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cunningba's review against another edition
4.0
Really about 3.5 stars.
This is a reread for me, but the first read was when I was in high school in the mid-1960s, probably in the paperback edition cited.
One of my high school English teachers (either Doreen Stock or Helvi Lansu, I think) first mentioned it in passing and I filed it away. It appealed to me for two reasons. First, like many kids I had gone through my period of enthusiasm for dog and pony novels when I was in elementary school after reading [b:Black Beauty|3685|Black Beauty|Anna Sewell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578265482l/3685._SY75_.jpg|4639714] and [b:Lassie Come-Home|895886|Lassie Come-Home|Eric Knight|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130656l/895886._SX50_.jpg|1065795]. This was another dog book to tack onto that genre. Second, it was based on a real dog associated with the Brownings' romance as imagined by Virginia Woolf, all of which were points of intrigue to me. I remember that I read it, and thought it was OK, albeit not particularly memorable. I also read Woolf's [b:Orlando|18839|Orlando|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443118010l/18839._SY75_.jpg|6057225] during the same time period. It was memorable.
Having recently read [b:A Room of One's Own|18521|A Room of One's Own|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327883012l/18521._SY75_.jpg|1315615], which I enjoyed so much I immediately then listened to it on audio book. The mentions of Elizabeth Barrett Browning in it suggested the reread of Flush. I reread it in [b:Virginia Woolf: Complete Works (OBG Classics): Inspired 'A Ghost Story' (2017) directed by David Lowery|35657376|Virginia Woolf Complete Works (OBG Classics) Inspired 'A Ghost Story' (2017) directed by David Lowery|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499832747l/35657376._SY75_.jpg|44132937].
Flush is a curious novel. It is not your usual children's dog novel. It is not exactly told from the dog's point of view. Although Woolf's stream of consciousness narrative frequently narrates Flush's putative thoughts and feelings, it is definitely a third-person doing the narration. Flush at points appears to be extraordinarily class-conscious, which is perhaps a clue to what the novel is really supposed to be about. Flush's interior life in some way mirrors Elizabeth Barrett's own, as would be expected, and, perhaps, is a bit of an allegory for Virginia Woolf's interior life. Perhaps even a faint prescient echo of the allegorical technique in [b:Animal Farm|170448|Animal Farm|George Orwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325861570l/170448._SY75_.jpg|2207778]. This is all OK. Virginia Woolf is entitled.
But Flush is also a historical dog about which we have some particulars from Elizabeth Barrett's poems and letters. Woolf goes to some lengths to connect the dots here, including several long footnotes explaining the references and that she has, thankfully, collapsed three separate dognappings into a single incident for readability.
I am left with some more curiosity about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and would like to explore her letters more.
Flush, as a re-imagined character, seems curiously incomplete from what I was hoping for, though it may have been exactly as Virginia Woolf intended. From a dog's point-of-view we had a lot of wild, passionate sense impressions, some perplexity and misunderstandings about what people are doing, and some class-conscious musings on human and dog hierarchies. Not really enough detail about what is going on in the Barrett family or the Brownings' romance to make complete sense of it, just some emotional impressions, as if from the viewpoint of a dog. It's unclear whether we are expected to know the surrounding context -- the footnotes argue that the author does not expect this of the reader -- or whether the muddled impressions are all we are supposed to get.
While there is some poetry and beauty here, as well as more than a little social commentary, the character and story arcs leave me somewhat unsatisfied.
This is a reread for me, but the first read was when I was in high school in the mid-1960s, probably in the paperback edition cited.
One of my high school English teachers (either Doreen Stock or Helvi Lansu, I think) first mentioned it in passing and I filed it away. It appealed to me for two reasons. First, like many kids I had gone through my period of enthusiasm for dog and pony novels when I was in elementary school after reading [b:Black Beauty|3685|Black Beauty|Anna Sewell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578265482l/3685._SY75_.jpg|4639714] and [b:Lassie Come-Home|895886|Lassie Come-Home|Eric Knight|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316130656l/895886._SX50_.jpg|1065795]. This was another dog book to tack onto that genre. Second, it was based on a real dog associated with the Brownings' romance as imagined by Virginia Woolf, all of which were points of intrigue to me. I remember that I read it, and thought it was OK, albeit not particularly memorable. I also read Woolf's [b:Orlando|18839|Orlando|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443118010l/18839._SY75_.jpg|6057225] during the same time period. It was memorable.
Having recently read [b:A Room of One's Own|18521|A Room of One's Own|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327883012l/18521._SY75_.jpg|1315615], which I enjoyed so much I immediately then listened to it on audio book. The mentions of Elizabeth Barrett Browning in it suggested the reread of Flush. I reread it in [b:Virginia Woolf: Complete Works (OBG Classics): Inspired 'A Ghost Story' (2017) directed by David Lowery|35657376|Virginia Woolf Complete Works (OBG Classics) Inspired 'A Ghost Story' (2017) directed by David Lowery|Virginia Woolf|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499832747l/35657376._SY75_.jpg|44132937].
Flush is a curious novel. It is not your usual children's dog novel. It is not exactly told from the dog's point of view. Although Woolf's stream of consciousness narrative frequently narrates Flush's putative thoughts and feelings, it is definitely a third-person doing the narration. Flush at points appears to be extraordinarily class-conscious, which is perhaps a clue to what the novel is really supposed to be about. Flush's interior life in some way mirrors Elizabeth Barrett's own, as would be expected, and, perhaps, is a bit of an allegory for Virginia Woolf's interior life. Perhaps even a faint prescient echo of the allegorical technique in [b:Animal Farm|170448|Animal Farm|George Orwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325861570l/170448._SY75_.jpg|2207778]. This is all OK. Virginia Woolf is entitled.
But Flush is also a historical dog about which we have some particulars from Elizabeth Barrett's poems and letters. Woolf goes to some lengths to connect the dots here, including several long footnotes explaining the references and that she has, thankfully, collapsed three separate dognappings into a single incident for readability.
I am left with some more curiosity about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and would like to explore her letters more.
Flush, as a re-imagined character, seems curiously incomplete from what I was hoping for, though it may have been exactly as Virginia Woolf intended. From a dog's point-of-view we had a lot of wild, passionate sense impressions, some perplexity and misunderstandings about what people are doing, and some class-conscious musings on human and dog hierarchies. Not really enough detail about what is going on in the Barrett family or the Brownings' romance to make complete sense of it, just some emotional impressions, as if from the viewpoint of a dog. It's unclear whether we are expected to know the surrounding context -- the footnotes argue that the author does not expect this of the reader -- or whether the muddled impressions are all we are supposed to get.
While there is some poetry and beauty here, as well as more than a little social commentary, the character and story arcs leave me somewhat unsatisfied.
laurengitelson's review against another edition
3.0
Such incredible writing showing the similarities and differences between humans and dogs and the bond we share with them
ella_bibliophile_98's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Really cute book and I enjoyed it a lot more than to the lighthouse. Writing style is straight forward and light hearted, really enjoyed reading the biography of a famous dog, it was very cute and beautiful
edoardosampoli's review
4.0
“In breve, conosceva Firenze come nessun essere umano l’ha mai conosciuta, […]. La conosceva come solo i muti conoscono. Non una sola della miriade di sensazioni che provava si sottomise mai alla deformazione delle parole.”
Un'indimenticabile fiaba che intreccia la vita di Flush, un cocker spaniel di razza purissima, manto marrone tendente all'oro, coda folta, nessun ciuffo fuori posto, e quella della poetessa Elizabeth Barrett. Attraverso la storia del cane, e di conseguenza della sua padrona e delle persone che le ruotano attorno, la Woolf ci offre, mischiando realtà e puro romanzo, un affresco più che mai completo della società vittoriana, in tutti i suoi aspetti. Inoltre Virginia Woolf non sceglie a caso la storia della Barrett, oltre che per una conoscenza personale, sembra voler parlare anche della propria esistenza scegliendo la vita di un'inferma, ma soprattutto di una donna che si trova, in molte occasioni a sfidare le istituzioni "dei mariti, dei padri, dei fratelli e dei dominatori in generale". Le donne riportate in questo romanzo sono rappresentate sempre in forte distacco dalla controparte maschile, a volte questa volontà stilistica ha indotto Virginia Woolf a modificare la temporalità degli eventi o gli eventi stessi, (Miss Mitford che scrive di tutto per sopravvivere, ammiccando alle condizioni della donna descritta dalla Woolf in Una stanza stanza tutta per se, Miss Barrett e Wilson che, in aperto contrasto con gli uomini che ruotano intorno a Flush, si fanno vedere sole in un quartiere malfamato, scorcio dell'epoca vittoriana che viene esclusa dai posteri: i poveri e i viziosi). Flush non è solo una biografia di un cane, come ci suggerisce il sottotitolo, ma un mondo a se che esula da quello reale, pur rimandandone connesso per necessità narrative; come scrive Nadia Fusini nella prefazione all'edizione Feltrinelli del libro, il racconto porta con se "una ventata di allegria e di comicità degna di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie".
Un'indimenticabile fiaba che intreccia la vita di Flush, un cocker spaniel di razza purissima, manto marrone tendente all'oro, coda folta, nessun ciuffo fuori posto, e quella della poetessa Elizabeth Barrett. Attraverso la storia del cane, e di conseguenza della sua padrona e delle persone che le ruotano attorno, la Woolf ci offre, mischiando realtà e puro romanzo, un affresco più che mai completo della società vittoriana, in tutti i suoi aspetti. Inoltre Virginia Woolf non sceglie a caso la storia della Barrett, oltre che per una conoscenza personale, sembra voler parlare anche della propria esistenza scegliendo la vita di un'inferma, ma soprattutto di una donna che si trova, in molte occasioni a sfidare le istituzioni "dei mariti, dei padri, dei fratelli e dei dominatori in generale". Le donne riportate in questo romanzo sono rappresentate sempre in forte distacco dalla controparte maschile, a volte questa volontà stilistica ha indotto Virginia Woolf a modificare la temporalità degli eventi o gli eventi stessi, (Miss Mitford che scrive di tutto per sopravvivere, ammiccando alle condizioni della donna descritta dalla Woolf in Una stanza stanza tutta per se, Miss Barrett e Wilson che, in aperto contrasto con gli uomini che ruotano intorno a Flush, si fanno vedere sole in un quartiere malfamato, scorcio dell'epoca vittoriana che viene esclusa dai posteri: i poveri e i viziosi). Flush non è solo una biografia di un cane, come ci suggerisce il sottotitolo, ma un mondo a se che esula da quello reale, pur rimandandone connesso per necessità narrative; come scrive Nadia Fusini nella prefazione all'edizione Feltrinelli del libro, il racconto porta con se "una ventata di allegria e di comicità degna di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie".
ophelia_bish's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
mind_of_doaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
loved this 💗💗
lucazani11's review against another edition
3.0
Woolf is a good writer and all but surprisingly I did not enjoy Dostoevsky's 'notes from underground' but for Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog.