Last year, I found three Virginia Woolf novels in a charity shop. They all came home to live with me. Although I've read them all, it was a couple of decades ago, I think, so reading them again would be almost like reading them for the first time. I was especially thrilled to find two of them in the black Wordsworth Classics edition. I particularly like the introductions in those, which I always read after reading the book because of spoilers.
Later in the year, I was reading a different book that made reference to her final two novels. I was intrigued, so Bill got me a copy of both in one volume, which I read in the early autumn.
A few months ago, as I started seeing various articles about the 100th anniversary of Mrs Dalloway, I decided it was time to start reading more of Woolf's novels. I planned to start with her first one, The Voyage Out, where Mrs Dalloway first appears. Then I realized that she only published 9 novels and if I bought that one, * I'd own 6 of them. Bill went looking around online and found the others, so now I have them all.
My plan was to begin with The Voyage Out and read the novel in publication order, not necessarily one right after the other, but maybe one or two a month. I figured that by the time I got to Jacob's Room and the last two novels, it will have been a year or more since I read them and she's the type of author that can be enjoyably re-read anyway. I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my books so I could get started in May when suddenly we learned about the cottage and we were running around preparing to move and then moving. The books arrived on the day we went to view the cottage and things have been busy since, but when I unpacked books, I put all of these together on my dresser, ready to be picked up when the time was right. That time (finally) arrived the other day and I started The Voyage Out. I should probably finish putting away the last few things that I have left. But it's a beautiful rainy day, there's coffee in the pot, and I think it might be a perfect day to spend some quality reading time immersed in a good book. Yeah, that sounds right.
*Some of Woolf's novels and other writing can be found on Project Gutenberg and Faded Page (Canada) and probably elsewhere online. While I do read e-books from various places on my e-reader and/or phone, there are some books I'd prefer to read in physical format.
6 comments:
Read on, my dear, putting stuff away can wait. Time is too important to get sidetracked into mundanity when there’s reading to be done, especially if the coffee is ready too. I have not read Virginia Woolf; methinks I must!
It's a reading sort of day, like every day ending in 'y' 😉
Woolf's writing style changed through her life and I'm curious to see the differences.
I once had a tee shirt that boldly stated, “I only drink wine on days that end in ‘y.” A glass of wine and a good book seems like every man’s version of heaven to me!
😀
I have tried Virginia Woolf and I don't know why, but I just have trouble getting into her. I don't know if it's the plots, the structure, I can't decide. I should give her another try.
There often isn't a plot to be found! Maybe that's it? Lots of interior thought on the part of the various characters, but not the typical beginning, middle, end sort of structure. I like that kind of thing if I'm in the right mood. From what I've read, The Voyage Out is more conventional than the books that came after. By reading them in publication order, I think I'll get a better sense of her evolution as a writer, which I'm very interested in. Anyway, life's too short to read books you aren't into!
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