Posted by Racer on September 22, 2004, at 9:58:40
In reply to Can't read again, dang it!, posted by partlycloudy on September 22, 2004, at 7:33:38
But as for Ginny's little rumination, I can tell you something about that one...
The "Niece of an earl" was Jane Austen, that much I remember, and that the basic premise is that any woman can be a successful writer -- but only if she has "500 pounds per annum and a room of her own." Basically, it's a feminist statement about the priveledges that men have that women don't, and the beadle keeping her out of the library is the illustration of how that works.
How's that for a capsule review?
Honestly, though, while it's very difficult to get your mind floating into the Woolf patterns, if you can manage it, it's a good read. Not an easy read, though, because you do have to give yourself up to her rhythms and those are rather alien rhythms at the best of times. I read a fair amount of her work in college, but some of it was simply beyond me. "Mrs Dalloway" was one that I could never get through, for instance, no matter how I tried. "Orlando" was a different story -- once I figured out the pattern, it went smoothly. My mother tried it, too, about the same time, and couldn't stand it. She didn't understand the idea behind it, though: it wasn't about one person, it was the history of Vita Sackville-West's family, from the 16th century to modern times. Once you get that, it's not quite so weird. It helps to know something about the characters, like Pope, that show up in it.
Good luck. And let's share the hope that we can both regain the ability to read. (I've got a stack going of things to read, and it's frustrating as all get out that I can't manage them. Then again, I keep trying to finish things I start, and that might be part of my problem...)
poster:Racer
thread:393588
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20040616/msgs/393650.html