Genius and Ink : Virginia Woolf on How to Read

Virginia Woolf is second to none when it comes to analyzing literary figures from the past and their impact on literature. This book is an imprint of the Times Literary Supplement and contains a selection of the best pieces Woolf wrote for them over the course of more than three decades beginning from 1905 onwards when she was just beginning her career as a novelist. The book contains an Introduction by Francesca Wade which I personally feel is one of the best introductions you will ever read in a book. My favourite essays are: "On Re-Reading Novels", "Hours Spent in a Library" and "Charlotte Bronte".This book is not for everyone however. If you are a serious student of literature, or indeed are pursuing a course in English, you will find this book illuminating and entertaining. If you are a casual reader, this book is not for you. The essays are lucid and witty, two hallmarks of Woolf's genius as a critic. The pieces are also designed to invigorate your love for reading and you will often be tempted to leaf through the pages of the novels mentioned in this book.

A fascinating collection of Virginia Woolf reviews published in the Times Literary Supplement - eloquent & sensitive responses to the particular idiosyncrasies of successful authors, including Charlotte Bronte, Henry James & Thomas Hardy.We gain priceless insights into the subjects AND the writer, whose perspective sheds a new light on those who have achieved wide-spread & long-lasting acclaim, whilst revealing glimpses of the qualities she esteems in any piece of writing.

Excellent bound product. Some essays are quite new to me.

Good quality and packaging

Woolf discusses eight English authors (& Montaigne) in a series of perceptive essays. Especially moving are her accounts of George Eliot & Thomas Hardy. The essay "Hours in a Library" is a delight to read.

I expected to enjoy and learn more from this book

Virginia Woolf es una de mis autoras favoritas, pero nunca había leído sus críticas literarias en el TLS. Con una introducción de Ali Smith y otra de Francesca Wade empieza este libro de críticas sensibles e inteligentes. Se suceden Charlotte Bronte, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, hasta llegar a Montaigne. Coincido absolutamente con Woolf, nunca podría haber escrito ni una palabra con su maestría. Maravilloso que se hayan reeditado estas críticas y poder reencontrarse con Virginia

It feels wrong to rate anything by Woolf less than five stars. However I hadn’t realised this book was a collection of literary essays and I confess to a type of allergic reaction as it reminded me of my university days. The pomposity of literary criticism. Yuck.One bonus: re-kindled my enthusiasm and interest in the classic: Austen, Eliot, Hardy, Bronte sisters.

This is an unexpectedly pleasant reading of the great writer. Her youthful feelings about reading would not have been guessed to lead to her greatest work. A fine surprise!

For the #nonfictionnovember I read this collection of essays written by Virginia Woolf that gave me some simple ideas on taking notes on my notebook. She's such a huge source of inspiration for me; her critical remarks point out many aspects that connect the lives and works of some of the English writers mentioned in this book: I've learnt a lot about these I have yet to read about, and I'm finding more general essays on writing, the classics and contemporary literature to be very appealing."(...) To praise their silence one must possess a voice."The essay on Montaigne in particular, who I have read a collection of his essays previously, is magnificently written and it's pure literary-art: if you have yet to read his works you can already make up your mind just reading Woolf's essay on how Montaigne writes about the complexity of human ideologies and how we perceive the world around us, exploring the human mind and the capacity of producing literary worlds.