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A review by reggikko
The Common Reader: First Series, Annotated Edition by Virginia Woolf
4.0
It comes as no surprise that Virginia Woolf was a brilliant essayist. The problem with some of the essays belong to this reader and not to the writer, to whit: I am unfamiliar with some of the works Woolf covers. My enjoyment was greatest in those essays on subjects with which I am familiar: Chaucer, Elizabethan drama, Defoe, Austen, Jane Eyre, George Eliot. I also greatly enjoyed the essay on Russian Literature, and the Miss Mitford section in "Outlines."
In a sense, this collection gives a brief history of English Literature. The breadth of Woolf's knowledge is astounding, especially when one considers that, being a woman of a certain time, she had no formal education. A naturally inquisitive mind and her father's vast library served her quite well.
In a sense, this collection gives a brief history of English Literature. The breadth of Woolf's knowledge is astounding, especially when one considers that, being a woman of a certain time, she had no formal education. A naturally inquisitive mind and her father's vast library served her quite well.