Woolf's detractors really miss the point. She was trying to depict how the mind actually flows, and put it down on paper. I find the "respectable literary critics" who dismiss her fiction to be, frankly, laughable. Of course, they probably dismiss Beckett, Stein, Joyce, and the other Modern experimentalists, too. Why are lit critics so shockingly stick-in-the-mud so often? Never mind.
I go back and reread all of Woolf every few years. I completely agree about the greatness of the essays. My favorite Woolf novels tend to be "To the Lighthouse," for its incredible insights into the lives and needs and challenges of artists, and "The Waves," just to dip my toe into the stream.
TRY "BETWEEN THE ACTS"; THE MOST INTERESTING - THE TRUE SUCCESSOR TO "JACOB'S ROOM"
ReplyDeleteWoolf's detractors really miss the point. She was trying to depict how the mind actually flows, and put it down on paper. I find the "respectable literary critics" who dismiss her fiction to be, frankly, laughable. Of course, they probably dismiss Beckett, Stein, Joyce, and the other Modern experimentalists, too. Why are lit critics so shockingly stick-in-the-mud so often? Never mind.
ReplyDeleteI go back and reread all of Woolf every few years. I completely agree about the greatness of the essays. My favorite Woolf novels tend to be "To the Lighthouse," for its incredible insights into the lives and needs and challenges of artists, and "The Waves," just to dip my toe into the stream.
My favorite too.
ReplyDeleteWV: Finesse
PS I agree with Art.