tanrguez's review against another edition

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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.”

erinastin's review against another edition

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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.

bibliocinephile's review against another edition

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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

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challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

milaniezh's review against another edition

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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.

ziliav's review against another edition

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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.”

abby_bookworm's review against another edition

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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

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

elvism's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

miiyayukii's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5