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A Haunted House And Other Short Stories
The stories found in A Haunted House reflect Virginia Woolf's experimental writing style and act as an enlightening introduction to the longer fiction of this pioneer novelist. Gathering works from the previously published Monday or Tuesday, as well as stories published in American and British magazines, this book compiles some of the best shorter fiction of one of the most important writers of our time.
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
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About the author
Virginia Woolf
1,813听books27.3k听followers(Adeline) Virginia Woolf was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
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April 21, 2022
A Haunted House and Other Short Stories, Virginia Woolf
A Haunted House is a collection of 18 short stories by Virginia Woolf published 1944. It was produced by her husband Leonard Woolf after her death.
18 short stories:
A Haunted House,
Monday or Tuesday,
An Unwritten Novel,
The String Quartet,
Kew Gardens,
The Mark on the Wall,
The New Dress,
The Shooting Party,
Lappin and Lappinova,
Solid Objects,
The Lady in the Looking-Glass,
The Duchess and the Jeweler,
Moments of Being,
The Man who Loved his Kind,
The Searchlight,
The Legacy,
Together and Apart,
and A Summing Up.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮 乇賵夭 賴卮鬲賲 賲丕賴 賮賵乇蹖賴 爻丕賱2016賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇夭丕賳賴 賯賵噩賱賵貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳诏丕賴貙 爻丕賱1386貨 丿乇252氐貨 卮丕亘讴9789643513955貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 爻丕賱1390貨 趩丕倬 卮卮賲 爻丕賱1399貨 趩丕倬 賴卮鬲賲 爻丕賱1400貨 賲賵囟賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 讴賵鬲丕賴 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕 - 爻丿賴20賲
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丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 芦亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴禄 賴賲诏蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 讴賵鬲丕賴 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 禺丕賳賲 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮禄 乇丕 丿丕乇丕蹖蹖 禺賵蹖卮 賲蹖丿丕賳丿貨 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 丕夭 爻賵蹖 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 丕夭 賳丕賯丿丕賳 丌孬丕乇 賵 胤賵胤蹖丕賳 卮讴乇 卮讴賳 卮蹖乇蹖賳 诏賮鬲丕乇 亘丕鈥屫ж必藏� 賳丕賲蹖丿賴 卮丿賴 丕賳丿貙 趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 蹖丕乇蹖 賴賲蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賲蹖鈥屫堌з� 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕蹖 倬蹖趩蹖丿賴 蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屫й� 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲 讴賴 丌孬丕乇卮 賴賲趩賳丕賳 倬乇禺賵丕賳卮 丕爻鬲
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丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 讴丕賲賱丕 亘蹖丕賳诏乇 丿賱亘爻鬲诏賶 賵 亘丕賵乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 亘賴 囟賲蹖乇 賳丕禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 賵 蹖丕 亘賴 鬲毓亘蹖乇賶 芦噩乇蹖丕賳 爻蹖丕賱 匕賴賳鈥� 賴爻鬲賳丿.禄 禺蹖丕賱 丿乇 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 丨囟賵乇賶 倬乇鈥� 乇賳诏 丿丕乇丿貙 鬲禺蹖賱賶 讴賴 亘賴 乇賵卮賳蹖 亘乇丕賶 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賯卮賶 丕爻丕爻賶 丿丕卮鬲賴貙 丕蹖卮丕賳 讴賴 卮蹖賮鬲賴鈥� 賶 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 賵 讴鬲丕亘 亘賵丿賳丿貙 亘賴鈥� 诏賵賳賴 丕蹖 讴賴 丿乇 蹖丕丿賲丕賳賴丕蹖卮 賲賶鈥屭堐屫� 芦丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 亘丕乇賯賴鈥屬� 鬲禺蹖賱 賵 丿賱亘爻鬲诏賶 亘賴 讴鬲丕亘 賳亘賵丿 賲賳 夭賳賶 讴丕賲賱丕 毓丕丿賶 亘賵丿賲.禄貨 夭賳賶 讴賴 卮丕蹖丿 亘鬲賵丕賳 诏賮鬲 賳賵卮鬲賳 亘乇賴丕賳蹖 亘乇丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 賲丕賳丿賳卮 亘賵丿貨 芦丕讴賳賵賳 賲賶鈥屫堌з嗁� 亘賳賵蹖爻賲貙 亘賳賵蹖爻賲 賵 亘賳賵蹖爻賲貨 卮丕丿賶 賳丕亘 丿乇 噩賴丕賳 賴賲蹖賳 丕爻鬲.禄 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賲丕蹖賳丿賴鈥� 賶 亘丕乇夭 噩乇蹖丕賳 爻蹖丕賱 賴賵卮蹖丕乇賶 賵 禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 丿乇賵賳賶 賴爻鬲賶鈥屫� 賴爻鬲賳丿貨 夭亘丕賳賶 讴賴 芦賵賵賱賮禄 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴卮丕賳 亘賴 讴丕乇 賲賶鈥屫ㄘ辟嗀� 亘爻蹖丕乇 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 丕爻鬲貙 夭亘丕賳賶 讴賴 亘賴 賳诏丕乇賴 賳蹖夭 丨丕賱 賵 賴賵丕蹖賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 賲賶鈥屫囏� 賵 丿乇 丿賵乇丕賳 禺賵丿 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 夭亘丕賳 睾賳丕蹖賶貙 賳讴賵賴蹖丿賴 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 芦丕賶.丕賲 賮賵乇爻鬲乇禄貙 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿 賴賲鈥屫关地� 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕禄 賲賶鈥屭佖� 讴賴 丌孬丕乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賴 鬲賳賴丕 倬丕蹖丕賳賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴貙 讴賴 賴賲丕乇賴 丌睾丕夭賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 賳蹖夭 丿丕乇賳丿貙 賵 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 亘乇賴丕賳 亘賴 噩丕蹖诏丕賴 鬲睾夭賱賶 禺賵丿 丿爻鬲 賲賶鈥屰屫жㄙ嗀� (丕賱亘鬲賴 讴賴 丕夭 賳馗乇 賮賵乇爻鬲乇 丕蹖賳 丕賲鬲蹖丕夭 賳亘賵丿)貨 丕賲丕 丌賳诏丕賴 讴賴 賴賲蹖賳 夭亘丕賳 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 亘丕 禺蹖丕賱 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賵 丌賮乇蹖卮賳卮诏乇蹖 賳丕禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇賲賶鈥屫①呟屫藏� 亘賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й屬� 亘丿賱 賲賶鈥屫促堎嗀� 讴賴 丿乇 賳賵毓 禺賵丿 丕诏乇 賳禺賵丕賴蹖賲 亘诏賵蹖蹖賲 亘賶鈥屬嗀港屫� 丕賲丕 亘賶鈥屫必屫� 亘蹖 賴賲丕賳賳丿 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿蹖賳 丕賲乇賵夭 賳蹖夭 丿乇 亘乇乇爻賶 丌孬丕乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 亘乇丕賶 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴 丕蹖卮丕賳 亘賴鈥� 毓賳賵丕賳 胤乇丨鈥屬囏з� 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 乇賲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 丕蹖卮丕賳 丕乇夭卮賶 賵蹖跇賴 賯丕卅賱 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 賲丿丿 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賲賶鈥屫堌з� 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕賶 倬蹖趩蹖丿賴鈥屬� 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屫з� 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲貙 讴賴 倬爻 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲 卮氐鬲 賵 卮卮 爻丕賱 丕夭 丿乇诏匕卮鬲 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇 爻丕賱1941賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 賴賲趩賳丕賳 賲蹖鬲丕夭賳丿
賳賯賱 丕夭 賲鬲賳 禺丕賳賴 丕卮亘丕丨: (賴乇 爻丕毓鬲 讴賴 亘蹖丿丕乇 賲賶鈥屫簇壺� 丿乇賶 亘爻鬲賴 賲賶鈥屫簇� 丌賳賴丕 丕夭 丕鬲丕賯賶 亘賴 丕鬲丕賯 丿蹖诏乇 賲賶鈥屫辟佖嗀� 丿爻鬲 丿乇 丿爻鬲 賴賲貙 丕蹖賳 胤乇賮 趩蹖夭賶 乇丕 噩丕 亘賴 噩丕 賲賶鈥屭┴必嗀� 丌賳 胤乇賮 丿乇賶 乇丕 亘丕夭 賲賶鈥屭┴必嗀� 鬲丕 蹖賯蹖賳 讴賳賳丿貙 夭賵噩 卮亘丨 賵丕乇貨 夭賳 诏賮鬲 芦丕蹖賳鈥屫� 乇賴丕蹖卮 讴乇丿蹖賲.禄 賵 賲乇丿 丕賮夭賵丿 芦丕賲丕 丕蹖賳鈥屫� 賳蹖夭.禄 夭賳 夭賲夭賲賴 讴乇丿 芦亘丕賱丕賶 倬賱賴鈥屬囏ж池回� 賲乇丿 亘賴 賳噩賵丕 诏賮鬲 芦賵 丿乇 亘丕睾.禄 诏賮鬲賳丿 芦丌乇丕賲 亘丕卮蹖賲禄貙 芦賵诏乇賳賴 亘蹖丿丕乇卮丕賳 賲賶鈥屭┵嗃屬�.禄)貨 倬丕蹖丕賳 賳賯賱
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 19/11/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 31/01/1401賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
A Haunted House is a collection of 18 short stories by Virginia Woolf published 1944. It was produced by her husband Leonard Woolf after her death.
18 short stories:
A Haunted House,
Monday or Tuesday,
An Unwritten Novel,
The String Quartet,
Kew Gardens,
The Mark on the Wall,
The New Dress,
The Shooting Party,
Lappin and Lappinova,
Solid Objects,
The Lady in the Looking-Glass,
The Duchess and the Jeweler,
Moments of Being,
The Man who Loved his Kind,
The Searchlight,
The Legacy,
Together and Apart,
and A Summing Up.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮 乇賵夭 賴卮鬲賲 賲丕賴 賮賵乇蹖賴 爻丕賱2016賲蹖賱丕丿蹖
毓賳賵丕賳: 亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴貨 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴: 賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮貨 賲鬲乇噩賲: 賮乇夭丕賳賴 賯賵噩賱賵貨 鬲賴乇丕賳貙 賳诏丕賴貙 爻丕賱1386貨 丿乇252氐貨 卮丕亘讴9789643513955貨 趩丕倬 丿賵賲 爻丕賱1390貨 趩丕倬 卮卮賲 爻丕賱1399貨 趩丕倬 賴卮鬲賲 爻丕賱1400貨 賲賵囟賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 讴賵鬲丕賴 丕夭 賳賵蹖爻賳丿诏丕賳 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖丕 - 爻丿賴20賲
賮賴乇爻鬲: 芦倬蹖卮鈥屭佖ж甭回� 芦賱讴賴鈥屬� 乇賵賶 丿蹖賵丕乇禄貨 芦亘丕睾鈥屬囏з� 讴蹖賵禄貨 芦乇賲丕賳 賳丕賳賵卮鬲賴禄貨 芦丕卮蹖丕亍 噩丕賲丿禄貨 芦禺丕賳賴 丕卮亘丕丨禄貨 芦丿賵卮賳亘賴 蹖丕 爻賴鈥屫促嗀ㄙ嚶回� 芦诏乇賵賴 賳賵丕夭賳丿诏丕賳禄貨 芦丌亘賶 賵 爻亘夭禄貨 芦丿乇 亘丕睾 賲蹖賵賴禄貨 芦賳诏丕賴賶 亘賴 讴丕賱噩賶 夭賳丕賳賴禄貨 芦亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴: 蹖讴 鬲氐賵蹖乇禄貨 芦賲賴賲丕賳賶 卮讴丕乇禄貨 芦丿賵卮爻 賵 噩賵丕賴乇賮乇賵卮禄貨 芦賲乇丿賶 讴賴 賴賲賳賵毓丕賳 禺賵丿 乇丕 丿賵爻鬲 丿丕卮鬲禄貨 芦賱亘丕爻 賳賵禄貨 芦賱丨馗賴鈥屬囏з� 賴爻鬲賶禄貨 芦丕乇孬蹖賴禄貨 芦亘丕 賴賲 賵 噩丿丕 丕夭 賴賲禄貨 芦賳賵乇丕賮讴賳禄貨 芦禺胤丕亘賴禄貨 芦賱丕倬蹖賳 賵 賱丕倬蹖賳賵丕禄貨 芦丕賳噩賲賳禄貨 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮 賵 噩賴丕賳 賲丿乇賳禄貨
丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 芦亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴禄 賴賲诏蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 讴賵鬲丕賴 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 禺丕賳賲 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮禄 乇丕 丿丕乇丕蹖蹖 禺賵蹖卮 賲蹖丿丕賳丿貨 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 丕夭 爻賵蹖 亘爻蹖丕乇蹖 丕夭 賳丕賯丿丕賳 丌孬丕乇 賵 胤賵胤蹖丕賳 卮讴乇 卮讴賳 卮蹖乇蹖賳 诏賮鬲丕乇 亘丕鈥屫ж必藏� 賳丕賲蹖丿賴 卮丿賴 丕賳丿貙 趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 蹖丕乇蹖 賴賲蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賲蹖鈥屫堌з� 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕蹖 倬蹖趩蹖丿賴 蹖 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屫й� 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲 讴賴 丌孬丕乇卮 賴賲趩賳丕賳 倬乇禺賵丕賳卮 丕爻鬲
丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 鬲乇噩賲賴 卮丿賴 芦亘丕賳賵 丿乇 丌蹖賳賴禄 亘蹖爻鬲 賵 丿賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 讴賵鬲丕賴 丌乇賲蹖丿賴 丕賳丿貨 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 丿乇 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賶鈥� 丕蹖卮丕賳 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳 芦丿賵卮賳亘賴 蹖丕 爻賴 卮賳亘賴禄 丿乇 夭賲丕賳 夭賳丿賴 亘賵丿賳 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 亘賴 趩丕倬 乇爻蹖丿賴 亘賵丿貙 賵 卮賲丕乇蹖 丕夭 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕 丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 讴賵趩讴賶 亘丕 賳丕賲 芦禺丕賳賴鈥屬� 丕卮亘丕丨禄 讴賴 賴賲爻乇 丕蹖卮丕賳 芦賱卅賵賳丕乇丿 賵賵賱賮禄 倬爻 丕夭 丿乇诏匕卮鬲 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕禄 賲賳鬲卮乇 讴乇丿賳丿貙 賵 蹖讴 讴鬲丕亘 丿蹖诏乇 乇丕 賳蹖夭 丕賳鬲卮丕乇丕鬲 倬賳诏賵卅賳 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴 亘乇诏夭蹖丿賴禄 丿乇 爻丕賱1993賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 賲賳鬲卮乇 讴乇丿貙 讴賴 丿丕乇丕蹖蹖卮 趩賴丕乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 讴賵鬲丕賴 亘賵丿賳丿 讴賴 賴賲爻乇卮 芦賱卅賵賳丕乇丿 賵賵賱賮禄 丌賳賴丕 乇丕 丕夭 爻乇賶 禺賵丿 丨匕賮 讴乇丿賴 亘賵丿賳丿貙 亘丕 丕蹖賳 亘乇賴丕賳 讴賴 賲賶鈥屫з嗀池� 丕诏乇 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕禄 夭賳丿賴 亘賵丿 賳賲賶鈥屫堌ж池� 丌賳鈥屬囏� 賲賳鬲卮乇 卮賵賳丿
丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 讴丕賲賱丕 亘蹖丕賳诏乇 丿賱亘爻鬲诏賶 賵 亘丕賵乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 亘賴 囟賲蹖乇 賳丕禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 賵 蹖丕 亘賴 鬲毓亘蹖乇賶 芦噩乇蹖丕賳 爻蹖丕賱 匕賴賳鈥� 賴爻鬲賳丿.禄 禺蹖丕賱 丿乇 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 丨囟賵乇賶 倬乇鈥� 乇賳诏 丿丕乇丿貙 鬲禺蹖賱賶 讴賴 亘賴 乇賵卮賳蹖 亘乇丕賶 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賯卮賶 丕爻丕爻賶 丿丕卮鬲賴貙 丕蹖卮丕賳 讴賴 卮蹖賮鬲賴鈥� 賶 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 賵 讴鬲丕亘 亘賵丿賳丿貙 亘賴鈥� 诏賵賳賴 丕蹖 讴賴 丿乇 蹖丕丿賲丕賳賴丕蹖卮 賲賶鈥屭堐屫� 芦丕诏乇 丕蹖賳 亘丕乇賯賴鈥屬� 鬲禺蹖賱 賵 丿賱亘爻鬲诏賶 亘賴 讴鬲丕亘 賳亘賵丿 賲賳 夭賳賶 讴丕賲賱丕 毓丕丿賶 亘賵丿賲.禄貨 夭賳賶 讴賴 卮丕蹖丿 亘鬲賵丕賳 诏賮鬲 賳賵卮鬲賳 亘乇賴丕賳蹖 亘乇丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 賲丕賳丿賳卮 亘賵丿貨 芦丕讴賳賵賳 賲賶鈥屫堌з嗁� 亘賳賵蹖爻賲貙 亘賳賵蹖爻賲 賵 亘賳賵蹖爻賲貨 卮丕丿賶 賳丕亘 丿乇 噩賴丕賳 賴賲蹖賳 丕爻鬲.禄 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賲丕蹖賳丿賴鈥� 賶 亘丕乇夭 噩乇蹖丕賳 爻蹖丕賱 賴賵卮蹖丕乇賶 賵 禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 賵 夭賳丿诏賶 丿乇賵賳賶 賴爻鬲賶鈥屫� 賴爻鬲賳丿貨 夭亘丕賳賶 讴賴 芦賵賵賱賮禄 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴卮丕賳 亘賴 讴丕乇 賲賶鈥屫ㄘ辟嗀� 亘爻蹖丕乇 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 丕爻鬲貙 夭亘丕賳賶 讴賴 亘賴 賳诏丕乇賴 賳蹖夭 丨丕賱 賵 賴賵丕蹖賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 賲賶鈥屫囏� 賵 丿乇 丿賵乇丕賳 禺賵丿 丕蹖卮丕賳貙 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 夭亘丕賳 睾賳丕蹖賶貙 賳讴賵賴蹖丿賴 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 芦丕賶.丕賲 賮賵乇爻鬲乇禄貙 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿 賴賲鈥屫关地� 芦賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕禄 賲賶鈥屭佖� 讴賴 丌孬丕乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賳賴 鬲賳賴丕 倬丕蹖丕賳賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴貙 讴賴 賴賲丕乇賴 丌睾丕夭賶 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 賳蹖夭 丿丕乇賳丿貙 賵 亘賴 賴賲蹖賳 亘乇賴丕賳 亘賴 噩丕蹖诏丕賴 鬲睾夭賱賶 禺賵丿 丿爻鬲 賲賶鈥屰屫жㄙ嗀� (丕賱亘鬲賴 讴賴 丕夭 賳馗乇 賮賵乇爻鬲乇 丕蹖賳 丕賲鬲蹖丕夭 賳亘賵丿)貨 丕賲丕 丌賳诏丕賴 讴賴 賴賲蹖賳 夭亘丕賳 卮丕毓乇丕賳賴 亘丕 禺蹖丕賱 芦賵賵賱賮禄 賵 丌賮乇蹖卮賳卮诏乇蹖 賳丕禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇賲賶鈥屫①呟屫藏� 亘賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й屬� 亘丿賱 賲賶鈥屫促堎嗀� 讴賴 丿乇 賳賵毓 禺賵丿 丕诏乇 賳禺賵丕賴蹖賲 亘诏賵蹖蹖賲 亘賶鈥屬嗀港屫� 丕賲丕 亘賶鈥屫必屫� 亘蹖 賴賲丕賳賳丿 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 賵 賲賳鬲賯丿蹖賳 丕賲乇賵夭 賳蹖夭 丿乇 亘乇乇爻賶 丌孬丕乇 芦賵賵賱賮禄 亘乇丕賶 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏з� 讴賵鬲丕賴 丕蹖卮丕賳 亘賴鈥� 毓賳賵丕賳 胤乇丨鈥屬囏з� 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 乇賲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 丕蹖卮丕賳 丕乇夭卮賶 賵蹖跇賴 賯丕卅賱 賴爻鬲賳丿貙 趩乇丕 讴賴 亘賴 賲丿丿 丕蹖賳 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賲賶鈥屫堌з� 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕賶 倬蹖趩蹖丿賴鈥屬� 賳賵蹖爻賳丿賴鈥屫з� 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲貙 讴賴 倬爻 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲 卮氐鬲 賵 卮卮 爻丕賱 丕夭 丿乇诏匕卮鬲 丕蹖卮丕賳 丿乇 爻丕賱1941賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 賴賲趩賳丕賳 賲蹖鬲丕夭賳丿
賳賯賱 丕夭 賲鬲賳 禺丕賳賴 丕卮亘丕丨: (賴乇 爻丕毓鬲 讴賴 亘蹖丿丕乇 賲賶鈥屫簇壺� 丿乇賶 亘爻鬲賴 賲賶鈥屫簇� 丌賳賴丕 丕夭 丕鬲丕賯賶 亘賴 丕鬲丕賯 丿蹖诏乇 賲賶鈥屫辟佖嗀� 丿爻鬲 丿乇 丿爻鬲 賴賲貙 丕蹖賳 胤乇賮 趩蹖夭賶 乇丕 噩丕 亘賴 噩丕 賲賶鈥屭┴必嗀� 丌賳 胤乇賮 丿乇賶 乇丕 亘丕夭 賲賶鈥屭┴必嗀� 鬲丕 蹖賯蹖賳 讴賳賳丿貙 夭賵噩 卮亘丨 賵丕乇貨 夭賳 诏賮鬲 芦丕蹖賳鈥屫� 乇賴丕蹖卮 讴乇丿蹖賲.禄 賵 賲乇丿 丕賮夭賵丿 芦丕賲丕 丕蹖賳鈥屫� 賳蹖夭.禄 夭賳 夭賲夭賲賴 讴乇丿 芦亘丕賱丕賶 倬賱賴鈥屬囏ж池回� 賲乇丿 亘賴 賳噩賵丕 诏賮鬲 芦賵 丿乇 亘丕睾.禄 诏賮鬲賳丿 芦丌乇丕賲 亘丕卮蹖賲禄貙 芦賵诏乇賳賴 亘蹖丿丕乇卮丕賳 賲賶鈥屭┵嗃屬�.禄)貨 倬丕蹖丕賳 賳賯賱
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 19/11/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 31/01/1401賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
January 13, 2016
鈥淪afe, safe, safe,鈥� the heart of the house beats proudly. 鈥淟ong years鈥斺€� he sighs. 鈥淎gain you found me.鈥� 鈥淗ere,鈥� she murmurs, 鈥渟leeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure鈥斺€� Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. 鈥淪afe! safe! safe!鈥� the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry 鈥淥h, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.鈥潂The Haunted House"Come, dream with me," beckons Virginia Woolf in this collection of eighteen stories, some previously published, some unfinished and offered up posthumously by her husband, Leonard.
This is the sensation I had while reading鈥攄reaming scenes that seemed perfectly normal at first, but which were beset by a surreality, a super-reality shimmering just beneath the surface, signaling not all is as it seems.
"Here is something definite, something real. Thus, waking from a midnight dream of horror, one hastily turns on the light and lies quiescent, worshipping the chest of drawers, worshipping solidity, worshipping reality, worshipping the impersonal world which is a proof of some existence other than ours.鈥潂Monday or TuesdayThis "worshipping the impersonal world which is a proof of some existence other than ours" is the theme at the heart of this collection. Woolf takes the impersonal world like a glass ball in her hands and cracks it open ever so slightly, revealing the chaos within.
In Kew Gardens, surely one of the finest in the collection, she juxtaposes the order of natural world with the disorder of human emotion.
Woolf shows in the tense and eerie The Mark on the Wall what the most minute shift of the kaleidoscope of our perspective can do to shape our chose reality.
A New Dress is an exercise in acute self-consciousness, a woman realizing, or imagining she knows, how she appears to others. It is a cruel and perceptive knife thrust at classism.
鈥淪he was a fly, but the others were dragonflies, butterflies, beautiful insects, dancing, fluttering, skimming, while she alone dragged herself up out of the saucer.鈥�Her skewering of Britain's gentry continues in the parodic The Shooting Party, which has a scene I had to read several times to make certain I understood what was happening. Why yes, the Squire does lash his whip about, causing Miss Rashleigh to fall into the fireplace, toppling the shield of the Rashleighs and a picture of King Edward. It's a laugh-out-loud moment of horror.
We talk about powerful opening lines in novel and short stories, but this. This may be one of my favorite closing lines, ever: "So that was the end of that marriage."~Lappin and Lapinova A devastating story of the fickle nature of . . . what? Love? Was there ever love here?
But speaking of opening lines, this one, belonging to The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection is sublime: 鈥淧eople should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more then they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime.鈥� It is also a perceptive and tragic story. One that will have you avoiding mirrors. For how can you trust what you see within? Is your reflection reality or a mistaken image of your own creation?
The Dalloways, particularly, Clarissa, make frequent appearances in this collection, as if Woolf had crafted small sketches, playing with her characters, trying to sort them out. I've not yet read Mrs. Dalloway, so perhaps the integration of these stories and the novel will become clear to me once I've put them all together.
Of all things, nothing is so strange as human intercourse, she thought, because of its changes, its extraordinary irrationality, her dislike being now nothing short of the most intense and rapturous love, but directly the word love occurred to her, she rejected it, thinking again how obscure the mind was, with its very few words for all these astonishing perceptions, these alternations of pain and pleasure. For how did one name this. That is what she felt now, the withdrawal of human affection, Serle鈥檚 disappearance, and the instant need they were both under to cover up what was so desolating and degrading to human nature that everyone tried to bury it decently from sight... ~Together and ApartFrom the voice of a character, yet one feels the author keening to uncover what society, the society of her time, wants to desperately to hide: the vulnerability of human emotion, the insistence on "worshiping the impersonal world" instead of acknowledging the very personal within and without ourselves.
A beautiful, raw, vulnerable collection of stories, rendered in language both intimate and abstract. I remain in awe of Woolf's ability to transcend the limits of the word and create something divine.
January 19, 2020
"夭賳丿诏蹖 蹖讴 乇卮鬲賴 賱丕賲倬 賳蹖爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 鬲乇鬲蹖亘 乇丿蹖賮 卮丿賴 亘丕卮丿,亘賱讴賴 倬乇鬲賵蹖 賳賵乇丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲,倬賵卮卮蹖 賳蹖賲賴 卮賮丕賮 讴賴 賲丕 乇丕 丕夭 夭賲丕賳 卮乇賵毓 囟賲蹖乇 賳丕禺賵丿丕诏丕賴 鬲丕 倬丕蹖丕賳 丿乇 禺賵丿 诏乇賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲."
賱讴賴 乇賵蹖 丿蹖賵丕乇 卮丕賴讴丕乇 賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮 丕爻鬲,賳賵卮鬲賴 丕蹖 讴賴 丕夭 夭賲丕賳 賲蹖诏匕乇丿..賳賵卮鬲賴 讴賴 夭賲丕賳 賴乇诏夭 賳禺賵丕賴丿 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲 亘乇 丕賳 睾賱亘賴 讴賳丿.
夭賲丕賳蹖 讴賴 丕蹖賳 賳賵卮鬲賴 賴丕 乇丕 賲蹖禺賵丕賳賲 賲乇丕 亘賴 爻丕賱 賴丕 倬蹖卮 亘丕夭 賲蹖诏乇丿丕賳丿..亘賴 賱丨馗丕鬲蹖 讴賴 亘乇 賮乇丕夭 鬲倬賴 賴丕蹖蹖 爻亘夭 丿乇 賳夭丿蹖讴蹖 卮賴乇 夭丕丿诏丕賴賲 賲蹖 丕蹖爻鬲丕丿賲..诏乇賲丕蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿 趩賵賳 丕睾賵卮 賲丕丿乇賲 賲乇丕 丿乇 亘乇賲蹖诏乇賮鬲...賵 亘丕丿...讴賴 毓丕卮賯丕賳賴 丿爻鬲 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 賱胤丕賮鬲卮 乇丕 亘乇 趩賴乇賴 丕賲 賲蹖讴卮蹖丿..賵 倬乇賵丕夭 倬乇賳丿诏丕賳 讴賴 丕賮讴丕乇賲 乇丕 爻賵丕乇 亘乇 亘丕賱 賴丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 賵 诏乇賲卮丕賳 亘賴 丕爻賲丕賳 賲蹖亘乇丿..丌爻賲丕賳 丌亘蹖..卮賮丕賮 賵 倬丕讴..讴賴 丕賮讴丕乇賲 丿乇 丌賳 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘賴 賲賯氐丿 賲蹖 乇爻蹖丿賳丿..
丿蹖 賲丕賴 98.
"夭賳丿诏蹖 賴賲丕賳蹖 爻鬲 讴賴 卮賲丕 丿乇 趩卮賲 賴丕蹖 賲乇丿賲 賲蹖亘蹖賳蹖丿貨夭賳丿诏蹖 賴賲丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 丕賳賴丕 賲蹖 丕賲賵夭賳丿賵 倬爻 丕夭 丕賳讴賴 丕賲賵禺鬲賳丿,诏乇趩賴 賲蹖 讴賵卮賳丿 讴賴 倬賳賴丕賳卮 讴賳賳丿,賴乇诏夭 賳賲蹖 鬲賵丕賳賳丿 丕賳讴丕乇卮 讴賳賳丿.."
賱讴賴 乇賵蹖 丿蹖賵丕乇 卮丕賴讴丕乇 賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賵賱賮 丕爻鬲,賳賵卮鬲賴 丕蹖 讴賴 丕夭 夭賲丕賳 賲蹖诏匕乇丿..賳賵卮鬲賴 讴賴 夭賲丕賳 賴乇诏夭 賳禺賵丕賴丿 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲 亘乇 丕賳 睾賱亘賴 讴賳丿.
夭賲丕賳蹖 讴賴 丕蹖賳 賳賵卮鬲賴 賴丕 乇丕 賲蹖禺賵丕賳賲 賲乇丕 亘賴 爻丕賱 賴丕 倬蹖卮 亘丕夭 賲蹖诏乇丿丕賳丿..亘賴 賱丨馗丕鬲蹖 讴賴 亘乇 賮乇丕夭 鬲倬賴 賴丕蹖蹖 爻亘夭 丿乇 賳夭丿蹖讴蹖 卮賴乇 夭丕丿诏丕賴賲 賲蹖 丕蹖爻鬲丕丿賲..诏乇賲丕蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿 趩賵賳 丕睾賵卮 賲丕丿乇賲 賲乇丕 丿乇 亘乇賲蹖诏乇賮鬲...賵 亘丕丿...讴賴 毓丕卮賯丕賳賴 丿爻鬲 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 賱胤丕賮鬲卮 乇丕 亘乇 趩賴乇賴 丕賲 賲蹖讴卮蹖丿..賵 倬乇賵丕夭 倬乇賳丿诏丕賳 讴賴 丕賮讴丕乇賲 乇丕 爻賵丕乇 亘乇 亘丕賱 賴丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 賵 诏乇賲卮丕賳 亘賴 丕爻賲丕賳 賲蹖亘乇丿..丌爻賲丕賳 丌亘蹖..卮賮丕賮 賵 倬丕讴..讴賴 丕賮讴丕乇賲 丿乇 丌賳 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘賴 賲賯氐丿 賲蹖 乇爻蹖丿賳丿..
丿蹖 賲丕賴 98.
"夭賳丿诏蹖 賴賲丕賳蹖 爻鬲 讴賴 卮賲丕 丿乇 趩卮賲 賴丕蹖 賲乇丿賲 賲蹖亘蹖賳蹖丿貨夭賳丿诏蹖 賴賲丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 丕賳賴丕 賲蹖 丕賲賵夭賳丿賵 倬爻 丕夭 丕賳讴賴 丕賲賵禺鬲賳丿,诏乇趩賴 賲蹖 讴賵卮賳丿 讴賴 倬賳賴丕賳卮 讴賳賳丿,賴乇诏夭 賳賲蹖 鬲賵丕賳賳丿 丕賳讴丕乇卮 讴賳賳丿.."
June 19, 2024
I don't expect any less from Virginia Woolf. Her ideas and experimentation go beyond what I have ever seen from any one author. I love her descriptions of nature and marvel at how well she captures the process of thought and what we think and what we presume...our tumultuous inner self and the guarded outward face that we show.
Currently reading
May 5, 2025i don鈥檛 gravitate toward short stories but i think it鈥檚 about time i read virginia woolf 馃様
i. "a haunted house" - 4.5
i鈥檝e read this like four times and it just gets better with every read. a ghostly couple haunts their former home, revisiting the memories and joys of their lives together, seeing in the current residents that same love and warmth. the prose is gorgeous, alive almost.
carve this into my skin thank you.
ii. 鈥渕onday or tuesday鈥� - 3
a little too abstract for my liking but i do like the idea that truth is colored by perception and does not exist entirely on its own.
i. "a haunted house" - 4.5
i鈥檝e read this like four times and it just gets better with every read. a ghostly couple haunts their former home, revisiting the memories and joys of their lives together, seeing in the current residents that same love and warmth. the prose is gorgeous, alive almost.
鈥渟afe, safe, safe,鈥� the heart of the house beats proudly. 鈥渓ong years鈥斺€� he sighs. 鈥渁gain you found me.鈥� 鈥渉ere,鈥� she murmurs, 鈥渟leeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. here we left our treasure鈥斺€� stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. 鈥渟afe! safe! safe!鈥� the pulse of the house beats wildly. waking, i cry 鈥渙h, is this your buried treasure? the light in the heart.鈥�
carve this into my skin thank you.
ii. 鈥渕onday or tuesday鈥� - 3
a little too abstract for my liking but i do like the idea that truth is colored by perception and does not exist entirely on its own.
April 26, 2025
#WITMonth
E enquanto meditava neste aspecto das criaturas, na paci锚ncia que possuem, na sua capacidade de sofrimento, no modo como conseguem consolo por meio de pequenos prazeres t茫o miser谩veis, t茫o mesquinhos e t茫o s贸rdidos, os olhos acabaram por se lhe encher realmente de l谩grimas.
Na sua maioria estes contos de Virginia Woolf s茫o excelentes, mas o primeiro e o 煤ltimo, 鈥淎 Marca na Parede鈥� e 鈥淥 Vestido Novo鈥�, s茫o perfeitos. Diria que o que une estas oito hist贸rias 茅 a escrita sublime, ainda que mais difusa em 鈥淎 Casa Assombrada鈥� e 鈥淪egunda ou Ter莽a-Feira鈥�, e o alheamento da realidade, tanto consciente como inconscientemente, que se traduz em ilus茫o ou num profundo sentimento de inadequa莽茫o.
Naquele que me parece ser o mais famoso conto que escreveu, 鈥淎 Marca na Parede鈥�, Woolf p玫e a protagonista a divagar sobre uma mancha que detecta na parede, em sucessivas associa莽玫es de ideias.
A todo o momento vou construindo uma imagem de mim pr贸pria, apaixonadamente furtiva, que n茫o posso adorar directamente, porque se o fizesse, cairia imediatamente em mim e deitaria a m茫o a um livro num gesto de autodefesa. 脡 curioso, com efeito, como uma pessoa protege a sua pr贸pria imagem de toda a idolatria ou de qualquer outro sentimento que a possa tornar rid铆cula ou demasiado diferente do original para ser veros铆mil.
Em 鈥淥 Vestido Novo鈥�, por outro lado, entramos na cabe莽a de Mabel que, na tentativa de ser arrojada e poupada na escolha de um vestido de festa, se deixa levar pela inseguran莽a perante os outros convidados. 脡 curioso que este conto, juntamente com 鈥淩esumo鈥�, decorra no universo das festas de Mrs. Dalloway, que aqui n茫o passa de personagem secund谩ria.
Somos como moscas tentando andar no bordo de um pires de leite, pensou Mabel, e repetiu a frase como se estivesse doente e procurasse uma palavra que aliviasse o seu mal-estar, tornasse suport谩vel aquela agonia. Fragmentos de Shakespeare, linhas de livros que lera havia s茅culos, subitamente emergiam da sua mem贸ria agonizante.
A Marca na Parede 鈥� 5*
A Casa Assombrada 鈥� 3*
Segunda ou Ter莽a-Feira - 4*
Lappin e Lapinova - 4*
A Duquesa e o Joalheiro - 4*
O Legado 鈥� 4*
Resumo 鈥� 4*
O Vestido Novo 鈥� 5*
E enquanto meditava neste aspecto das criaturas, na paci锚ncia que possuem, na sua capacidade de sofrimento, no modo como conseguem consolo por meio de pequenos prazeres t茫o miser谩veis, t茫o mesquinhos e t茫o s贸rdidos, os olhos acabaram por se lhe encher realmente de l谩grimas.
Na sua maioria estes contos de Virginia Woolf s茫o excelentes, mas o primeiro e o 煤ltimo, 鈥淎 Marca na Parede鈥� e 鈥淥 Vestido Novo鈥�, s茫o perfeitos. Diria que o que une estas oito hist贸rias 茅 a escrita sublime, ainda que mais difusa em 鈥淎 Casa Assombrada鈥� e 鈥淪egunda ou Ter莽a-Feira鈥�, e o alheamento da realidade, tanto consciente como inconscientemente, que se traduz em ilus茫o ou num profundo sentimento de inadequa莽茫o.
Naquele que me parece ser o mais famoso conto que escreveu, 鈥淎 Marca na Parede鈥�, Woolf p玫e a protagonista a divagar sobre uma mancha que detecta na parede, em sucessivas associa莽玫es de ideias.
A todo o momento vou construindo uma imagem de mim pr贸pria, apaixonadamente furtiva, que n茫o posso adorar directamente, porque se o fizesse, cairia imediatamente em mim e deitaria a m茫o a um livro num gesto de autodefesa. 脡 curioso, com efeito, como uma pessoa protege a sua pr贸pria imagem de toda a idolatria ou de qualquer outro sentimento que a possa tornar rid铆cula ou demasiado diferente do original para ser veros铆mil.
Em 鈥淥 Vestido Novo鈥�, por outro lado, entramos na cabe莽a de Mabel que, na tentativa de ser arrojada e poupada na escolha de um vestido de festa, se deixa levar pela inseguran莽a perante os outros convidados. 脡 curioso que este conto, juntamente com 鈥淩esumo鈥�, decorra no universo das festas de Mrs. Dalloway, que aqui n茫o passa de personagem secund谩ria.
Somos como moscas tentando andar no bordo de um pires de leite, pensou Mabel, e repetiu a frase como se estivesse doente e procurasse uma palavra que aliviasse o seu mal-estar, tornasse suport谩vel aquela agonia. Fragmentos de Shakespeare, linhas de livros que lera havia s茅culos, subitamente emergiam da sua mem贸ria agonizante.
A Marca na Parede 鈥� 5*
A Casa Assombrada 鈥� 3*
Segunda ou Ter莽a-Feira - 4*
Lappin e Lapinova - 4*
A Duquesa e o Joalheiro - 4*
O Legado 鈥� 4*
Resumo 鈥� 4*
O Vestido Novo 鈥� 5*
September 7, 2024
Wonderful quick read! Poetic and romantic. A new side of Woolf. (Haunted House, only)
Update: 9/7/24
Discovering this wonderful collection of stories has much advanced my opinion of Woolf鈥檚 skill. Though some stories were just average, and number of them very good, there were four that stood out for me as being brilliant: Together and Apart; Moments of Being; The New Dress; and The Legacy. Overall, a delightful, stimulating, heartwarming read! And a must for shortstory fans
Update: 9/7/24
Discovering this wonderful collection of stories has much advanced my opinion of Woolf鈥檚 skill. Though some stories were just average, and number of them very good, there were four that stood out for me as being brilliant: Together and Apart; Moments of Being; The New Dress; and The Legacy. Overall, a delightful, stimulating, heartwarming read! And a must for shortstory fans
August 21, 2018
Nearer they come, cease at the doorway. The wind falls, the rain slides silver down the glass. Our eyes darken, we hear no steps beside us; we see no lady spread her ghostly cloak. His hands shield the lantern. "Look," he breathes. "Sound asleep. Love upon their lips."
Virginia Woolf's "A Haunted House" is a lovely story about a ghost couple and a living couple occupying the same dwelling. This is as playful and lighthearted a story as Woolf has ever written.
This is another beautiful piece of writing by my beloved Virginia Woolf.
Virginia Woolf's "A Haunted House" is a lovely story about a ghost couple and a living couple occupying the same dwelling. This is as playful and lighthearted a story as Woolf has ever written.
This is another beautiful piece of writing by my beloved Virginia Woolf.
July 19, 2011
So fucking beautiful and dark it makes my soul ache.
My Favorites:
Solid Objects:
"his eyes lost their intensity, or rather the background of thought and experience which gives an inscrutable depth to the eyes of grown people disappeared, leaving only the clear transparent surface, expressing nothing but wonder, which the eyes of young children display."
Kew Gardens:
"and in the drone of the aeroplane the voice of the summer sky murmured its fierce soul. Yellow and black, pink and snow white, shapes of all these colours, men, women, and children were spotted for a second upon the horizon, and then, seeing the breadth of yellow that lay upon the grass, they wavered and sought shade beneath the trees, dissolving like drops of water in the yellow and green atmosphere, staining it faintly with red and blue. It seemed as if all gross and heavy bodies had sunk down in the heat motionless and lay huddled upon the ground, but their voices went wavering from them as if they were flames lolling from the thick waxen bodies of candles. Voices. Yes, voices. Wordless voices, breaking the silence suddenly with such depth of contentment, such passion of desire, or, in the voices of children, such freshness of surprise; breaking the silence? But there was no silence; all the time the motor omnibuses were turning their wheels and changing their gear; like a vast nest of Chinese boxes all of wrought steel turning ceaselessly one within another the city murmured; on the top of which the voices cried aloud and the petals of myriads of flowers flashed their colours into the air."
My Favorites:
Solid Objects:
"his eyes lost their intensity, or rather the background of thought and experience which gives an inscrutable depth to the eyes of grown people disappeared, leaving only the clear transparent surface, expressing nothing but wonder, which the eyes of young children display."
Kew Gardens:
"and in the drone of the aeroplane the voice of the summer sky murmured its fierce soul. Yellow and black, pink and snow white, shapes of all these colours, men, women, and children were spotted for a second upon the horizon, and then, seeing the breadth of yellow that lay upon the grass, they wavered and sought shade beneath the trees, dissolving like drops of water in the yellow and green atmosphere, staining it faintly with red and blue. It seemed as if all gross and heavy bodies had sunk down in the heat motionless and lay huddled upon the ground, but their voices went wavering from them as if they were flames lolling from the thick waxen bodies of candles. Voices. Yes, voices. Wordless voices, breaking the silence suddenly with such depth of contentment, such passion of desire, or, in the voices of children, such freshness of surprise; breaking the silence? But there was no silence; all the time the motor omnibuses were turning their wheels and changing their gear; like a vast nest of Chinese boxes all of wrought steel turning ceaselessly one within another the city murmured; on the top of which the voices cried aloud and the petals of myriads of flowers flashed their colours into the air."
Read
July 26, 2024Se quis茅ssemos um termo de compara莽茫o para a vida, o melhor seria o de um metropolitano, atravessando o t煤nel a cinquenta milhas 脿 hora e deixando-nos do outro lado sem um gancho sequer no cabelo! Cuspidos aos p茅s de Deus, inteiramente nus!
Virginia Woolf foi relevante para a sua (e nossa) 茅poca, mas, arrisco dizer, ser谩 ainda mais relevante com o passar do tempo, pois o seu olhar n茫o abarcava apenas o que via, queria ir mais longe e, fazendo-o, demarcava-se do palp谩vel, do real e chegava a um estado quase qu芒ntico da literatura. Por isso, Woolf n茫o obedecia a regras - estruturalistas, 茅ticas ou outras - e estava simultaneamente aqui e agora, e ali e depois. Sem barreiras, recreava os espa莽os intelectuais das mulheres (que, for莽adas ao ex铆lio do mundo dos homens sempre se criaram universos alternativos), falava para ontem, hoje e amanh茫. Woolf criava espa莽os simult芒neos onde se desdobram as m煤ltiplas possibilidades da exist锚ncia - uma esp茅cie de paradoxo de Schr枚dinger aplicado 脿 exist锚ncia da Mulher. E mesmo sem se explanar por centenas de p谩ginas, mesmo sem fazer uso de uma corrente de pensamento (corrente de consci锚ncia, fluxo de consci锚ncia, como preferirem - corrente de pensamento engloba tamb茅m uma nova filosofia), a autora revela em tr锚s e quatro p谩ginas uma capacidade de an谩lise do subconsciente, do feminismo e das maquina莽玫es sociais construtivistas como nenhum outro seu contempor芒neo.
(...)o ponto de vista masculino que governa as nossas vidas, que fixa as regras de comportamento,(.)uma velha metade de fantasma(.)que, em breve, espero, ser谩 posta no caixote do lixo, que 茅 o fim dos fantasmas, dos arm谩rios de mogno(.)dos Deuses e Dem贸nios e o mais que se sabe, deixando-nos por fim uma impress茫o t贸xica de liberdade il铆cita - se 茅 que tal coisa existe, a liberdade...
A MARCA NA PAREDE
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸�
A CASA ASSOMBRADA
猸愨瓙猸�
SEGUNDA OU TER脟A FEIRA
猸愨瓙猸�
LAPPIN E LAPPINOVA
猸愨瓙猸�
A DUQUESA E O JOALHEIRO
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙
O LEGADO
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸�
RESUMO
猸愨瓙猸�
E como isto vai curtinho, um pequenino aparte: os contos (e a obra) de Woolf dispensavam completamente o posf谩cio do editor. 脡 certo que vender 80 p谩ginas por 14 ou 15鈧� 茅 um roubo, e tirar-lhe esta meia d煤zia de folhas s贸 o tornava mais s贸rdido, mas o que acrescentam as palavras generalistas e a dezena e meia de cita莽玫es (sem fonte) com que Francisco Vale demostra que leu a autora? N茫o vejo em que medida arrogar esse feito 脿 laia de demonstra莽茫o gratuita engrandece uma escritora que n茫o precisa de contextos - ou ajuda sequer o leitor mais leigo. Se o senhor editor, em vez de se p么r a dizer o que j谩 todos sabemos, tivesse recuperado o 煤ltimo conto que constava da edi莽茫o anterior, teria feito melhor figura.
Virginia Woolf foi relevante para a sua (e nossa) 茅poca, mas, arrisco dizer, ser谩 ainda mais relevante com o passar do tempo, pois o seu olhar n茫o abarcava apenas o que via, queria ir mais longe e, fazendo-o, demarcava-se do palp谩vel, do real e chegava a um estado quase qu芒ntico da literatura. Por isso, Woolf n茫o obedecia a regras - estruturalistas, 茅ticas ou outras - e estava simultaneamente aqui e agora, e ali e depois. Sem barreiras, recreava os espa莽os intelectuais das mulheres (que, for莽adas ao ex铆lio do mundo dos homens sempre se criaram universos alternativos), falava para ontem, hoje e amanh茫. Woolf criava espa莽os simult芒neos onde se desdobram as m煤ltiplas possibilidades da exist锚ncia - uma esp茅cie de paradoxo de Schr枚dinger aplicado 脿 exist锚ncia da Mulher. E mesmo sem se explanar por centenas de p谩ginas, mesmo sem fazer uso de uma corrente de pensamento (corrente de consci锚ncia, fluxo de consci锚ncia, como preferirem - corrente de pensamento engloba tamb茅m uma nova filosofia), a autora revela em tr锚s e quatro p谩ginas uma capacidade de an谩lise do subconsciente, do feminismo e das maquina莽玫es sociais construtivistas como nenhum outro seu contempor芒neo.
(...)o ponto de vista masculino que governa as nossas vidas, que fixa as regras de comportamento,(.)uma velha metade de fantasma(.)que, em breve, espero, ser谩 posta no caixote do lixo, que 茅 o fim dos fantasmas, dos arm谩rios de mogno(.)dos Deuses e Dem贸nios e o mais que se sabe, deixando-nos por fim uma impress茫o t贸xica de liberdade il铆cita - se 茅 que tal coisa existe, a liberdade...
A MARCA NA PAREDE
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸�
A CASA ASSOMBRADA
猸愨瓙猸�
SEGUNDA OU TER脟A FEIRA
猸愨瓙猸�
LAPPIN E LAPPINOVA
猸愨瓙猸�
A DUQUESA E O JOALHEIRO
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙
O LEGADO
猸愨瓙猸愨瓙猸�
RESUMO
猸愨瓙猸�
E como isto vai curtinho, um pequenino aparte: os contos (e a obra) de Woolf dispensavam completamente o posf谩cio do editor. 脡 certo que vender 80 p谩ginas por 14 ou 15鈧� 茅 um roubo, e tirar-lhe esta meia d煤zia de folhas s贸 o tornava mais s贸rdido, mas o que acrescentam as palavras generalistas e a dezena e meia de cita莽玫es (sem fonte) com que Francisco Vale demostra que leu a autora? N茫o vejo em que medida arrogar esse feito 脿 laia de demonstra莽茫o gratuita engrandece uma escritora que n茫o precisa de contextos - ou ajuda sequer o leitor mais leigo. Se o senhor editor, em vez de se p么r a dizer o que j谩 todos sabemos, tivesse recuperado o 煤ltimo conto que constava da edi莽茫o anterior, teria feito melhor figura.
June 26, 2023
Something has dissolved my face. Through the mist of silver candle light it scarcely appears. People pass me without seeing me. They have faces. In their faces the stars seem to shine through rose coloured flesh.
There are various editions of Woolf's stories and they seem to have been combined here on GoodReads so, for clarity, I'm reviewing the Vintage with the apposite cover design of fragile pink blossom in a shaft of sunlight.
I say apposite because there's something ethereal and impressionistic about most of these pieces, which also tend to defy the usual definitions of 'story'. These are generally plot-free though there may be movement internally and externally so they're certainly not static or precious. Woolf seems to be using them as palate cleansers and places of experimentation, trying out the techniques she was always struggling with and honing through all her writing: how to capture the ephemerality of moments of life; how to express consciousness and its fleetingness; how to articulate the sensual ways in which we experience the world, and the subjectivity that colours everything.
There are commonalities throughout: the vivid use of colour and light (did that come from Vanessa's art?), the concern with time and how to catch its progress through the mind of those experiencing it individually, the inner experience of living in a social world and the split selves that are created. There are continued uses of mirrors and reflections, often in water, as devices to catch personal alienation and fractured selves. There are moments of intense beauty, and strange perspectives: the snail in 'Kew Gardens', for example, or the well-anthologised mind-drift of 'The Mark on the Wall.' More than the novels, these pieces make clear the synchronicities between Woolf and Katherine Mansfield.
The collected Dalloway pieces are here, intersecting with both her eponymous book and also the first disconcerting appearances of Clarissa and Richard in .
Are these 'stories' places to meet Woolf for the first time? I'd say not. These pieces can feel like writing exercises and moments of play - they are free-form and inconclusive. They seem to provide a kind of literary playground for Woolf, offering a freedom of form and from narrative structuring. They are limitless.
As such, this is a glorious collection for Woolf devotees both to feel a sense of her stretching and flying beyond the constraints of the novel, and for dipping into when only a little Woolf will do.
January 21, 2024
De 11 de Setembro a 24 de Novembro de 2023 li - em leitura acompanhada - todos os contos da Virginia Woolf por ordem cronol贸gica. O curso foi oferecido pelo Literatura Inglesa Brasil com lives semanais e em directo no Youtube. Foi uma experi锚ncia enriquecedora pelos conhecimentos t茫o generosamente transmitidos pelos professores convidados.
Contos com unidade tem谩tica, contos com diferentes pontos de vista sobre o mesmo assunto, contos que conversam entre si, unen fragmentos da vida, esbo莽os, rascunhos.
Uma sociedade, base de Um Quarto S贸 Seu, a atrac莽茫o pela 谩gua em Uma Simples Melodia e O Fasc铆nio Pelo Po莽o, a paleta de cores em diversos contos como o roxo, por exemplo, tamb茅m importante em Rumo ao Farol.
A natureza, as esta莽玫es do ano, o clima, as mudan莽as clim谩ticas s茫o assuntos caros 脿 autora.
Uma escrita pict贸rica, a pintura e escrita e os seus pontos em comum.
A teatralidade das festas subversivas ou aderentes conforme os convidados ou n茫o convidados; opressoras, consensuais, polif贸nicas, f煤teis.
A grande festa que 茅 a escrita woolfiana, um coro que forma uma unanimidade do conto ao romance do romance ao conto. Observa莽茫o. Ambiguidade. Cenas do quotidiano. Momentos.
O legado? O feminismo e o empoderamento est茅tico das mulheres.
Contos com unidade tem谩tica, contos com diferentes pontos de vista sobre o mesmo assunto, contos que conversam entre si, unen fragmentos da vida, esbo莽os, rascunhos.
Uma sociedade, base de Um Quarto S贸 Seu, a atrac莽茫o pela 谩gua em Uma Simples Melodia e O Fasc铆nio Pelo Po莽o, a paleta de cores em diversos contos como o roxo, por exemplo, tamb茅m importante em Rumo ao Farol.
A natureza, as esta莽玫es do ano, o clima, as mudan莽as clim谩ticas s茫o assuntos caros 脿 autora.
Uma escrita pict贸rica, a pintura e escrita e os seus pontos em comum.
A teatralidade das festas subversivas ou aderentes conforme os convidados ou n茫o convidados; opressoras, consensuais, polif贸nicas, f煤teis.
A grande festa que 茅 a escrita woolfiana, um coro que forma uma unanimidade do conto ao romance do romance ao conto. Observa莽茫o. Ambiguidade. Cenas do quotidiano. Momentos.
O legado? O feminismo e o empoderamento est茅tico das mulheres.
November 21, 2022
Short, cool story. Almost poetry. Maybe showing a softer side of the author!
December 31, 2022
From Leonard Woolf's introduction to this posthumous collection:
"Moments of Being" had indeed been published, in Forum in January 1928.
I discuss the stories in Monday or Tuesday, and indeed the omission of "A Society" from this collection, in my review of that work: /review/show...
And four of the pieces here - "The New Dress", "Together and Apart", "The Man who Loved his Kind" and "A Summing Up" - all link to the novel and were included in the later collection (not one assembled with Leonard's input), and I have discussed those in my review of that collection here: /review/show...
That leaves as previously unreviewed stories here for me to consider:
6 previously published works:
"Solid Objects" (1920), "Moments of Being" (1928), "The Lady in the Looking Glass" (1929), "The Duchess and the Jeweller" (1938), "The Shooting Party" (1938), "Lappin and Lappinova" (1939)
and 1 that Virginia Woolf had part revised: "The Searchlight"
And 1 "sketch": "The Legacy"
"Solid Objects" starts with two men walking on a beach when one picks up a piece of glass, which develops into a hobby to collect such obhects:
He did not see, or if he had seen would hardly have noticed, that John, after looking at the lump for a moment, as if in hesitation, slipped it inside his pocket. That impulse, too, may have been the impulse which leads a child to pick up one pebble on a path strewn with them, promising it a life of warmth and security upon the nursery mantelpiece, delighting in the sense of power and benignity which such an action confers, and believing that the heart of the stone leaps with joy when it sees itself chosen from a million like it, to enjoy this bliss instead of a life of cold and wet upon the high road. 鈥淚t might so easily have been any other of the millions of stones, but it was I, I, I!鈥�
...
In a few months he had collected four or five specimens that took their place upon the mantelpiece. They were useful, too, for a man who is standing for Parliament upon the brink of a brilliant career has any number of papers to keep in order鈥攁ddresses to constituents, declarations of policy, appeals for subscriptions, invitations to dinner, and so on.
and eventually an obsession that overtakes his budding Parliamentary career.
"Moments of Being" is subtitled "Slater鈥檚 pins have no points" and begins:
鈥淪later鈥檚 pins have no points鈥攄on鈥檛 you always find that?鈥� said Miss Craye, turning round as the rose fell out of Fanny Wilmot鈥檚 dress, and Fanny stooped, with her ears full of the music, to look for the pin on the floor. The words gave her an extraordinary shock, as Miss Craye struck the last chord of the Bach fugue. Did Miss Craye actually go to Slater鈥檚 and buy pins then, Fanny Wilmot asked herself, transfixed for a moment. Did she stand at the counter waiting like anybody else, and was she given a bill with coppers wrapped in it, and did she slip them into her purse and then, an hour later, stand by her dressing table and take out the pins? What need had she of pins? For she was not so much dressed as cased, like a beetle compactly in its sheath, blue in winter, green in summer. What need had she of pins鈥擩ulia Craye鈥攚ho lived, it seemed, in the cool glassy world of Bach fugues, playing to herself what she liked, and only consenting to take one or two pupils at the Archer Street College of Music (so the Principal, Miss Kingston, said) as a special favour to herself, who had 鈥渢he greatest admiration for her in every way.鈥�
with Fanny going on to imagine her way into Julia Craye's life while she hunts for a stray pin on the ground.
"The Searchlight" is an intriguing impressionistic, and quite short, story very open to interpretation. 听
"Lappin and Lappinova" is a highly effective portrait of initial infatuation and then the gradual disintegration of a marriage centered around a couple鈥檚 nicknames for each other and shared fantasy, that they are both rabbits.
"The Duchess and the Jeweller" is an unusually, for Woolf, conventional story and also one with some worrying tinges of racial stereotyping and anti-Semitism, and that after it was apparently toned down for publication (the original title omitted the 'eller'). Albeit later critics such as Hermione Lee have argued Woolf鈥檚 '鈥渙ffensive caricature鈥� was designed to critique 鈥渢he habitual Anti-Semitism of her circle鈥� ().
鈥淭he Shooting Party鈥� has rather more plot that one associates with Woolf, a rather dramatised story of a shooting party and a once-rich family in their literally crumbling house, with a melodramatic ending. 听Woolf鈥檚 framing device, that gives the story a rather ghostly air, is however effective and elevates thew text. 听
鈥淭he Legacy鈥� has a senior politician disposing of his wife鈥檚 effects after her sudden death:
How strange it was, Gilbert Clandon thought once more, that she had left everything in such order鈥攁 little gift of some sort for every one of her friends. It was as if she had foreseen her death. Yet she had been in perfect health when she left the house that morning, six weeks ago; when she stepped off the kerb in Piccadilly and the car had killed her.
...
To him, of course, she had left nothing in particular, unless it were her diary. Fifteen little volumes, bound in green leather, stood behind him on her writing table. Ever since they were married, she had kept a diary. Some of their very few鈥攈e could not call them quarrels, say tiffs鈥攈ad been about that diary. When he came in and found her writing, she always shut it or put her hand over it. 鈥淣o, no, no,鈥� he could hear her say, 鈥淎fter I鈥檓 dead鈥攑erhaps.鈥� So she had left it him, as her legacy.
As he browses her diaries, he picks out the passages that concern him, at first his wife鈥檚 main preoccupation but He skipped on. His own name occurred less frequently. His interest slackened, at least until another name starts to appear more frequently and the truth of their marriage and the accident (ableit a rather telegraphed twist) is revealed. 听
鈥淭he Lady in The Looking Glass鈥� is subtitled 鈥渁 reflection鈥� and opens with the intriguing line:
People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more than they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime.
The narrator imagines a life of a woman through what is reflected in a looking glass, but the reality, when the subject herself comes into view, is rather disappointing. 听听 For me the main interest here lay mainly in the narrator spelling out the modernist techniques that Woolf uses generally:
If she concealed so much and knew so much one must prize her open with the first tool that came to hand鈥攖he imagination.
...
She was thinking, perhaps, that she must order a new net for the strawberries; that she must send flowers to Johnson鈥檚 widow; that it was time she drove over to see the Hippesleys in their new house. Those were the things she talked about at dinner certainly. But one was tired of the things that she talked about at dinner. It was her profounder state of being that one wanted to catch and turn to words, the state that is to the mind what breathing is to the body.
Overall, I find it hard to rate this one. If one wanted to buy and read just one collection of Woolf's stories to understand her over her career, then this would be the one to pick for its breadth of style and timespan, as well as being close to an authorised collection. But her complete works (novels and all) are now available on the Kindle for almost no cost if one wants to sample Woolf, and as a collection it doesn't, unlike , at all cohere. And ultimately I'd recommend people to start with the three magnificent novels - The Waves, Mrs Dalloway and To The Lighthouse - which stand as some of the finest English literature of all time. 3.5 stars
Monday or Tuesday, the only book of short stories by Virginia Woolf which appeared in her lifetime, was published 22 years ago, in 1921. It has been out of print for years.
All through her life, Virginia Woolf used at intervals to write short stories. It was her custom, whenever an idea for one occurred to her, to sketch it out in a very rough form and then to put it away in a drawer. Later, if an editor asked her for a short story, and she felt in the mood to write one (which was not frequent), she would take a sketch out of her drawer and rewrite it, sometimes a great many times. Or if she felt, as she often did, while writing a novel that she required to rest her mind by working at something else for a time, she would either write a critical essay or work upon one of her sketches for short stories.
For some time before her death we had often discussed the possibility of her republishing Monday or Tuesday, or publishing a new volume of collected short stories. Finally, in 1940, she decided that she would get together a new volume of such stories and include in it most of the stories which had appeared originally in Monday or Tuesday, as well as some published subsequently in magazines and some unpublished. Our idea was that she should produce a volume of critical essays in 1941 and the volume of stories in 1942.
In the present volume I have tried to carry out her intention. I have included in it six out of the eight stories or sketches which originally appeared in Monday or Tuesday. The two omitted by me are 鈥淎 Society,鈥� and 鈥淏lue and Green鈥�; I know that she had decided not to include the first and I am practically certain that she would not have included the second. I have then printed six stories which appeared in magazines between 1922 and 1941; they are: 鈥淭he New Dress,鈥� 鈥淭he Shooting Party,鈥� 鈥淟appin and Lapinova,鈥� 鈥淪olid Objects,鈥� 鈥淭he Lady in the Looking-Glass,鈥� and 鈥淭he Duchess and the Jeweller.鈥� The magazines in which they appeared were: The Forum, Harper鈥檚 Bazaar, The Athen忙um, Harper鈥檚 Monthly Magazine.
Finally I have included six unpublished stories. (It is possible that one of these, 鈥淢oments of Being,鈥� was published. My own recollection was that it had been, but there is no record of its publication, and I have printed it from a typescript.) It is with some hesitation that I have included them. None of them, except 鈥淢oments of Being鈥� and 鈥淭he Searchlight,鈥� are finally revised by her, and she would certainly have done a great deal of work on them before she published them. At least four of them are only just in the stage beyond that of her first sketch.
"Moments of Being" had indeed been published, in Forum in January 1928.
I discuss the stories in Monday or Tuesday, and indeed the omission of "A Society" from this collection, in my review of that work: /review/show...
And four of the pieces here - "The New Dress", "Together and Apart", "The Man who Loved his Kind" and "A Summing Up" - all link to the novel and were included in the later collection (not one assembled with Leonard's input), and I have discussed those in my review of that collection here: /review/show...
That leaves as previously unreviewed stories here for me to consider:
6 previously published works:
"Solid Objects" (1920), "Moments of Being" (1928), "The Lady in the Looking Glass" (1929), "The Duchess and the Jeweller" (1938), "The Shooting Party" (1938), "Lappin and Lappinova" (1939)
and 1 that Virginia Woolf had part revised: "The Searchlight"
And 1 "sketch": "The Legacy"
"Solid Objects" starts with two men walking on a beach when one picks up a piece of glass, which develops into a hobby to collect such obhects:
He did not see, or if he had seen would hardly have noticed, that John, after looking at the lump for a moment, as if in hesitation, slipped it inside his pocket. That impulse, too, may have been the impulse which leads a child to pick up one pebble on a path strewn with them, promising it a life of warmth and security upon the nursery mantelpiece, delighting in the sense of power and benignity which such an action confers, and believing that the heart of the stone leaps with joy when it sees itself chosen from a million like it, to enjoy this bliss instead of a life of cold and wet upon the high road. 鈥淚t might so easily have been any other of the millions of stones, but it was I, I, I!鈥�
...
In a few months he had collected four or five specimens that took their place upon the mantelpiece. They were useful, too, for a man who is standing for Parliament upon the brink of a brilliant career has any number of papers to keep in order鈥攁ddresses to constituents, declarations of policy, appeals for subscriptions, invitations to dinner, and so on.
and eventually an obsession that overtakes his budding Parliamentary career.
"Moments of Being" is subtitled "Slater鈥檚 pins have no points" and begins:
鈥淪later鈥檚 pins have no points鈥攄on鈥檛 you always find that?鈥� said Miss Craye, turning round as the rose fell out of Fanny Wilmot鈥檚 dress, and Fanny stooped, with her ears full of the music, to look for the pin on the floor. The words gave her an extraordinary shock, as Miss Craye struck the last chord of the Bach fugue. Did Miss Craye actually go to Slater鈥檚 and buy pins then, Fanny Wilmot asked herself, transfixed for a moment. Did she stand at the counter waiting like anybody else, and was she given a bill with coppers wrapped in it, and did she slip them into her purse and then, an hour later, stand by her dressing table and take out the pins? What need had she of pins? For she was not so much dressed as cased, like a beetle compactly in its sheath, blue in winter, green in summer. What need had she of pins鈥擩ulia Craye鈥攚ho lived, it seemed, in the cool glassy world of Bach fugues, playing to herself what she liked, and only consenting to take one or two pupils at the Archer Street College of Music (so the Principal, Miss Kingston, said) as a special favour to herself, who had 鈥渢he greatest admiration for her in every way.鈥�
with Fanny going on to imagine her way into Julia Craye's life while she hunts for a stray pin on the ground.
"The Searchlight" is an intriguing impressionistic, and quite short, story very open to interpretation. 听
"Lappin and Lappinova" is a highly effective portrait of initial infatuation and then the gradual disintegration of a marriage centered around a couple鈥檚 nicknames for each other and shared fantasy, that they are both rabbits.
"The Duchess and the Jeweller" is an unusually, for Woolf, conventional story and also one with some worrying tinges of racial stereotyping and anti-Semitism, and that after it was apparently toned down for publication (the original title omitted the 'eller'). Albeit later critics such as Hermione Lee have argued Woolf鈥檚 '鈥渙ffensive caricature鈥� was designed to critique 鈥渢he habitual Anti-Semitism of her circle鈥� ().
鈥淭he Shooting Party鈥� has rather more plot that one associates with Woolf, a rather dramatised story of a shooting party and a once-rich family in their literally crumbling house, with a melodramatic ending. 听Woolf鈥檚 framing device, that gives the story a rather ghostly air, is however effective and elevates thew text. 听
鈥淭he Legacy鈥� has a senior politician disposing of his wife鈥檚 effects after her sudden death:
How strange it was, Gilbert Clandon thought once more, that she had left everything in such order鈥攁 little gift of some sort for every one of her friends. It was as if she had foreseen her death. Yet she had been in perfect health when she left the house that morning, six weeks ago; when she stepped off the kerb in Piccadilly and the car had killed her.
...
To him, of course, she had left nothing in particular, unless it were her diary. Fifteen little volumes, bound in green leather, stood behind him on her writing table. Ever since they were married, she had kept a diary. Some of their very few鈥攈e could not call them quarrels, say tiffs鈥攈ad been about that diary. When he came in and found her writing, she always shut it or put her hand over it. 鈥淣o, no, no,鈥� he could hear her say, 鈥淎fter I鈥檓 dead鈥攑erhaps.鈥� So she had left it him, as her legacy.
As he browses her diaries, he picks out the passages that concern him, at first his wife鈥檚 main preoccupation but He skipped on. His own name occurred less frequently. His interest slackened, at least until another name starts to appear more frequently and the truth of their marriage and the accident (ableit a rather telegraphed twist) is revealed. 听
鈥淭he Lady in The Looking Glass鈥� is subtitled 鈥渁 reflection鈥� and opens with the intriguing line:
People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more than they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime.
The narrator imagines a life of a woman through what is reflected in a looking glass, but the reality, when the subject herself comes into view, is rather disappointing. 听听 For me the main interest here lay mainly in the narrator spelling out the modernist techniques that Woolf uses generally:
If she concealed so much and knew so much one must prize her open with the first tool that came to hand鈥攖he imagination.
...
She was thinking, perhaps, that she must order a new net for the strawberries; that she must send flowers to Johnson鈥檚 widow; that it was time she drove over to see the Hippesleys in their new house. Those were the things she talked about at dinner certainly. But one was tired of the things that she talked about at dinner. It was her profounder state of being that one wanted to catch and turn to words, the state that is to the mind what breathing is to the body.
Overall, I find it hard to rate this one. If one wanted to buy and read just one collection of Woolf's stories to understand her over her career, then this would be the one to pick for its breadth of style and timespan, as well as being close to an authorised collection. But her complete works (novels and all) are now available on the Kindle for almost no cost if one wants to sample Woolf, and as a collection it doesn't, unlike , at all cohere. And ultimately I'd recommend people to start with the three magnificent novels - The Waves, Mrs Dalloway and To The Lighthouse - which stand as some of the finest English literature of all time. 3.5 stars
November 17, 2023
Tive ajudas preciosas para a compreens茫o destes contos, mesmo assim a minha mente ainda se recusa a voltar 脿 normalidade. (que j谩 n茫o 茅 grande coisa馃ゴ)
Piadas 脿 parte, Virg铆nia era mesmo um ser priveligiado com grande perspic谩cia.
Piadas 脿 parte, Virg铆nia era mesmo um ser priveligiado com grande perspic谩cia.
November 2, 2017
亘蹖 賳馗蹖乇 亘賵丿. 讴鬲丕亘 丕夭 賲噩賲賵毓賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 卮讴賱 诏乇賮鬲賴 讴賴 丕讴孬乇賳 亘丕 賲丨鬲賵丕蹖 賮賱爻賮蹖 賵 賮賲蹖賳蹖爻鬲蹖 賲賵丕噩賴 丕爻鬲. 亘賴 禺氐賵氐 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 蹖讴 鬲氐賵蹖乇 丕夭 賵賱賮 亘爻蹖丕乇 丕爻鬲丕丿丕賳賴 胤乇丕丨蹖 卮丿賴 讴賴 亘丕 賳賲丕丿 丌蹖賳賴 (囟賲蹖乇 賳丕禺賵丿丕诏丕賴貙 賴賵蹖鬲) 亘丕 丕爻鬲丨丕賱賴 蹖 爻賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 讴賴 賴乇 爻賴 賴賲 蹖讴蹖 賴爻鬲賳丿 賲賵丕噩賴 賲蹖 卮賵蹖賲. 丿乇 噩丕賴丕蹖蹖 夭丕賵蹖賴 丿蹖丿 爻賵賲 卮禺氐 (丿丕賳丕蹖 讴賱) 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賲蹖 卮賵丿 賵 丿乇 亘毓囟蹖 噩丕 丿賵賲 卮禺氐 賵 丕賵賱 卮禺氐. 趩乇丕 讴賴 卮禺氐蹖鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳蹖貙 丿蹖诏乇 倬蹖乇 賵 賳丕鬲賵丕賳 卮丿賴 賵 亘丕 賳賲丕丿 丌蹖蹖賳賴 亘賴 賲毓賳丕蹖 賴賵蹖鬲 賴乇 亘丕乇 亘賴 丿賵乇丕賳 噩賵丕賳蹖, 毓丕卮賯蹖 賵 倬蹖乇蹖 賮乇鬲賵鬲 亘賵丿賳 禺賵丿 賲蹖 賳诏乇丿. 丿乇 丿蹖丿诏丕賴蹖 賮賲蹖賳蹖爻鬲蹖 丕賮乇丕胤蹖 丿乇 倬丕蹖丕賳 毓賲乇 賵 讴賴賳丿爻丕賱蹖 賲鬲賵噩賴 丌賳 賲蹖 卮賵丿 讴賴 賴乇诏夭 丕夭丿賵丕噩 賳讴乇丿賴 賵 亘丕 丨爻乇鬲 亘賴 诏匕卮鬲賴貙 噩賵丕賳蹖 賵 賲蹖丕賳 爻丕賱蹖 賲蹖 賳诏乇丿. 丿乇 噩賵丕賳蹖 丕夭 賳丕賲賴 賴丕蹖 毓丕卮賯丕賳賴 丕卮 賵 丕夭 乇丕亘胤賴 亘丕 賲乇丿丕賳蹖 讴賴 乇丕亘胤賴 乇丕 賲賳毓 賲蹖 讴乇丿賴 氐丨亘鬲 亘賴 賲蹖丕賳 丌賲丿賴 賵 丿乇 賲蹖丕賳 爻丕賱蹖 毓丕卮賯 卮丿賴 毓卮賯 乇丕 鬲噩乇亘賴 賵 夭蹖爻鬲賴 丕爻鬲. 讴賴 丨丕賱丕 賳丕賲賴 賴丕蹖 毓丕卮賯蹖 乇丕 噩賲毓 丌賵乇蹖 賲蹖 讴乇丿賴 賵 丿乇 讴賴賳 爻丕賱蹖 鬲丕夭賴 賲鬲賵噩賴 卮丿賴 讴賴 賴蹖趩 丕夭丿賵丕噩蹖 賳讴乇丿賴 丕爻鬲...
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丕夭 鬲讴賳蹖讴 爻蹖丕賱 匕賴賳 賵 匕賴賳 禺賵丿 倬蹖乇夭賳 亘丕 賮賱丕卮 亘讴 賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 夭丕賵蹖賴 丿蹖丿 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賲蹖 卮賵丿 賵...
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丕夭 鬲讴賳蹖讴 爻蹖丕賱 匕賴賳 賵 匕賴賳 禺賵丿 倬蹖乇夭賳 亘丕 賮賱丕卮 亘讴 賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇 夭丕賵蹖賴 丿蹖丿 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賲蹖 卮賵丿 賵...
January 15, 2023
Contos favoritos:
A marca na parede
Lappin e Lapinova
O legado
A marca na parede
Lappin e Lapinova
O legado
November 21, 2022
I guess there are no ghosts, and if yes, then there was only one ghost, of course, the holy ghost 鈥� and, as we know it, nothing has been heard about it since 2000+ years back. No news, even the Vatican is silent.
There are no ghosts, there are only dead skeletons underneath, yet, surprisingly, Virginia Woolf has fresh news: from room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure鈥攁 ghostly couple
So, I hope the soul goes on moving to new forms (fingers crossed), but it certainly depends on how one has lived, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the farm. 鈥淲hat did I come in here for? What did I want to find?鈥�
I guess one鈥檚 whole life essence determines the new form, in other words, what you have desired your whole life and have not been able to fulfill, that desire at the last moment of your life stands as the only thing that determines your life. Like there is nobody directing anything, just it is simply the law. As such, for those that loved each other deeply and truly and passed away, then being by-gone is not a sorry state of affairs, as 鈥檞andering through the house, opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy
They don鈥檛 stand in mournful recollection about all that had been lost, quite the opposite, they look out for each other again in the house where they had spent together some wonderful joys, so that it would finally return to be a home again, a family home鈥� 鈥漇afe, safe, safe鈥�, the pulse of the house beat softly. 鈥淭he treasure buried; the room鈥︹€� the pulse stopped short. Oh, was that the buried treasure?
No need for grief, no need for despair, no matter the time passed in-between鈥�
鈥橦ere we slept鈥�, she says. And he adds, 鈥楰isses without number鈥�. 鈥榃aking in the morning鈥�, 鈥榮ilver between the trees鈥�, 鈥榰pstairs鈥攊n the garden, 鈥榳hen the summer came---, 鈥榠n the winder snowtime--'Look鈥�, he breaths. 鈥楽ound asleep. Love upon their lips.鈥�鈥�鈥橭h, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart .
There are no ghosts, there are only dead skeletons underneath, yet, surprisingly, Virginia Woolf has fresh news: from room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure鈥攁 ghostly couple
So, I hope the soul goes on moving to new forms (fingers crossed), but it certainly depends on how one has lived, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the farm. 鈥淲hat did I come in here for? What did I want to find?鈥�
I guess one鈥檚 whole life essence determines the new form, in other words, what you have desired your whole life and have not been able to fulfill, that desire at the last moment of your life stands as the only thing that determines your life. Like there is nobody directing anything, just it is simply the law. As such, for those that loved each other deeply and truly and passed away, then being by-gone is not a sorry state of affairs, as 鈥檞andering through the house, opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy
They don鈥檛 stand in mournful recollection about all that had been lost, quite the opposite, they look out for each other again in the house where they had spent together some wonderful joys, so that it would finally return to be a home again, a family home鈥� 鈥漇afe, safe, safe鈥�, the pulse of the house beat softly. 鈥淭he treasure buried; the room鈥︹€� the pulse stopped short. Oh, was that the buried treasure?
No need for grief, no need for despair, no matter the time passed in-between鈥�
鈥橦ere we slept鈥�, she says. And he adds, 鈥楰isses without number鈥�. 鈥榃aking in the morning鈥�, 鈥榮ilver between the trees鈥�, 鈥榰pstairs鈥攊n the garden, 鈥榳hen the summer came---, 鈥榠n the winder snowtime--'Look鈥�, he breaths. 鈥楽ound asleep. Love upon their lips.鈥�鈥�鈥橭h, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart .
January 24, 2020
賵蹖乇噩蹖賳蹖丕 賵賱賮 乇丕 亘丕蹖丿 賳賲丕蹖賳丿賴 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 賲丿乇賳 丿丕賳爻鬲. 賵賯鬲蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 讴賵鬲丕賴卮 乇丕 丿乇 丕蹖賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴 賲蹖 禺賵丕賳丿賲 亘賴 蹖丕丿 噩蹖賲夭 噩賵蹖爻 賲蹖 丕賮鬲丕丿賲. 氐乇賮 賳馗乇 丕夭 賲亘丕丨孬 賮賲蹖賳蹖爻鬲蹖 卮 丿乇 亘賯蹖賴 賲賵丕乇丿 毓噩蹖亘 卮亘蹖賴 噩賵蹖爻 丕爻鬲. 丕亘賴丕賲 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲 囟賲蹖乇 禺賵丿丌诏丕賴 丕夭 賲賵丕乇丿蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 賵蹖 乇丕 丿卮賵丕乇 賲蹖 讴賳丿. 丕蹖賳 丕孬乇 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 丕卮丕乇丕鬲 賮賲蹖賳蹖爻鬲蹖 賵 賮賱爻賮蹖 亘賵丿.
September 20, 2020
There are several posthumously published collections of Woolf鈥檚 short stories and I chose this one because it was selected and introduced by her husband Leonard Woolf, 3 years after her death. I was even more pleasantly surprised to read in his introduction that this selection came from Virginia鈥檚 conversations with him about what short fictions to include in her future collection. 鈥淥ur idea was that she should produce a volume of critical essays in 1941 and the volume of stories in 1942.鈥� Her tragic suicide in 1941 intervened but LW still made it happen for her short stories with this publication in 1943/44. It includes all but 2 stories from the only collection published during her lifetime, (1921), several stories published in magazines, and the set of unpublished ones most of which she conceived as a cycle of interconnected stories about the guests at a party in her novel .
Although she is better known for her novels and essays, after reading a few of her stories I was so drawn to her unique style that I couldn鈥檛 resist this collection. It鈥檚 interesting to read the first-hand account from LW how his wife approached this genre:
They range from short sketches to slightly longer 鈥榮tream of consciousness鈥� plotless stories. Some make it difficult to draw the line with prose poems, others read almost, though not entirely, as essays. Only about 2-3 were written in the conventional plot-driven form, oddly mostly in her late period, but even then her fluid prose, like seamless continuous transitions between the character鈥檚 thoughts and the confessions in his late wife鈥檚 diary that he reads in 鈥淭he Legacy鈥� story, make them uniquely hers.
In most stories her interest is clearly in searching for the truth about the characters (and individuals in general) through their inner monologue or the narrator鈥檚 interpretations of their exterior clues. The end result is not always as expected, as in "An Unwritten Novel" or 鈥淢oments of Being.鈥�
At other times, a story would be an exploration into the puzzles that surround us, from as simple and trivial as an unusually positioned dot on the wall ("The Mark on the Wall") to our (mostly failed) expectations from our life choices such as marriage, as uncovered in a brilliantly imaginative story "Lappin and Lapinova" and a rather predictable, but still beautifully written, conventional 鈥淭he Legacy.鈥� I thought that the themes of status-seeking aspirations with their ironic and cruel twists were also perceptively approached in "The New Dress" and "The Duchess and the Jeweller.鈥�
There is one more story that I love very much but it is not included in this collection probably because its final version was written after LW and VW had made plans for publishing her collected short fiction or perhaps it could have been too painful for Leonard to include it (it seems that the latter is less likely). The revised typescript dates from 1 March 1941, entitled 鈥淭he Symbol鈥� (with the old title 鈥淚nconclusions鈥� crossed out), only 4 weeks before her suicide. It鈥檚 about the mountain as a symbol, but the question of what it symbolizes in this story is never clearly answered. I would say it stands for death but then it can also be inconclusive鈥� as is the case with many of her other stories which I read more than once and each time uncovered something more, even a greater beauty or subtler meaning than what impressed me on the first reading.
It occurred to me that, although Woolf's short fiction is not as well-known as her novels, her writing was nevertheless in some ways seminal, foreshadowing a few trends favored by many writers today such as blurring the line with essay forms or having a 'novel' as a cycle of interconnected stories (in her case it was never published during her lifetime, but she had an idea and even wrote the 'party' stories for it).
Recommended.
4.5/5
Although she is better known for her novels and essays, after reading a few of her stories I was so drawn to her unique style that I couldn鈥檛 resist this collection. It鈥檚 interesting to read the first-hand account from LW how his wife approached this genre:
All through her life, Virginia Woolf used at intervals to write short stories. It was her custom, whenever an idea for one occurred to her, to sketch it out in a very rough form and then to put it away in a drawer. Later, if an editor asked her for a short story, and she felt in the mood to write one (which was not frequent), she would take a sketch out of her drawer and rewrite it, sometimes a great many times. Or if she felt, as she often did, while writing a novel that she required to rest her mind by working at something else for a time, she would either write a critical essay or work upon one of her sketches for short stories.The title story can be misleading if possibly suggesting that the collection has ghost stories, which is not the case. Even 鈥淎 Haunted House鈥� is not a typical 鈥済host鈥� fiction, the genre that consistently fails to appeal to me. I personally experienced it as a beautiful dream-like story about the shared 鈥榯reasure鈥� of living in the same house between the past and current residents. And it turned out to be one of my favorites, along with some old ones I previously read, now re-reading them with great pleasure, (, , ) and a few new for me.
They range from short sketches to slightly longer 鈥榮tream of consciousness鈥� plotless stories. Some make it difficult to draw the line with prose poems, others read almost, though not entirely, as essays. Only about 2-3 were written in the conventional plot-driven form, oddly mostly in her late period, but even then her fluid prose, like seamless continuous transitions between the character鈥檚 thoughts and the confessions in his late wife鈥檚 diary that he reads in 鈥淭he Legacy鈥� story, make them uniquely hers.
In most stories her interest is clearly in searching for the truth about the characters (and individuals in general) through their inner monologue or the narrator鈥檚 interpretations of their exterior clues. The end result is not always as expected, as in "An Unwritten Novel" or 鈥淢oments of Being.鈥�
At other times, a story would be an exploration into the puzzles that surround us, from as simple and trivial as an unusually positioned dot on the wall ("The Mark on the Wall") to our (mostly failed) expectations from our life choices such as marriage, as uncovered in a brilliantly imaginative story "Lappin and Lapinova" and a rather predictable, but still beautifully written, conventional 鈥淭he Legacy.鈥� I thought that the themes of status-seeking aspirations with their ironic and cruel twists were also perceptively approached in "The New Dress" and "The Duchess and the Jeweller.鈥�
There is one more story that I love very much but it is not included in this collection probably because its final version was written after LW and VW had made plans for publishing her collected short fiction or perhaps it could have been too painful for Leonard to include it (it seems that the latter is less likely). The revised typescript dates from 1 March 1941, entitled 鈥淭he Symbol鈥� (with the old title 鈥淚nconclusions鈥� crossed out), only 4 weeks before her suicide. It鈥檚 about the mountain as a symbol, but the question of what it symbolizes in this story is never clearly answered. I would say it stands for death but then it can also be inconclusive鈥� as is the case with many of her other stories which I read more than once and each time uncovered something more, even a greater beauty or subtler meaning than what impressed me on the first reading.
It occurred to me that, although Woolf's short fiction is not as well-known as her novels, her writing was nevertheless in some ways seminal, foreshadowing a few trends favored by many writers today such as blurring the line with essay forms or having a 'novel' as a cycle of interconnected stories (in her case it was never published during her lifetime, but she had an idea and even wrote the 'party' stories for it).
Recommended.
4.5/5
August 20, 2017
A selection of prose/poetry that reminds me much of James joyce: after all, they were both working at the same time and both had experienced the modernist movement. There are lovely lines here such as "Blue are the ribs of the wrecked rowing boats"; there is what feels like prose/poetry that needs to be read and reread to (hopefully) get a grip on what, exactly, Woolf was trying to say; and there are bits that, to me, seemed like a writer scribbling: I can't imagine these notes were meant to be published. But, all in all, this is a fascinating look into Woolf's world.
January 1, 2023
But at night the town looks quite ethereal. There is a white glow on the horizon. There are hoops and coronets in the streets. The town has sunk down into the water. And the skeleton only is picked out in fairy lamps.
the closing words of The Watering Place, likely written in March 1941, the month of Virginia Woolf's death.
The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf is a definitive work resulting from Susan Dick's heroic efforts to assemble all of Woolf's shorter fiction, from her first piece in 1906, "Phyllis and Rosamond", to her last, a month before her death, in 1941, "The Watering Place", into one volume.
This was an undertaking that required significant judgement as to the final form of unpublished works, as well as to the boundary between essay and fiction (I have included in this collection only those short pieces that are, to my mind, clearly fictions, that is, works in which the characters, scenes, and actions are more imaginary than they are factual, and in which the narrator's voice is not necessarily identified with the author). The latter judgement has led to the exclusion of certain works, such as biographical sketches, and the inclusion of others (notably "A Woman's College from Outside") more commonly classed as essays.
Dick's Introduction acknowledges the existence of three previous key partial collections, all of which I have previously read:
- the only collection of short stories published in Woolf鈥檚 lifetime, Monday or Tuesday 鈥� my review: /review/show...
- the overlapping collection assembled by Leonard Woolf after his wife鈥檚 deathA Haunted House and Other Stories - my review: /review/show...
And another collection assembled by Hogarth Press in 1973, but without input from either Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway's Party: A Short Story Sequence I review here: /review/show...
I therefore restricted my reading of this book, and in particular my rating, to the pieces not covered by any of the above, which comprised the following:
"Phyllis and Rosamond"
"The Mysterious Case of Miss V"
"The Journal of Mistress Joan Martyn"
"A Dialogue upon Mount Pentelicus"
"Memoirs of a Novelist"
"The Evening Party"
"Sympathy"
"A Woman's College from Outside"
"In the Orchard"
"The Prime Minister" (which became part of Mrs Dalloway)
"Nurse Lugton's Curtain"
"The Widow and the Parrot: A True Story"
"Happiness"
"A Simple Melody"
"The Fascination of the Pool"
"Three Pictures"
"Scenes from the Life of a British Naval Officer"
"Miss Pryme"
"Ode Written Partly in Prose.."
"Portraits"
"Uncle Vanya"
"Gypsy, the Mongrel"
"The Symbol"
"The Watering Place"
"Phyllis and Rosamond"is a great starting piece as, though very early in her development as a writer, it shows Woolf thinking about the demands of the age on the form:
In this very curious age, when we are beginning to require pictures of people, their minds and their coats, a faithful outline, drawn with no skill but veracity, may possibly have some value.
Let each man, I heard it said the other day, write down the details of a day's work; posterity will be as glad of the catalogue as we should be if we had such a record of how the door keeper at the Globe, and the man who kept the Park gates passed Saturday March 18th in the year of our Lord 1568.
And as such portraits as we have are almost invariably of the male sex, who strut more prominently across the stage, it seems worth while to take as model one of those many women who cluster in the shade.
"Happiness" and "A Simple Melody" rather belong with the other stories in , indeed the latter makes for a great companion read with George Carslake, from whose PoV it is written, observing Stuart Elton from Happiness, Mabel Waring from The New Dress (Carslake remarks on her pretty yellow dress but that She looked agitated, and we know from The New Dress that Mabel is insecure in her choice of fashion) and, most deliciously, that angry looking chap with the toothbrush moustache who seemed to know nobody, who we know from "The Man who Loved his Kind" is Prickett Ellis, an old school acquaintance of Richard Dalloway who invited him to the party when he ran in to him in the street.
The appendix to the collection also contains some fragmentary pieces, such as "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday" which features lavender from Sandringham, which Dick correctly comments in her notes likely meant from the then recently founded lavender fields of nearby Heacham. Another Norfolk link comes from The Journal of Mistress Joan Martyn, written in 1906 while Virginaia Woolf was staying in Blo'Norton Hall and set in a ficticious country house in the area - We in Norfolk today are much the same as we were in the day of Helen [of Troy], whenever she may have lived.. Mistess Joan writes fearfully of the journey to London via the 15th century equivalent of the M11 in a passage which feels harsh but true of Essex:
There is but one road and it passes through vast lands, where no man live, but only those who have murdered or robbed.
As a carefully assembled, helpfully annotated and comprehensive collection of Woolf's shorter fiction this is highly worthwhile, although I remain a fan of her novels, followed by her essays, with her stories seeming mostly exercises towards the longer form. The marginal effect of this book for me, after the three aforementioned published collections, was also rather diminished, particularly as almost all of the pieces that remain had not been revised for publication by the author. So 3 stars for my reading experience.
the closing words of The Watering Place, likely written in March 1941, the month of Virginia Woolf's death.
The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf is a definitive work resulting from Susan Dick's heroic efforts to assemble all of Woolf's shorter fiction, from her first piece in 1906, "Phyllis and Rosamond", to her last, a month before her death, in 1941, "The Watering Place", into one volume.
This was an undertaking that required significant judgement as to the final form of unpublished works, as well as to the boundary between essay and fiction (I have included in this collection only those short pieces that are, to my mind, clearly fictions, that is, works in which the characters, scenes, and actions are more imaginary than they are factual, and in which the narrator's voice is not necessarily identified with the author). The latter judgement has led to the exclusion of certain works, such as biographical sketches, and the inclusion of others (notably "A Woman's College from Outside") more commonly classed as essays.
Dick's Introduction acknowledges the existence of three previous key partial collections, all of which I have previously read:
- the only collection of short stories published in Woolf鈥檚 lifetime, Monday or Tuesday 鈥� my review: /review/show...
- the overlapping collection assembled by Leonard Woolf after his wife鈥檚 deathA Haunted House and Other Stories - my review: /review/show...
And another collection assembled by Hogarth Press in 1973, but without input from either Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway's Party: A Short Story Sequence I review here: /review/show...
I therefore restricted my reading of this book, and in particular my rating, to the pieces not covered by any of the above, which comprised the following:
"Phyllis and Rosamond"
"The Mysterious Case of Miss V"
"The Journal of Mistress Joan Martyn"
"A Dialogue upon Mount Pentelicus"
"Memoirs of a Novelist"
"The Evening Party"
"Sympathy"
"A Woman's College from Outside"
"In the Orchard"
"The Prime Minister" (which became part of Mrs Dalloway)
"Nurse Lugton's Curtain"
"The Widow and the Parrot: A True Story"
"Happiness"
"A Simple Melody"
"The Fascination of the Pool"
"Three Pictures"
"Scenes from the Life of a British Naval Officer"
"Miss Pryme"
"Ode Written Partly in Prose.."
"Portraits"
"Uncle Vanya"
"Gypsy, the Mongrel"
"The Symbol"
"The Watering Place"
"Phyllis and Rosamond"is a great starting piece as, though very early in her development as a writer, it shows Woolf thinking about the demands of the age on the form:
In this very curious age, when we are beginning to require pictures of people, their minds and their coats, a faithful outline, drawn with no skill but veracity, may possibly have some value.
Let each man, I heard it said the other day, write down the details of a day's work; posterity will be as glad of the catalogue as we should be if we had such a record of how the door keeper at the Globe, and the man who kept the Park gates passed Saturday March 18th in the year of our Lord 1568.
And as such portraits as we have are almost invariably of the male sex, who strut more prominently across the stage, it seems worth while to take as model one of those many women who cluster in the shade.
"Happiness" and "A Simple Melody" rather belong with the other stories in , indeed the latter makes for a great companion read with George Carslake, from whose PoV it is written, observing Stuart Elton from Happiness, Mabel Waring from The New Dress (Carslake remarks on her pretty yellow dress but that She looked agitated, and we know from The New Dress that Mabel is insecure in her choice of fashion) and, most deliciously, that angry looking chap with the toothbrush moustache who seemed to know nobody, who we know from "The Man who Loved his Kind" is Prickett Ellis, an old school acquaintance of Richard Dalloway who invited him to the party when he ran in to him in the street.
The appendix to the collection also contains some fragmentary pieces, such as "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday" which features lavender from Sandringham, which Dick correctly comments in her notes likely meant from the then recently founded lavender fields of nearby Heacham. Another Norfolk link comes from The Journal of Mistress Joan Martyn, written in 1906 while Virginaia Woolf was staying in Blo'Norton Hall and set in a ficticious country house in the area - We in Norfolk today are much the same as we were in the day of Helen [of Troy], whenever she may have lived.. Mistess Joan writes fearfully of the journey to London via the 15th century equivalent of the M11 in a passage which feels harsh but true of Essex:
There is but one road and it passes through vast lands, where no man live, but only those who have murdered or robbed.
As a carefully assembled, helpfully annotated and comprehensive collection of Woolf's shorter fiction this is highly worthwhile, although I remain a fan of her novels, followed by her essays, with her stories seeming mostly exercises towards the longer form. The marginal effect of this book for me, after the three aforementioned published collections, was also rather diminished, particularly as almost all of the pieces that remain had not been revised for publication by the author. So 3 stars for my reading experience.
August 2, 2021
I was reading a collection of short stories by Vita Sackville-West when it was time to choose my next Virginia Woolf title, so I thought it would be fun to read this collection of her short work. With selections ranging from before 1917 to 1941, there is a great deal to enjoy here.
And I did enjoy nearly everything, it was not until I reached the final section (1926 -1941) that I began to struggle. There were 17 pieces in the section; many of them were just one or two pages in length. But they all seemed distant to me, as if my brain just said 'here and no further'. I will come back some day and give this section proper attention, because I ended up skimming through it this time. And I had to skip all of the Notes And Appendices pages due to the extremely tiny print. I know I missed explanation notes for many references throughout the stories but old eyes have their limits.
From my notes, I see that I had a bit of trouble reading so many of these pieces one right after the other. Woolf makes you work, you cannot really relax and just absorb the tale, and that can get tiresome. Also the basic themes here are repeated over and over until you expect each story to be set in a gathering at someone's home, or show the inner frettings of outwardly socially confident people. Then when the basic theme changes to something else, it is like a breath of fresh air. I think this book should be read in small doses with other books in between, just to give your mental powers a rest every so often.
Also from my notes, I see that the majority of the stories I liked the best came from the years 1917-1921. For me these showcased VW's wonderful imagination and her ability to capture moods and settings in such a way as to make the reader experience them also. Kew Gardens was lovely: contrasting the life going on down in the soil of one of the flower beds with the life hurrying past on two feet. Solid Objects was a chilling portrayal of the development of an obsession that changed a man's life. An Unwritten Novel shows us the writer on a train, imagining a story for the woman across from her in the compartment, with changes in the planned plot showing up according to people and actions around her as the ride continues. And finally A Haunted House was a charming explanation of various noises and bumps in the night.
I have not yet read detailed biographies about Woolf. I am familiar with her general story, of course, but I am saving the two biographical titles in my stack until I have read the other prose works I have planned. But it seemed to me that during the years 1917 to 1921 she wrote more varied pieces, at least in these shorter lengths, and I would dare to say that perhaps she had more fun with them.
I am going to take a short break before I read the next Woolf Volume, but I will return soon to this intriguing author and see what other delights she has waiting for me.
And I did enjoy nearly everything, it was not until I reached the final section (1926 -1941) that I began to struggle. There were 17 pieces in the section; many of them were just one or two pages in length. But they all seemed distant to me, as if my brain just said 'here and no further'. I will come back some day and give this section proper attention, because I ended up skimming through it this time. And I had to skip all of the Notes And Appendices pages due to the extremely tiny print. I know I missed explanation notes for many references throughout the stories but old eyes have their limits.
From my notes, I see that I had a bit of trouble reading so many of these pieces one right after the other. Woolf makes you work, you cannot really relax and just absorb the tale, and that can get tiresome. Also the basic themes here are repeated over and over until you expect each story to be set in a gathering at someone's home, or show the inner frettings of outwardly socially confident people. Then when the basic theme changes to something else, it is like a breath of fresh air. I think this book should be read in small doses with other books in between, just to give your mental powers a rest every so often.
Also from my notes, I see that the majority of the stories I liked the best came from the years 1917-1921. For me these showcased VW's wonderful imagination and her ability to capture moods and settings in such a way as to make the reader experience them also. Kew Gardens was lovely: contrasting the life going on down in the soil of one of the flower beds with the life hurrying past on two feet. Solid Objects was a chilling portrayal of the development of an obsession that changed a man's life. An Unwritten Novel shows us the writer on a train, imagining a story for the woman across from her in the compartment, with changes in the planned plot showing up according to people and actions around her as the ride continues. And finally A Haunted House was a charming explanation of various noises and bumps in the night.
I have not yet read detailed biographies about Woolf. I am familiar with her general story, of course, but I am saving the two biographical titles in my stack until I have read the other prose works I have planned. But it seemed to me that during the years 1917 to 1921 she wrote more varied pieces, at least in these shorter lengths, and I would dare to say that perhaps she had more fun with them.
I am going to take a short break before I read the next Woolf Volume, but I will return soon to this intriguing author and see what other delights she has waiting for me.
September 25, 2016
Un relato tan pero tan corto, de s贸lo cinco p谩ginas, que no puedo puntuar m谩s.
April 17, 2023
Voy a ser super honesta, creo que no termin茅 de entender bien todos los cuentos. Creo que son relatos que tendr茅 que releer varias veces para poder ir desentra帽ando las capas y descubrir qu茅 es lo que realmente quer铆a decir la autora. Adem谩s, son del tipo que hay que leer de forma consciente pues Virginia juega mucho con la prosa, con cambios de narradores, paso de di谩logo a narraci贸n a pensamientos y as铆. Fue dif铆cil seguir el hilo de lo que est谩 diciendo porque son mon贸logos internos o corrientes de la consciencia, entonces muchas veces resultaron ca贸ticos. Por todo eso, perd贸n si no puedo ofrecer una mejor rese帽a o comentario sobre ellos.
Esta edici贸n de Seix Barral es la primera traducci贸n hecha en Colombia que estuvo a cargo del Colectivo Barb谩rika. Estos 18 relatos fueron traducidos por el colectivo de forma conjunta, con retroalimentaci贸n constante y como un experimento para intentar transmitir de mejor manera las particularidades de la autora. Me gust贸 mucho esto, porque implic贸 todo un trabajo adicional y cuidadoso detr谩s de cada relato y, dada la complejidad de estos, era algo m谩s que necesario.
Virginia Woolf es una autora cuya gracia, en mi opini贸n, est谩 en el c贸mo narr贸 la cotidianidad de su 茅poca a trav茅s de mon贸logos y corrientes de la consciencia con una prosa preciosa. De alguna forma, Woolf le dio voz a los pensamientos femeninos tan mirados en menos, sobre todo en esos a帽os, as铆 le dio voz a las preocupaciones de las mujeres. Desde mi ignorancia dividir铆a estos relatos en dos tipos principales. En el primero, la autora se centr贸 en la corriente de la consciencia y pensamientos de su protagonista o protagonistas mientras hac铆an algo muy sencillo. Aqu铆 entrar铆an los relatos como La marca en la pared, Kew Gardens o Una recopilaci贸n, por ejemplo.
En la segunda categor铆a, la prosa de la autora sigui贸 siendo muy propia, pero mucho m谩s clara y f谩cil de seguir, pues el foco del relato era el giro que ten铆a o lo que suced铆a en 茅l. Este estilo fue mi favorito, quiz谩 porque como dije era el m谩s f谩cil de seguir, aqu铆 entrar铆an relatos como El legado, La duquesa y el joyero o听La partida de caza. La autora fue capaz de mantener por completo su estilo muy personal, pero dosificarlo lo suficiente como para permitir que no me perdiera los detalles de lo que suced铆a, las pistas que dio y el giro que entreg贸 cuando acab贸 el relato.
Si han le铆do a Cort谩zar es probable que el estilo se les haga parecido, pues Woolf logr贸 construir una prosa que mezcl贸 di谩logo, narraci贸n, pensamientos y cambios de narrador. Sus relatos son cortos, pero te obligan a estar concentrado para poder seguir bien el hilo de lo que est谩 narrando. Al mismo tiempo, incluso as铆 al terminar es posible quedar con la sensaci贸n de que no acabamos de entender del todo lo que la autora quiso decir y varios relatos, si no todos, requieren una o varias rele铆das para ser apreciados por completo.
Hubo relatos en los que no pas贸 nada importante como en El vestido nuevo, pero la forma en que estaban construidos, los pensamientos, las subidas y bajadas de humor, el caos de las ideas y las emociones resultaron maravillosos de leer. Woolf no tuvo problemas en representar esos ir y venir de la mente, las dudas, la ansiedad, los pensamientos intrusivos, los miedos, puede ser ca贸tico y, a veces, complicado de seguir, pero es una forma bastante cercana a c贸mo realmente funciona nuestra mente.
Es cierto que dio voces a mujeres y represent贸 su cotidianidad de una forma muy bella, llena de complejidad y humanidad. No obstante, en sus relatos tambi茅n fue capaz de ponerse en los zapatos de personajes masculinos con un resultado tan favorable como en los otros. Por ejemplo, en El hombre que amaba su pr贸jimo retrat贸 a un hombre que moralmente se cre铆a superior y miraba en menos la superficialidad del evento al que se vio obligado a asistir. O lo que hizo con听La duquesa y el joyero narrando todo este plan por parte del joyero, su mente y su relaci贸n complicada con la mujer.
Algo interesante fue que, sin importar el largo del relato, la autora no solo era capaz de entrar en la mente de un personaje, sino que de varios. Si bien en algunos se centr贸 solo en la mente de su protagonista como Lappin y Lapp铆nova, la verdad es que tambi茅n hubo relatos que se centraban en un lugar o un objeto e iban cambiando de punto de vista seg煤n la persona o las personas que pasaran por ah铆, como听Kew Gardens. O lo que hizo cuando lo que hac铆a era narrar la misma situaci贸n desde el punto de vista de ambos implicados, como fue el caso de听Juntos y distantes en el que le铆mos a esta pareja que fue presentada y c贸mo su relaci贸n se fue desarrollando desde ambas partes.
Cuentos completos de Virginia Woolf son relatos que se deben leer con tiempo, dedic谩ndose a disfrutar cada uno, permitirse la concentraci贸n para devorar palabra por palabra y entender que es posible que tengan que volver a ellos de vez en cuando para terminar de entender su complejidad. Sin embargo, desbordan no solo la creatividad de la autora, sino que tambi茅n un estilo muy propio de su pluma y sus temas recurrentes.
Esta edici贸n de Seix Barral es la primera traducci贸n hecha en Colombia que estuvo a cargo del Colectivo Barb谩rika. Estos 18 relatos fueron traducidos por el colectivo de forma conjunta, con retroalimentaci贸n constante y como un experimento para intentar transmitir de mejor manera las particularidades de la autora. Me gust贸 mucho esto, porque implic贸 todo un trabajo adicional y cuidadoso detr谩s de cada relato y, dada la complejidad de estos, era algo m谩s que necesario.
"Su mente era como su habitaci贸n, en donde luces avanzaban y retroced铆an, ven铆an haciendo piruetas y pisaban con delicadeza, extend铆an sus colas, picoteaban a su paso; y entonces todo su ser se ba帽aba, de nuevo como la habitaci贸n, con una nube de alg煤n profundo conocimiento, alg煤n arrepentimiento no expresado y entonces se llenaba de cajones con llave, rellenos de cartas como sus escritorios."
Virginia Woolf es una autora cuya gracia, en mi opini贸n, est谩 en el c贸mo narr贸 la cotidianidad de su 茅poca a trav茅s de mon贸logos y corrientes de la consciencia con una prosa preciosa. De alguna forma, Woolf le dio voz a los pensamientos femeninos tan mirados en menos, sobre todo en esos a帽os, as铆 le dio voz a las preocupaciones de las mujeres. Desde mi ignorancia dividir铆a estos relatos en dos tipos principales. En el primero, la autora se centr贸 en la corriente de la consciencia y pensamientos de su protagonista o protagonistas mientras hac铆an algo muy sencillo. Aqu铆 entrar铆an los relatos como La marca en la pared, Kew Gardens o Una recopilaci贸n, por ejemplo.
"Lo que todos ten铆an miedo de decir, era que la felicidad es muy barata. Se puede tenerla por nada. La belleza."
En la segunda categor铆a, la prosa de la autora sigui贸 siendo muy propia, pero mucho m谩s clara y f谩cil de seguir, pues el foco del relato era el giro que ten铆a o lo que suced铆a en 茅l. Este estilo fue mi favorito, quiz谩 porque como dije era el m谩s f谩cil de seguir, aqu铆 entrar铆an relatos como El legado, La duquesa y el joyero o听La partida de caza. La autora fue capaz de mantener por completo su estilo muy personal, pero dosificarlo lo suficiente como para permitir que no me perdiera los detalles de lo que suced铆a, las pistas que dio y el giro que entreg贸 cuando acab贸 el relato.
"Palabras cortas e insignificantes expresaban tambi茅n algo, palabras con alas cortas para su pesado cuerpo de significado."
Si han le铆do a Cort谩zar es probable que el estilo se les haga parecido, pues Woolf logr贸 construir una prosa que mezcl贸 di谩logo, narraci贸n, pensamientos y cambios de narrador. Sus relatos son cortos, pero te obligan a estar concentrado para poder seguir bien el hilo de lo que est谩 narrando. Al mismo tiempo, incluso as铆 al terminar es posible quedar con la sensaci贸n de que no acabamos de entender del todo lo que la autora quiso decir y varios relatos, si no todos, requieren una o varias rele铆das para ser apreciados por completo.
"Ser铆a maravilloso ser ellos, pero estaba condenada a ser ella misma y tan solo pod铆a, de este modo silencioso y entusiasta, sentada afuera en un jard铆n, aplaudir a la sociedad de la humanidad de la que estaba excluida."
Hubo relatos en los que no pas贸 nada importante como en El vestido nuevo, pero la forma en que estaban construidos, los pensamientos, las subidas y bajadas de humor, el caos de las ideas y las emociones resultaron maravillosos de leer. Woolf no tuvo problemas en representar esos ir y venir de la mente, las dudas, la ansiedad, los pensamientos intrusivos, los miedos, puede ser ca贸tico y, a veces, complicado de seguir, pero es una forma bastante cercana a c贸mo realmente funciona nuestra mente.
"El alma -pues era consciente del movimiento en ella de una criatura que se abr铆a camino a golpes en su interior e intentaba escapar, que por el momento llamaba el alma- es por naturaleza solitaria, un ave viuda; un ave posada distante en ese 谩rbol."
Es cierto que dio voces a mujeres y represent贸 su cotidianidad de una forma muy bella, llena de complejidad y humanidad. No obstante, en sus relatos tambi茅n fue capaz de ponerse en los zapatos de personajes masculinos con un resultado tan favorable como en los otros. Por ejemplo, en El hombre que amaba su pr贸jimo retrat贸 a un hombre que moralmente se cre铆a superior y miraba en menos la superficialidad del evento al que se vio obligado a asistir. O lo que hizo con听La duquesa y el joyero narrando todo este plan por parte del joyero, su mente y su relaci贸n complicada con la mujer.
"Deja entonces que perezca tu esperanza, que languidezca en el desierto mi alegr铆a, que avance desnuda."
Algo interesante fue que, sin importar el largo del relato, la autora no solo era capaz de entrar en la mente de un personaje, sino que de varios. Si bien en algunos se centr贸 solo en la mente de su protagonista como Lappin y Lapp铆nova, la verdad es que tambi茅n hubo relatos que se centraban en un lugar o un objeto e iban cambiando de punto de vista seg煤n la persona o las personas que pasaran por ah铆, como听Kew Gardens. O lo que hizo cuando lo que hac铆a era narrar la misma situaci贸n desde el punto de vista de ambos implicados, como fue el caso de听Juntos y distantes en el que le铆mos a esta pareja que fue presentada y c贸mo su relaci贸n se fue desarrollando desde ambas partes.
"La vida es lo que se ve en los ojos de las personas; la vida es lo que aprenden y, habi茅ndolo aprendido, nunca, por m谩s que intenten esconderlo, dejan de ser conscientes, 驴de qu茅? De que as铆 es la vida, tal parece."
Cuentos completos de Virginia Woolf son relatos que se deben leer con tiempo, dedic谩ndose a disfrutar cada uno, permitirse la concentraci贸n para devorar palabra por palabra y entender que es posible que tengan que volver a ellos de vez en cuando para terminar de entender su complejidad. Sin embargo, desbordan no solo la creatividad de la autora, sino que tambi茅n un estilo muy propio de su pluma y sus temas recurrentes.
September 7, 2023
I fell in love with Virginia Woolf鈥檚 works only a few months ago and couldn鈥檛 get enough of her words so far, be it books, short stories, letters or diary entries (I鈥檝e yet to read her essays, but I鈥檓 definitely planning to!). It鈥檚 just an intoxicating feeling to be able to take a look into the complicated mind of this fascinating, complex writer.
That鈥檚 why I couldn鈥檛 wait to read this book, which is an excerpt from her Complete Shorter Prose.
And really, the author proves her mastery once more in these short stories. Even more than in the longer prose, she shows her talent for throwing the reader off the scent and creating drama in small, everyday things.
Again I was completely and utterly enchanted by the power of her language. For example, her flower description in Kew Gardens is as intoxicating as a poem of maybe an Impressionist painting.
And of course I loved Slater鈥檚 Pins Have No Points, her 鈥渓ittle story about Sapphism for the Americans鈥�, as she wrote to Vita Sackville-West in 1927.
But: In her story An Unwritten Novel, SHE USES THE N-WORD!!!
Yes, I know that it鈥檚 actually not the author speaking, but the thoughts of a character in the story. Yes, I know that the story was written more than a hundred years ago and it was a different time. Yes, I know that VW was a member of the educated middle-class in England who grew up with different rules, ideas and ideals than people do today.
But dear Ms Woolf, despite everything, I think we REALLY need to talk about racism (and classism anyway)! Because in my opinion, using this word is okay under absolutely NO circumstances 鈥� and it was wrong back then, too! Which you, as the brilliant thinker you were, should have known as well.
I confess that my heart hurt a lot reading it, maybe even more so as the word is used in such a casual way here. I guess that was basically the moment my literary heroine was knocked off her pedestal 鈥� But I鈥檝e been doing my very best to refuse to fall out of love because of her mistake, even though it鈥檚 unforgivable.
The rest of the stories are powerful, beautiful, profound, funny, tragic and poignant as ever.
4 Stars, with an uneasy feeling.
That鈥檚 why I couldn鈥檛 wait to read this book, which is an excerpt from her Complete Shorter Prose.
And really, the author proves her mastery once more in these short stories. Even more than in the longer prose, she shows her talent for throwing the reader off the scent and creating drama in small, everyday things.
Again I was completely and utterly enchanted by the power of her language. For example, her flower description in Kew Gardens is as intoxicating as a poem of maybe an Impressionist painting.
And of course I loved Slater鈥檚 Pins Have No Points, her 鈥渓ittle story about Sapphism for the Americans鈥�, as she wrote to Vita Sackville-West in 1927.
But: In her story An Unwritten Novel, SHE USES THE N-WORD!!!
Yes, I know that it鈥檚 actually not the author speaking, but the thoughts of a character in the story. Yes, I know that the story was written more than a hundred years ago and it was a different time. Yes, I know that VW was a member of the educated middle-class in England who grew up with different rules, ideas and ideals than people do today.
But dear Ms Woolf, despite everything, I think we REALLY need to talk about racism (and classism anyway)! Because in my opinion, using this word is okay under absolutely NO circumstances 鈥� and it was wrong back then, too! Which you, as the brilliant thinker you were, should have known as well.
I confess that my heart hurt a lot reading it, maybe even more so as the word is used in such a casual way here. I guess that was basically the moment my literary heroine was knocked off her pedestal 鈥� But I鈥檝e been doing my very best to refuse to fall out of love because of her mistake, even though it鈥檚 unforgivable.
The rest of the stories are powerful, beautiful, profound, funny, tragic and poignant as ever.
4 Stars, with an uneasy feeling.
November 11, 2009
A collection of short, impressionistic stories by the woman who famously pioneered the stream of consciousness technique, and equally famously drowned herself by filling her pockets with stones and walking into a lake.
Typical of her style is the following start and end paragraphs from the title story:
Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure 鈥� a ghostly couple.
鈥楬ere we left it,鈥� she said. And he added, 鈥極h, but here too!鈥� 鈥業t鈥檚 upstairs,鈥� she murmured. 鈥楢nd in the garden,鈥� he whispered. 鈥楺uietly,鈥� they said, 鈥榦r we shall wake them.鈥�
...................................................
鈥楽afe, safe, safe,鈥� the heart of the house beats proudly. 鈥楲ong years -鈥� he sighs. 鈥楢gain you found me.鈥� 鈥楬ere,鈥� she murmurs, 鈥榮leeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure-Stooping, their light lifts the lid upon my eyes. 鈥楽afe! Safe! Safe!鈥� the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry 鈥極h, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.鈥�
When I bought this book many years ago I was disappointed because I expected a 'proper' ghost story. But re-reading it now I realise that it really is a proper ghost story, and a heart-rending one at that.
Typical of her style is the following start and end paragraphs from the title story:
Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure 鈥� a ghostly couple.
鈥楬ere we left it,鈥� she said. And he added, 鈥極h, but here too!鈥� 鈥業t鈥檚 upstairs,鈥� she murmured. 鈥楢nd in the garden,鈥� he whispered. 鈥楺uietly,鈥� they said, 鈥榦r we shall wake them.鈥�
...................................................
鈥楽afe, safe, safe,鈥� the heart of the house beats proudly. 鈥楲ong years -鈥� he sighs. 鈥楢gain you found me.鈥� 鈥楬ere,鈥� she murmurs, 鈥榮leeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure-Stooping, their light lifts the lid upon my eyes. 鈥楽afe! Safe! Safe!鈥� the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry 鈥極h, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.鈥�
When I bought this book many years ago I was disappointed because I expected a 'proper' ghost story. But re-reading it now I realise that it really is a proper ghost story, and a heart-rending one at that.
October 11, 2022
Death was the glass and functioned as a one-way mirror. You see your reflection and sense something beneath the surface, a murkiness beyond, something buried and hidden yet persistent.
This evocative short story (a prose poem really) will elicit different responses from readers. Having recently packed and moved, I identified with the sense of dislocation at the beginning, looking for misplaced objects, wandering through a house in search of what? I'd forgotten. Objects torn from routine slip through my fingers and must always always be searched out.
A house, like a life, has layers of significance, overlapping history, and meaning waiting to be discovered anew. Or maybe I'm just projecting again.
This evocative short story (a prose poem really) will elicit different responses from readers. Having recently packed and moved, I identified with the sense of dislocation at the beginning, looking for misplaced objects, wandering through a house in search of what? I'd forgotten. Objects torn from routine slip through my fingers and must always always be searched out.
A house, like a life, has layers of significance, overlapping history, and meaning waiting to be discovered anew. Or maybe I'm just projecting again.
June 9, 2019
Then she asked herself, 鈥渨hich view is the true one?鈥�
These words, from the final story 鈥楽umming Up,鈥� portray perfectly what Woolf is trying to get at in all of these very short stories. The stories showcase Woolf鈥檚 talent of relating minutiae; the ephemeral; thoughts that go flying off before circling back to the physical. Several of the stories in the middle, though worth reading, end with almost literal clunkers or even tell us too much, brief though they are; yet at the sentence-level, they are always thought-provoking.
These words, from the final story 鈥楽umming Up,鈥� portray perfectly what Woolf is trying to get at in all of these very short stories. The stories showcase Woolf鈥檚 talent of relating minutiae; the ephemeral; thoughts that go flying off before circling back to the physical. Several of the stories in the middle, though worth reading, end with almost literal clunkers or even tell us too much, brief though they are; yet at the sentence-level, they are always thought-provoking.
October 10, 2022
18 short stories. Lots of experimentation by Woolf. Kew Gardens and the perspective of the snail. Several stream of conscious stories. Mrs Dalloway and her house in several. Flowers, skies and the people all show an insight by Woolf. Solid objects obsession, The legacy blindness of one close to you to Woolf鈥檚 imagination of people she sees.
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