Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) by Virginia Woolf (PDF)

Description

A good essay must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in, not out.’According to Virginia Woolf, the goal of the essay ‘is simply that it should give pleasure…It should lay us under a spell with its first word, and we should only wake, refreshed, with its last.’ One of the best practitioners of the art she analysed so rewardingly, Woolf displayed her essay-writing skills across a wide range of subjects, with all the craftsmanship, substance, and rich allure of her novels. This selection brings together thirty of her best essays, including the famous ‘MrBennett and Mrs Brown’, a clarion call for modern fiction. She discusses the arts of writing and of reading, and the particular role and reputation of women writers. She writes movingly about her father and the art of biography, and of the London scene in the early decades of the twentieth century.Overall, these pieces are as indispensable to an understanding of this great writer as they are enchanting in their own right.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐In her lifetime, Woolf was known more for essays than her fiction. These luminous essays show why.

⭐Magnificent writing.

⭐This is a wonderful collection of Virginia Woolf’s essays, essential for anyone interested in Woolf and her art but completely engaging for the casual reader as well. Woolf covers a great deal of ground here in her distinctive prose, engaging in matters artistic, political, social and personal (often, of course, questioning and subverting the distinctions among these categories). All of the essays are charged with her extraordinary intelligence and wit. Many of them are at moments playful, many poignant, and almost all of them surprising in the best possible ways. It’s particularly interesting, for instance, to read Woolf’s musings on the nascent art of cinema. She also writes very movingly about her father. Best of all, though, for me, are the extraordinary “On Being Ill” and the essays containing Woolf’s observations of modern life (“Thunder at Wembley” and “Street Haunting: A London Adventure” particularly). Although each piece is a delight to read on its own, taken as a whole this volume shines a light into Woolf’s values, concerns, methods, and personality–it’s a valuable companion to her novels. And it contains a wonderfully insightful and companionable introduction and very helpful notes. Most highly recommended.

⭐Some of these essays were written to be read aloud but most were for the reading audience. As ever Virginia Woolf’s command of prose is awe-inspiring; she argues elegantly. Her wit and passion are evident throughout. I was very taken with a Mrs Brown, a metaphor for how different authors approach the characters that people their novels. She also demonstrates a great deal of humanity and dispels the notion that essays on such esoteric subjects as “Memories of a Working Women’s Guild” by such an illuminatory will be academic and bloodless.However, I got a sense of history in these essays and how society and writing have moved on since Mrs Woolf argued her case for getting to the heart of her subjects along with Joyce as opposed to the Victorian writers who excelled in extensive descriptions of place and situations. But maybe on reflection the same comparison can also be drawn with contemporary novelists…..So a thought provoking read. Also, not to be missed for the brilliant essay “On being ill”. Here is a lady who knows something about being unwell.

⭐Woolf is a unique and lightning quick modern thinker who in these essays put her finger directly on what it is like for women to try and work in a male dominated world, as well as what exactly the lifeblood of the modern novel was. Well worth a read, she’s wickedly dry to top it all off.

⭐I enjoy Virginia Woolf most when she is writing about writing: she is insightful, creative and witty. Very enjoyable selection of essays.

⭐These writings take us far into Woolf’s family life and recall her courage as a writer and intellectual.

⭐Woolf in her best. The essays are written in an exceptional way, bringing the writer’s best features. 10/10!

Keywords

Free Download Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) in PDF format
Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) PDF Free Download
Download Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) 2009 PDF Free
Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) 2009 PDF Free Download
Download Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) PDF
Free Download Ebook Selected Essays (Oxford World’s Classics)