Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir eBook Winifred Holtby
Download As PDF : Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir eBook Winifred Holtby 
Virginia Woolf is one of the most important writers of the twentieth century.
Part of the Bloomsbury set, she lived surrounded by other artists and writers, and her novels and essays have inspired generations of readers and writers ever since their publication.
Her personal struggles with depression and mental illness, and her feminist beliefs come across strongly in her work, illuminating an important period in British social history, not just for women’s rights, but for a whole nation scarred by the effects of two world wars.
Winifred Holtby gives us Woolf the critic, the essayist and the experimental novelist in this critical memoir which is of particular interest as the work of one intelligent, though very different, novelist commenting on another.
Holtby’s careful reading of Woolf’s work is set in the context of the debate between modernist and traditional writing in the 1920s and 1930s.
Although Holtby greatly admires Woolf’s art, she considers its limitations as an elite form that ignores the material conditions of everyday life and the consequent social responsibility expected of the novel.
Choosing to write about Woolf as ‘the author whose art seemed most of all removed from anything I could ever attempt, and whose experience was most alien to my own,’ Holtby has written a candid appreciation of the complex, groundbreaking work of a contemporary writer at the height of her career.
Winifred Holtby (1898-1935) was an English novelist and journalist. She is also the author of the ‘South Riding’ series.
Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir eBook Winifred Holtby
Virginia Woolf: A Critical Memoir by Winifred Holtby is a study of the interconnection of Woof and her characters and her style of writing. Holtby is best known for writing South Riding while dying of Bright's disease. She was an ardent feminist, socialist and pacifist who published fourteen books before dying at thirty-seven.This book is intriguing on several levels. First, it was written in 1932 while Woolf was still alive, and it concentrates on Woolf's work and the interconnectedness of the stories and with Woolf's own life. Although mentioned, Woolf's depression does not play a major role in this book and it does in many current books. Not being formally educated in English literature, I found the critique well done, informative, and not heavy handed. The examples and passages in the book illustrate Holtby thesis well.
The use of water in Woolf's life and in her books everything from The Voyage Out through The Waves (the last book written by Woolf before Holtby's book) all contain water references and themes. In Woolf's early memories of the beach at Cornwall and later tragically her death involved water. Water becomes ever present, but ever changing. It is always there; it rolls in and rolls out like the waves or life and death.
What may be more obvious to many is also brought up in Holtby's critique is Woolf’s preferences in her novels. It is not surprising that Woolf didn’t much care for plots in her writing. Not a single one of her novels had a climax. In The Voyage Out the South American jungle is nearly a copy of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana The plagiarism is Holtby explains is forgivable. The jungle setting was merely filler. In the South American town, surrounded by jungle, no wild animals are seen, in fact, nobody's even bothered by a single mosquito. The hospital is conveniently located near the hotel. The setting is simply background to Woolf.
If it isn’t plot, climax, or setting that Woolf writes about, it must be characters. Woolf spends great detail in creating characters. Holtby compares the characters to other historical novel character’s just as Jane Austen. Also interesting is that characters that reflect Woolf’s life are the best done. She struggles when she writes characters out of her station. The other thing that separates Woolf is style. Many of her writings have almost a lyrical quality to them. This is perhaps the main reason I enjoy reading Woolf.
Holtby analyzes Woolf’s writing and works. She had a particular interest in “The Mark on the Wall” and uses it often in her comparisons. Her treatment of “Kew Gardens” is quite well done. For the reader of this book a knowledge of Woolf’s writing (up until 1932) is very helpful and almost necessary. Holtby uses each work as references and comparisons and builds her case. Without knowing Mrs. Ramsey, Clarissa Dalloway, or Jacob Flanders, the reader would be lost. An excellent read for anyone familiar with, or struggling with, any of Woolf’s work.
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Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir eBook Winifred Holtby Reviews
What really makes this book an especially engaging study is the fact that Holtby actually had the chance to interview Virginia Woolf herself. Published in 1932, this book looks at both the biographical and the bibliographical life of Virginia Woolf. Holtby discusses some of the biographical details of Woolf's life that seem to directly influence her writing, such as her depiction of her own parents in the portrayals of some of her characters. Holtby also examines Woolf's unusual upbringing among the elites of the Victorian literary society and her parents' well-connected friends in both the arts and literature.
I personally loved that Holtby not only provided an in-depth critique of Woolf's literary works and her writing style, but also a study of the life that led up to these works. Anyone who has read a book (or several) by Virginia Woolf can notice the themes, the motifs, the people, and the places that share a common thread of similarity in her stories. Whether it was her parents' doppelgangers in The Voyage Out and To the Lighthouse, or her haunting love of the sea borne of those summers spent on the Cornish coast, Woolf's cloistral yet uniquely fascinating life is portrayed in her writing.
Holtby is not merely criticizing an author's stories and stylistic choices, she is giving the reader an opportunity to know and to understand the writer behind them. While maintaining the objectivity of a scholar throughout the book, Holtby also manages to convey the veneration of a delighted colleague, and that is what makes an otherwise very scholarly book feel more like a story being shared with friends around a cozy fireplace.
When I first saw the subtitle - a critical memoir, I was wondering if it was going to be critical of Virginia Woolf, but as I read further I soon realized that it is a literary critique of her works along with a biography of her life (up until the time it was written, 1932).
Holtby does an astonishing job diving into Woolf's works - made me remember just how much I used to enjoy my literature classes. She also made me want to read more of Woolf's works - and I have no doubt I would get even more out of her writings now, after reading Holtby's commentary.
A Critical Memoir was published in 1932, and it can't help but haunt me that Holtby herself passed away in 1936 - only 37 years old, while Woolf died in 1941. How we lose some of our greatest writers too soon.
I would highly recommend Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir to anyone who has enjoyed the works of Woolf, or are interested in writing or women's history of that time.
*I received a free advanced reader's copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Virginia Woolf A Critical Memoir by Winifred Holtby is a study of the interconnection of Woof and her characters and her style of writing. Holtby is best known for writing South Riding while dying of Bright's disease. She was an ardent feminist, socialist and pacifist who published fourteen books before dying at thirty-seven.
This book is intriguing on several levels. First, it was written in 1932 while Woolf was still alive, and it concentrates on Woolf's work and the interconnectedness of the stories and with Woolf's own life. Although mentioned, Woolf's depression does not play a major role in this book and it does in many current books. Not being formally educated in English literature, I found the critique well done, informative, and not heavy handed. The examples and passages in the book illustrate Holtby thesis well.
The use of water in Woolf's life and in her books everything from The Voyage Out through The Waves (the last book written by Woolf before Holtby's book) all contain water references and themes. In Woolf's early memories of the beach at Cornwall and later tragically her death involved water. Water becomes ever present, but ever changing. It is always there; it rolls in and rolls out like the waves or life and death.
What may be more obvious to many is also brought up in Holtby's critique is Woolf’s preferences in her novels. It is not surprising that Woolf didn’t much care for plots in her writing. Not a single one of her novels had a climax. In The Voyage Out the South American jungle is nearly a copy of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana The plagiarism is Holtby explains is forgivable. The jungle setting was merely filler. In the South American town, surrounded by jungle, no wild animals are seen, in fact, nobody's even bothered by a single mosquito. The hospital is conveniently located near the hotel. The setting is simply background to Woolf.
If it isn’t plot, climax, or setting that Woolf writes about, it must be characters. Woolf spends great detail in creating characters. Holtby compares the characters to other historical novel character’s just as Jane Austen. Also interesting is that characters that reflect Woolf’s life are the best done. She struggles when she writes characters out of her station. The other thing that separates Woolf is style. Many of her writings have almost a lyrical quality to them. This is perhaps the main reason I enjoy reading Woolf.
Holtby analyzes Woolf’s writing and works. She had a particular interest in “The Mark on the Wall” and uses it often in her comparisons. Her treatment of “Kew Gardens” is quite well done. For the reader of this book a knowledge of Woolf’s writing (up until 1932) is very helpful and almost necessary. Holtby uses each work as references and comparisons and builds her case. Without knowing Mrs. Ramsey, Clarissa Dalloway, or Jacob Flanders, the reader would be lost. An excellent read for anyone familiar with, or struggling with, any of Woolf’s work.
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