First published in 1922, “Jacob’s Room” is Virginia Woolf’s third novel and a surprising and innovative departure from her other work. It is the life story of the character Jacob Flanders, from his childhood in pre-war England, through his time at Cambridge, and following him into his adulthood and travels abroad. The novel is told entirely from other character’s viewpoints, most often from the women in Jacob’s life, and focuses on their memories and feelings. Considered to be a highly experimental novel, “Jacob’s Room” is a study in character development, as well as perception and emotion. Jacob primarily exists as a character or object in the lives of others and the reader experiences him through the eyes of the women rather than as an individual in his own right. Woolf, through the use of symbology, stream of consciousness, monologue, and brief dialogues, brilliantly focuses her novel on the psychology of her characters instead of any specific plot or action of the story. “Jacob’s Room” is a critically acclaimed impressionistic work that focuses on the very meaning of existence and identity. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
First published in 1915, “The Voyage Out”, Virginia Woolf’s first novel, may be her most accessible. It is a witty social satire that chronicles the maturity of the young Englishwoman Rachel Vinrace as she takes a long voyage to South America from London on her father’s ship. Rachel encounters an eclectic array of passengers on the boat and through them Woolf satirizes Edwardian life. This physical passage also becomes a journey of self-discovery for Rachel. She takes both a literal and mythical journey as she enters adulthood and moves from the sheltered world of her upbringing to the wide world full of potential and knowledge. While the novel is witty and satirical, it is also haunting and melancholic, with the beautifully flowing language uniquely characteristic of Woolf’s writing. Many of the themes that come to dominate Woolf’s later works, such as sexuality, consciousness, and death, are first explored in “The Voyage Out.” Rachel’s coming-of-age tale is that of the spiritual growth of a young woman that spans continents, a journey that paralleled that of Woolf’s own life as she left her repressive upbringing to enter the world of art and intellectualism. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
"A strange, tragic, inspired novel . . . as poignant as anything in modern fiction." — E. M. ForsterThis acclaimed novel marked the debut of one of the twentieth century's most brilliant and important writers. In Virginia Woolf's captivating exploration of a young woman's growing self-awareness, the events of a shipboard journey to South America parallel the naive heroine's inner quest. Her experiences, from a first kiss to a surprising flowering of real love, may inspire the reader to reflect on gender roles in society, love among intellectuals, and the strivings and sorrows of life.The Voyage Out offers an excellent introduction to Woolf's writing. Not only is it the first of her novels, it is also one of the most accessible. Less formally experimental than Woolf's later books, but highly representative of her poetic style and innovative techniques, it offers a moving depiction of the thrills and confusion of youth.
One of the most distinguished critics and innovative authors of the twentieth century, Virginia Woolf published two novels before this collection appeared in 1921. However, it was these early stories that first earned her a reputation as a writer with «the liveliest imagination and most delicate style of her time.» Influenced by Joyce, Proust, and the theories of William James, Bergson, and Freud, she strove to write a new fiction that emphasized the continuous flow of consciousness, time's passage as both a series of sequential moments and a longer flow of years and centuries, and the essential indefinability of character.Readers can discover these and other aspects of her influential style in the eight stories collected here, among them a delightful, feminist put-down of the male intellect in «A Society» and a brilliant and sensitive portrayal of nature in «Kew Gardens.» Also included are «An Unwritten Novel,» «The String Quartet,» «A Haunted House,» «Blue & Green,» «The Mark on the Wall,» and the title story.In recent years, Woolf's fiction, feminism, and high-minded sensibilities have earned her an ever-growing audience of readers. This splendid collection offers those readers not only the inestimable pleasures of the stories themselves, but an excellent entrée into the larger body of Woolf's work.
Prized for their lyrical qualities, the novels of Virginia Woolf favor the psychological realms inhabited by her characters, where thoughts are so revealed that actions lose much of their importance. Most are also concerned with the structure of narrative, including the present novel, in which Woolf conveys the impression of time present and of time passing in individual experience as well as in the characters' awareness of historic time.Considered Woolf's first original and distinguished work, Jacob's Room (1922) concerns a sensitive young man, Jacob Flanders, who finds himself unable to reconcile his love of classical culture with the chaotic reality of World War I. His story unfolds in a series of brief impressions and conversations, stream-of-consciousness narratives, internal monologues, and letters.This inexpensive edition of Woolf's intense and affecting novel offers readers a first-rate example of subtle style and innovative techniques for which the author is admired.
In this early collection of eight short stories by Virginia Woolf conventional notions of plot and character are abandoned for a stream of consciousness, almost dream-like and experimental form of prose. Readers while find the relative brevity of this volume, and the stories within it, helpful in overcoming any unfamiliarity with this style of writing. «Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories» was first published in 1921 and includes the following stories: «A Haunted House,» «A Society,» «Monday or Tuesday», «An Unwritten Novel,» «The String Quartet,» «Blue & Green,» «Kew Gardens,» and «The Mark on the Wall».
The first novel of a major literary figure of the twentieth century, «The Voyage Out» is a witty social satire that witnesses the maturity of the young Englishwoman Rachel Vinrace. She begins a long voyage to South America from London, on her father's ship with her unusual family. In the eclectic array of passengers with which they launch, Woolf invokes satire to address modern criticisms of Edwardian life. This physical passage also becomes a journey of self-discovery for Rachel, taking on mythical proportions as uncertain distances on a ship of light and shadow alternately reveal and obscure her suffering and love. A haunting story with the beautifully flowing language uniquely characteristic of Woolf, Rachel's tragic coming-of-age tale unfolds the spiritual growth of a young woman that spans continents.
Virginia Woolf’s 1919 novel “Night and Day”, her second, is the story of three Edwardian British women. The beautiful Katharine Hilbery, who must choose between two disparate suitors, her mother Margaret, who is writing a biography of her own famous poet father, and Mary Datchet, a campaigner for suffrage and women’s rights. The novel examines the relationships between love, marriage, happiness, and success by recording the subtle ways in which these women’s lives intersect.
Virginia Woolf's first novel, published in 1915, is a haunting exploration of a young woman's mind, signalling the beginning of her fascination with capturing the mysteries and complexities of the inner life.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English writer, and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. This mammoth collection of her work assembles 28 novels and short stories, including many of her most famous works. Contained here are: <P> THE VOYAGE OUT<BR> NIGHT AND DAY<BR> JACOB'S ROOM<BR> ORLANDO: A BIOGRAPHY<BR> A HAUNTED HOUSE<BR> A SOCIETY<BR> BLUE & GREEN<BR> MONDAY OR TUESDAY<BR> AN UNWRITTEN NOVEL<BR> THE STRING QUARTET<BR> KEW GARDENS<BR> THE MARK ON THE WALL<BR> THE NEW DRESS<BR> THE SHOOTING PARTY<BR> LAPPIN AND LAPINOVA<BR> SOLID OBJECTS<BR> THE LADY IN THE LOOKING-GLASS: A REFLECTION<BR> THE DUCHESS AND THE JEWELLER<BR> MOMENTS OF BEING<BR> THE MAN WHO LOVED HIS KIND<BR> THE SEARCHLIGHT<BR> THE LEGACY<BR> TOGETHER AND APART<BR> A SUMMING UP<BR> MRS. DALLOWAY<BR> FLUSH: A BIOGRAPHY<BR> BETWEEN THE ACTS<P> If you enjoy this volume, check out other entries (including literature, mysteries, westerns, science fiction, ghost stories, and much more) in this best-selling series. Search on «Wildside Press Megapack» in your favorite ebook store to see the complete list. (Sort by date to see the most recent additions.)