thought of the book’s writing. Very critical and understanding of the content of the book. Even though it is edited to include mostly the parts on writing, many criticisms of others remain as they form appropriate expression of ideas. She expresses anxieties around reviews of her books as well. Anxieties such as not being able to sell many books or opinions of a particularly bad review of her book. Woolf tired not to be bothered by praise or blame but they did interrupt the flow of writing as she wanted to investigate the claims. There were times where she specified how many copies were sold.
As this is a diary, there are many sporadic and unrelated musings. The seemingly random musings cannot really be used against the author as this is a diary. Musings are ubiquitous and do show many of life’s moments. Many meetings with members of the Bloomsbury Group such as John Maynard Keynes. Tea, illness, passage of time, and remorse on who died are all part of the musings. Later in the book there are statements of life during the WWII and its prelude.
What can be said of Virginia Woolf is that she did not appreciate people who were insincere and dishonest as she was very critical of those aspects of politics.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Anything and everything about Virginia Woolf is fascinating to me.
Extracts from Virginia Woolf's diaries, selected by her husband Leonard Woolf. The extracts deal with her reading and writing, and describe the progress of her novels and other works in the period from 1919 to 1941, when she died. Why is it that I often find diaries and biographies of writers so much more interesting than the books they write? Certainly the case with V. Woolf. I tried reading her [b:Jacob's room|225396|Jacob's Room|Virginia Woolf|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388466257s/225396.jpg|3272732], but gave up after a few chapters. I did manage to findish [b:The Waves|46114|The Waves|Virginia Woolf|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385233847s/46114.jpg|6057263] though.
Argh, the inadequacy of the stars! One star is missing only for all the people and events that went over my head (rather that I let pass by). But even at her most informal (or especially?), Woolf is striking. The last year (1940-1941; the war) is affecting enough to balance out that last stretch of the diaries that is not as concerned with writing as the preceding. The brevity and casualness of her "notes" and the repetition of her anguish and fear and anxiety with every book are somehow warming to me.
I didn't enjoy A Room of One's Own when I read it some months ago, which made me reluctant about Woolf. I only picked up this book from the library when I happened across a writer-blogger (whom I otherwise don't know) refer to it as a book she keeps on hand to refer to in times of inspiration-need. It shows every sign of becoming the same for me -- it's helped to push me forward on some writing projects. I plan to buy a copy of my own and may even underline some passages and write comments in the margins -- and I never do that! From here I'd like to read her essays (I started with "How Should One Read a Book?" this evening) and her novels (To the Lighthouse to start, I think).
I didn't enjoy A Room of One's Own when I read it some months ago, which made me reluctant about Woolf. I only picked up this book from the library when I happened across a writer-blogger (whom I otherwise don't know) refer to it as a book she keeps on hand to refer to in times of inspiration-need. It shows every sign of becoming the same for me -- it's helped to push me forward on some writing projects. I plan to buy a copy of my own and may even underline some passages and write comments in the margins -- and I never do that! From here I'd like to read her essays (I started with "How Should One Read a Book?" this evening) and her novels (To the Lighthouse to start, I think).