of Virginia Woolf? I really like that movie, but I don’t really like Virginia Woolf’s writing. Long time ago, when I was young and fervent, torturing myself through reading something I dislike was part of my duty. So I thought. That’s when I took on Virginia Woolf but I dislike everything, from “Night And Day”, “Jacob’s Room”, “Mrs. Dollaway”, “To The Lighthouse”. Now I have almost no memory of what I read. All those torturous hours. I only remember “Night And Day” is very dull but still understandable, and the rest is just incomprehensible. I vaguely enjoyed “Orlando” and “Room of One’s Own”. Somehow I suspect that if I read them now, I will enjoy more–the passage of time has added to my power of understanding and my resources for making personal connections.
This is why I listened to “Virginia Woolf in 90 Minutes” by Paul Strathern, not because it’s free on audible.com for members. I like the book for the information provided, except that the word “feminist” shows up every five minutes. If Virginia Woolf is a feminist, she is a very mild one. I don’t see her fighting for women’s causes at all. She’s only writing according to her own thoughts and experiences. Most of her so called “feminist” traits are just her own eccentricities. So her father left some money, through which she can pretty much choose her own life style; so she has some intimate letters with one of her women friends. The next thing you know, she is called a feminist. In Mr. Strathern’s view, only my grandmother, who had 9 kids and cooked and washed all day long without the time and the energy to develop any personal quirks, is a fully qualified “non-feminist”. The rest of the women folks all have feminist tendencies. This is like those all encompassing labels, which are very misleading.
I am running out of tea bags, and the road is covered with snow.
Haoyan Do 