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Title: A Room of One's Own (Annotated)
ISBN: 0156030411
Author:
Virginia Woolf
Publicate Date: 2005-08-01
Publish: 2005-08-01
List Price: $15.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Gubar & Woolf: an excellent combination
Susan Gubar writes the excellent introduction to this lovely annotated version of Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Even those who have read this book before will enjoy reading a scholarly annotated edition--the notes and introduction provide valuable insight into Woolf's life and times, and the specific conditions against which she rebelled.
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2: Beauty of logic and written word
This book is very short and it expresses brilliant logic that I have not seen for a while. Virginia Wolf writes her case about women and writing. What it takes to be a woman artist and remain one. She argues very carefully, that woman artist needs means (read: money) and a room of her own where she can express herself without any interruptions from the outside world. While many male counterparts of her times argue that women have no character and are inferior to men, Virginia asks question on how come that almost two tousand years ago, Greeks were writing literary work that described women like: Cleopatra, Medea, Clytemnestra and Electra? These powerful female images have no characted and power? Anyone who read classics knows it is far from that. Virgina also argues from the works of early British female writers such as: Lady Winchilsea, Margaret Newcastle and Aphra Behn, that finest poetry was created by a women of noble birth married into a noble families. These women were educated, cultured, most had no children and had very understanding and supportive husbands or were single. They were lonely creatures who produced valuable work. Women of lower birth and less education, such as Jane Austen and Bronte sisters, were talented, but they wrote about the world they new about: middle class that was all around them. They were social observers who wrote in the crowded living rooms about people that were part of their own world. In addition, they did not produce poems, they produced novels primarily. Virginia argues that only the most perceptive of women are capable of producing remarkable poetry. She also draws similarity that it was male writers from the upper classes that created masterpieces. The exception was Keats, who was poor but who also dies young - since writing is exhausting both physically and emotionally. But she also argues that the finest of male voices who dedicated their lives to writing has sort of sensitivity that is unique to women. So the true writer is never he or she, it is a mix of both sexes. This is one of the most powerful feminist books I have ever read and I admire Virginia Woolf for having a courage to create it and share it with the public.
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3: Deserves some pondering...
Critics might agree or disagree with Virginia Woolf, based on the degree to which they perceive her as threatening or unstable.
Whether Woolf is portraying a feminist view or not in her "A Room of One's Own"; she is outstandingly candid and honest about the way she's perceiving life.
I agree with a few great points that Woolf raised for example:
1. As Woolf puts it in her own words: "intellectual freedom depends upon material things". No one who's financially dependent can have the freedom to explore any intellectual versions.
2-One of most Woolf's fascinating opinions is her view of the subjective nature of truth. When a subject is highly controversial, no one can actually tell the truth, but simply defend her or his opinion and how they arrived at their opinion. Each person's reality simply depends on the circumstances and experiences they encountered, therefore, no reality is absolutely objective.
In that way, Woolf insinuates that all the truth she presented in her book is questionable, just a very interesting way of dealing with any controversial matter.
I strongly disagree that these points or ideas apply only to females. I think, they apply to every human being, but because of Woolf's own experience as a female, I believe she had to apply them to only females.
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4: One could say the same thing over and over again in different ways if one had a room of one's own
I think the title sums it up. I liked the book, but it could have ended sooner. The point was made one too many times.
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5: Obligatory Reading
Virginia Woolf in her best form - personal but not self-centred, concentrated and ready to fight for what she believes is right. This long essay gives her views on the position of women in literature but offers also an overview of their role through centuries - from the imaginary Shakespeare's sister to her contemporaries. A must read for all readers regardless of sex!
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