Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters Of Virginia Woolf [Hardcover]

Virginia Woolf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 1990

Virginia Woolf was an inventive, witty correspondent, whether commenting on a domestic crisis, politics, or the roving of the writer's mind. Edited and with an Introduction by Joanne Trautmann Banks; Index.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This selection from the six volumes of Woolf's letters follows her from earliest childhood through the suicide note she left Leonard in March 1941. Woolf is usually relaxed and high-spirited in her sprightly, inventive, entertaining letters. She seems to be performing, and the performances vary from correspondent to correspondent. Twelve of the letters are new, four public letters to magazine editors are included for the first time, and "among the new materials must be counted restoration of excerpts omitted from the complete edition for fear of hurting people." An engaging portrait of Woolf emerges from the letters (though one wonders how many engaging portraits of Woolf the world requires). Unfortunately, the editor has made cuts in most of the letters, a curious and aggravating policy.
- Keith Cushman, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This selection from the six volumes of Woolf's letters follows her from earliest childhood through the suicide note she left Leonard in March 1941. Woolf is usually relaxed and high-spirited in her sprightly, inventive, entertaining letters. She seems to be performing, and the performances vary from correspondent to correspondent. Twelve of the letters are new, four public letters to magazine editors are included for the first time, and "among the new materials must be counted restoration of excerpts omitted from the complete edition for fear of hurting people." An engaging portrait of Woolf emerges from the letters (though one wonders how many engaging portraits of Woolf the world requires). Unfortunately, the editor has made cuts in most of the letters, a curious and aggravating policy.
- Keith Cushman, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
(Library Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1st edition (March 14, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151221006
• ISBN-13: 978-0151221004
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,373,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882-1941) was one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. An admired literary critic, she authored many essays, letters, journals, and short stories in addition to her groundbreaking novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A study of Woolf is incomplete without her letters, May 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters Of Virginia Woolf (Paperback)

Virginia Woolf is an author of myriad voices. The letters in Congenial Spirits are selections from Woolf's letters that provide insight to what Woolf thought and felt as she wrote. If you think that you know Woolf from blurbs in anthologies or from her novels, I recommend that you spend some time with her letters and her diaries. You will discover that Woolf is much more complex than the simplistic "stream of consciosness" moniker often applied to her.