Virginia Woolf (Penguin Lives) [Hardcover]

Nigel Nicolson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0670894435 | ISBN-13: 978-0670894437 | Publication Date: October 2, 2000

This biography of Virginia Woolf is unusual in two respects. It is written by someone who knew her well when he was a child; and it closely investigates her attitudes to feminism and war. Nigel Nicolson was the son of Vita Sackville-West, who was Virginia Woolf's most intimate friend, and for a short time her lover. He spent many days in her company, particularly at the period when she was writing Orlando, her spoof biography of his mother, and he has threaded his recollections of her through his narrative of her life. Virginia Woolf was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group, and her writings, specially her novels Mrs Dalloway and The Waves, were works of astonishing originality. She is equally well-known for her two polemical books, A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas, which have become classics of the feminist movement., although in Nicolson's view they are 'wildly overstated'. On matters political, on the first world war, he also thinks 'she got it wrong'. Nigel Nicolson's life of Virginia Woolf is an affectionate, but not uncritical biography of one of the most remarkable women of her age.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While most of Virginia Woolf's biographers (with the possible exception of her nephew Quentin Bell) bond with their subject through her vivid diaries and fiction, Nicolson (Portrait of a Marriage), the son of Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West, draws on family archives and first-hand experience for his brisk, dutiful biography. For the young Nicolson, Woolf first appeared as a lively and amusing visitor. Not yet famous, to Nicolson she was like "a favourite aunt who brightened our simple lives with unexpected questions." Visiting Vita's stately home, Woolf might ask the young Nigel, "What's it like to be a child?" by way of research for To the Lighthouse, or she might make up histories for unidentified ancestral portraits as background for Orlando, her love-letter fantasy to Vita. Such personal glimpses enliven Nicolson's respectful position between various, often hotly contended views of Woolf as writer, feminist and Bloomsburian. Despite his insider's knowledge, which is nonetheless welcome, Nicolson manages to offer an objective perspective on Woolf's parents and siblings and on her childhood and youth. He is, however, less sensational than was Quentin Bell on her mental illness and the notorious early episodes when one of her half brothers examined her genitalia and the other forced his affections on her. Nicolson filters Woolf's writing career through VitaAand her opinions: she delighted in Orlando and was exasperated with the hyperbolic polemics of Three Guineas, the 1938 pacificist tract that was her penultimate work before her suicide. The world is no doubt weary of Woolf biographies, but this tidy and homely little introduction will sell to readers who may have been too intimidated by Woolf's modernist reputation to broach her life and work before. 3-city author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Woolf entered Nicolson's life when she and his mother, the writer Vita Sackville-West, fell in love, precipitating Woolf's only extramarital affair and inspiring Orlando (1928), the book that made her famous. An elegant stylist in his own right and one of the editors of Woolf's letters, Nicolson, whose boyhood recollections remain startlingly vivid, presents a unique perspective on Woolf and the now legendary world of Bloomsbury, recounting highly amusing conversations with the unpredictable woman he thought of as a "favorite aunt," and sharing insider information including the fact that she baked good bread. But he has more serious missions in mind, such as dismantling the myths associated with Woolf's childhood, accurately depicting her marriage and bouts with madness, and celebrating not only her transcendent novels but her prolific output as a journalist and the impact of Hogarth Press, an endeavor to which she and her husband were extraordinarily devoted. Nicolson's superb addition to the remarkable Penguin Lives series offers a deeply personal, compelling, and indelible likeness of one of the most fascinating and influential writers of all times. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (October 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670894435
• ISBN-13: 978-0670894437
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woolf and Bloomsbury 101: Pleasurable Reading, December 12, 2002

By 

C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virginia Woolf (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

VIRGINIA WOOLF by Nigel Nicolson departs from the template used by the Penguin Lives series so far as I've read down the list. It cannot claim that its subject exists in obscurity behind clouds of legend or of lack of existing documentation. Woolf was a public person in her life time, she left not only a respectable body of work but an extensive collection of letters, essays and journals. She has been the subject of substantial, well received biographies and is also featured prominently in profiles of Bloomsbury, the Hogarth Press and biographies of her contemporaries. This volume is also distinguished from others in the Penguin Lives Series in that it was written by the son of Woolf's female lover, Vita Sackville-West; in other words, someone close to the inner circle. Woolf belongs to the visitable past. The book remains, however, a fine member of the Series because of its skill in purveying the whole through a spritely revisiting of the significant passages in Woolf's life. Nicholson writes with warmth and holds forth his opinions in controversial areas, but he is impressively objective given his relationship with his subject and those closest to her. Nicolson manages to capture all the ambiguities of the woman, makes them comprehensible, honest and, sparingly, poignant.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More of a reminisce, January 5, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Leeper "kem2070" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virginia Woolf (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

After reading some of Mrs. Woolf's fiction, I decided to read a bit about her background to see how much it influenced her writing. Given the size and length of this book, I felt that this would work best. After reading this book, I believe this is the best choice for learning about Virginia Woolf.

The author knew Mrs. Woolf personally. He met her through his mother, who was one of Mrs. Woolf's lovers. He was a child at the time, so some of his observations do not go into depth but are merely an observation (such as an observation about a party held by the Bloomsbury group). Nicholson has done quite a bit of research and read through many of her letters (including those to and from his mother), so there is some intriguing information.

This does not read like a narrative. Although the material is arranged chronologically, at times the book talks about the controversy around Mrs. Woolf rather than about Mrs. Woolf. For instance, rather than discussion the relations of the family, he discusses the controversy that Mrs. Woolf may have been raped by her half brother. The author discusses the different theories and supports his through the wording of letters. Although interesting, I would rather focus on Virginia.

Putting aside the author's editorializing, I would recommend this book only as a start for studying Virginia Woolf.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Life of Virginia Woolf, January 5, 2001

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virginia Woolf (Penguin Lives) (Hardcover)

I would call this a portrait and not a biography. This is not meant to denigrate a wonderful book but differentiate it from full-blown biographies that extend to volumes. Rather, this is an intimate portrait by someone who knew Virginia Wolf, has read her books and edited her letters for publication.

Nigel Nicolson gives us an intimate portrait of Virginia Woolf in a highly readable book of 191 pages. Because of his mother Vita Sackville-West's close relationship with Virginia we gain a perspective that a biographer who takes his subject as an assignment cannot always supply. However, Mr. Nicolson maintains his objectivity giving us a Virginia Woolf with all her complexity and contradictions. We are treated to frequent quotes from her diaries and letters that bring her all the closer. I enjoyed the personal touch offered by Mr. Nicolson; he is not intrusive and when he speaks from his personal knowledge of his subjects he adds a dimension of intimacy. You come away with a feeling that you know something of Virginia Woolf rather than facts about her.

There are several photographs illustrating the book. If you want to know about Virginia Woolf, or want to become reacquainted with her life and books, this is a book to read.