Virginia Woolf

An ideal introduction to the life and work of Virginia Woolf by an award-winning author: the story of a life lived with intensity from moment to moment and shaped into the lasting patterns of art. In 1907, when she was twenty-five and not yet a published novelist, Virginia Stephen had everything still to prove. She felt herself to be at a crossroads: “I shall be miserable, or happy; a wordy sentimental creature, or a writer of such English as shall one day burn the pages.” Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever. This is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things. In this illuminating new account, Alexandra Harris uses vivid flashes of detail to evoke Woolf’s changing backgrounds and preoccupations. We move from the close-packed rhythms of a Victorian childhood to the experiments of Bloomsbury and Woolf’s trial-and-error answers to the pressing question of how to live. We see her tackling challenging forms of writing, trying out different voices, following flights of fancy, and returning to earth. Above all, we see her making conscious decisions about what to do next. The book considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to a range of Woolf’s dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her “afterlife,” and shows why, seventy years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us. 50 black-and-white illustrations

An ideal introduction to the life and work of Virginia Woolf by an award-winning author: the story of a life lived with intensity from moment to moment and shaped into the lasting patterns of art.

In 1907, when she was twenty-five and not yet a published novelist, Virginia Stephen had everything still to prove. She felt herself to be at a crossroads: “I shall be miserable, or happy; a wordy sentimental creature, or a writer of such English as shall one day burn the pages.”

Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever. This is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things.

In this illuminating new account, Alexandra Harris uses vivid flashes of detail to evoke Woolf’s changing backgrounds and preoccupations. We move from the close-packed rhythms of a Victorian childhood to the experiments of Bloomsbury and Woolf’s trial-and-error answers to the pressing question of how to live. We see her tackling challenging forms of writing, trying out different voices, following flights of fancy, and returning to earth. Above all, we see her making conscious decisions about what to do next.

The book considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to a range of Woolf’s dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her “afterlife,” and shows why, seventy years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.

Deze biografie vertelt hoe een gedreven jonge vrouw, met haar onafscheidelijke notitieboekje, een van de grootste schrijvers uit de wereldliteratuur werd. Het is een verhaal dat bruist van vriendschap, liefde, humor, taal. Een van uur tot uur en van dag tot dag intens geleid leven, geïnspireerd door en gewijd aan literatuur en kunst. Een moedig leven ook, wars van conventies, verscheurd door gecompliceerde liefdes en overschaduwd door hevige depressies en inzinkingen. We ontmoeten vrienden, familie, tijdgenoten: Lytton Strachey, E.M. Forster, W.H. Auden, Roger Fry, T.S. Eliot, haar zuster Vanessa Bell, en de twee grote liefdes in haar leven: Vita Sackville-West en Leonard Woolf, de man die ze trouw bleef tot de dag waarop ze niet verder meer wilde, haar laarzen en bontjas aantrok, haar zakken vulde met stenen, en de rivier in liep. Biografie van de Engelse schrijfster (1882-1941). Alexandra Harris's hugely acclaimed Romantic Moderns (winner of the 2010 Guardian First Book Award) overturned our picture of modernist culture during the interwar years. In her second book, she brings her attention to one of the towering figures of literary modernism. It is an intensely pleasurable read that weaves together the life and work of Virginia Woolf, and serves as an ideal introduction to both. Following the chronology of Woolf's life, it considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to her dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her afterlife and shows why, seventy years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us. An intensely pleasurable read that weaves together the life and work of Virginia Woolf, and serves as an ideal introduction to both. Following the chronology of Woolf's life, it considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to her dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her 'afterlife' and shows why Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us today. Focuses on Virginia Woolf, one of the towering figures of literary modernism. Following the chronology of Woolf's life, this title considers each of the novels in context, gives due prominence to her dazzlingly inventive essays, traces the contentious course of her afterlife, and shows why Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.