A review by bella_mckinnon
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

• Love Woolf’s expression in multiple parts:
• “It was thus that I found myself walking with extreme rapidity across a grass plot. Instantly a man’s figure rose to intercept me.” (p.2)
• “Venerable and calm, with all its treasures locked within its breast, it sleeps complacently and will, so far as I am concerned, so sleep for ever. Never will I wake those echoes, never will I ask for that hospitality again, I vowed as I descended the steps in anger.” (p. 3)
• Her commentary on the Manx cat was also quite humorous, haha
• Slow somewhat at times, a lot of discourse that I’m not sure what the point of, is
• Feminist point clearly made – looking at sexist examples of descriptions and associations of women…”small size brain of…”, “mental, moral and physical inferiority of…”, [list of men’s] opinion of…[but no women’s opinions of any men]’...etc. (p. 14)
• Her rant on p. 15 about the arrogance and irritating nature of Professor von X’s assertions of women was a great read, and how she is supposed to be inferior when the man next to her can barely keep his face clean-shaven for work  – very interesting 
• ‘Men are snobs’ – feminist statement – ‘for why was Miss West an arrant feminist for making a possibly true if not uncomplimentary statement about the other sex?” (p. 17) – loved the wit
• Her commentary on the way women are described by male authors was also critical and on-point, enjoyed reading 
• Her inclusion of an Oscar Browning quote that particularly ruffled my feathers was great…that “the best woman was intellectually the inferior of the worst man”...what an insufferable sentiment, glad it was included, a shame to hear of one such idea existing past the ideas of ancient Greece, but given Browning’s ideas on ‘Greek love’, well…I’m not surprised. 
• Enjoyed learning about the Lady Winchilsea and reading some of her poetry around (p. 28)
• Excellent critique – “...football and sports are “important”; the worship of fashion, the buying of clothes “trivial…The is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room. A scene in a battle-field is more important than a scene in a shop…” (p.36)
• Haha – “where shall I find that elaborate study of a woman by a woman?”...very tough to find, Woolf even makes a great point on the way women are represented by the then male-dominated profession of medicine, great 
• I pondered over this line on (p. 50) – “men…are only writing with the male side of their brains. It is a mistake for women to read them for they will inevitably look for something that she will not find.” – perhaps the sensitivity of writing, an understanding or empathy or care for a woman’s story and her experiences – an astute observation, though evidently a solemn one, but true. 
• “Women have had less intellectual freedom than the sons of Athenians slaves. Women…have not had a dog’s chance of writing poetry.” (p. 53) – so well-said, and this, “history is too much about wars; biographies too much about great men” (same page)
• TL;DR: A good read overall – many great points raised and her critiques were so well-said, so sharp and brittle. However, it did feel at times all over the place, and I felt her excellent points could have been received better had she just structured them a little more coherently. Nonetheless, worth the read.