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bryanzhang's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of fifty-some short works, many unpublished during Virginia Woolf's lifetime, is admittedly not very worthwhile in terms of literary merit. However, it is valuable for those who are interested in understanding Virginia Woolf as a complete person, with her own unique strengths and limitations, and a real evolution as a writer throughout her life. Beside that, these stories can probably best be thought of as experiments and exercises that helped Woolf to identify the style and ideas that she would go on to use (or not use) for her more well-regarded novels.
franklyfrank's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
asha1891's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
bookscatsandjazz's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
moseslh's review
4.0
I must confess that I did not find this book particularly powerful or gripping. Indeed, it took me a full four months to finish it because I kept getting distracted by other books that were better able to hold my attention. But in Woolf's defense, she never intended for all her short stories to be compiled and read together in one volume like this, and while the collection seemed to drag on, most individual stories within it were stellar.
Woolf's writing in her short stories, as in her novels, is utterly spectacular. The beauty of her prose brought this book up to a four star rating for me despite what I wrote in the above paragraph. While I certainly prefer her novels, I would still recommend this book to Woolf fans or anyone interested in reading her work for the first time who does not want to commit to a whole novel right away.
Woolf's writing in her short stories, as in her novels, is utterly spectacular. The beauty of her prose brought this book up to a four star rating for me despite what I wrote in the above paragraph. While I certainly prefer her novels, I would still recommend this book to Woolf fans or anyone interested in reading her work for the first time who does not want to commit to a whole novel right away.
t_thekla's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
i mostly don’t like short stories because they’re too long but these were about right for me
blakehalsey's review against another edition
4.0
This book is great because it is arranged chronologically, so you can really see how Woolf grows as a writer throughout each story. My favorite is The New Dress, which captures the mind of a middle-aged woman at a party with perfection!
clarkf87's review against another edition
3.0
Oh, dearest Virginia Woolf, how morbid you are, and how much I love you for it any way.
jmiae's review against another edition
5.0
The more I read of Virginia Woolf, the deeper in love I fall with her writing.
For a long time, I was sceptical of short stories. Not as a form of writing, but just as the value it would bring to the leisure reader, which I certainly am. I tried F. Scott Fitzgerald in 2013 then Oscar Wilde. I preferred Wilde's to Fitzgerald's, but still found that I preferred novels to short fiction. Five years later, I've somehow managed to wind up with short story collections of two female writers separated by nearly a century but whose short prose I have enjoyed immensely: Jhumpa Lahiri and Virginia Woolf. Two very different writers, but both excellent examples of how incredibly satisfying short stories can be.
This particular collection is quite exhaustive and frankly meant for those inclined to be scholars of Virginia Woolf rather than an appreciative reader. I referred to the end notes for maybe the first third of the collection before deciding that editorial remarks on what Woolf had added or removed from a given paragraph were, while interesting, not particularly conducive to grasping the feel of each story. But they're there for those who would find literary insight from them, along with several indexes of incomplete fiction and other collections of information about her writing career.
For me, mainly, reading this took longer than expected but for once this extra time to read a single book was necessary and rewarding. You cannot rush through Virginia Woolf, not even short stories, without missing out on something vital. These pieces are all of them gorgeous, though some are harder to grasp than others. It is a true art, to be able to so completely convey so much about characters and places in the span of mere pages.
A day after finishing this collection, I listened to an episode called "Why should we read short stories" by The Monocle podcast. The panel does a fantastic job of explaining why short stories, when done well, are just so damn impressive: https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-culture-show/327/
For a long time, I was sceptical of short stories. Not as a form of writing, but just as the value it would bring to the leisure reader, which I certainly am. I tried F. Scott Fitzgerald in 2013 then Oscar Wilde. I preferred Wilde's to Fitzgerald's, but still found that I preferred novels to short fiction. Five years later, I've somehow managed to wind up with short story collections of two female writers separated by nearly a century but whose short prose I have enjoyed immensely: Jhumpa Lahiri and Virginia Woolf. Two very different writers, but both excellent examples of how incredibly satisfying short stories can be.
This particular collection is quite exhaustive and frankly meant for those inclined to be scholars of Virginia Woolf rather than an appreciative reader. I referred to the end notes for maybe the first third of the collection before deciding that editorial remarks on what Woolf had added or removed from a given paragraph were, while interesting, not particularly conducive to grasping the feel of each story. But they're there for those who would find literary insight from them, along with several indexes of incomplete fiction and other collections of information about her writing career.
For me, mainly, reading this took longer than expected but for once this extra time to read a single book was necessary and rewarding. You cannot rush through Virginia Woolf, not even short stories, without missing out on something vital. These pieces are all of them gorgeous, though some are harder to grasp than others. It is a true art, to be able to so completely convey so much about characters and places in the span of mere pages.
A day after finishing this collection, I listened to an episode called "Why should we read short stories" by The Monocle podcast. The panel does a fantastic job of explaining why short stories, when done well, are just so damn impressive: https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-culture-show/327/
ovvlish's review against another edition
3.0
I came into this book having read no Virginia Woolf and not really knowing what to expect. A lot of the shorter sketches felt like things she had written just for the sake of writing and that got published because she became famous later. Almost like they weren't ever meant for the eyes of consumers. Nonetheless, she has a colorful way with words, and a couple of her "longer" stories (they were all incredibly short) I really got into. This book is best read with the idea in mind that you might skip around and skip some things entirely. And that's okay. Would recommend to people who enjoy stream of consciousness.