Recently, over at Vulpes Libris, my friend Kate wrote a post comparing Arnold Bennett’s The Card and Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, with a decided lack of reading love for the former. Well, I had to stand up for our Ginny, so I have written a response today! Read why I think Jacob’s Room is fabs here.
My immediate reaction is I love the book design! Typical of this period. Simple and beautiful. As a fan of Ms Woolf, you've now made me question…'can I actually class myself as a VW fanatic if I have neglected to read this one?' Must scout the shelves of my antiquarian bookshop and see if it's there…! Thank you for a wonderful post.
I think you can still be a VW fanatic without having read this one – but I'd encourage you to read it anyway! Although finding one with this cover might be tricky, or very expensive, but good luck!
I own this but haven't read it. Haven't had much luck with Woolf so who knows if I will ever pick it up.
In other news, I am learning how to write HTML, so I am going to experiment here by posting a picture of The Queen. I guess if you see the picture then it worked.
Okay, blogger would let me use the img tag. Let me try turning The Queen bold instead.
Well, the bold worked!
If you don't like Woolf, then I think you probably won't like this… it's a good place to start with Woolf, because it's more accessible than some, but it's definitely still Woolf. Try her non-fic instead, if you haven't.
And a fab piece it is too Simon – well done!
Thanks v much! I had fun writing it.
I enjoyed that, Simon – and not just because of the kitten. That whole paragraph really touches on what I like about 'the domestic' in fiction. (I haven't actually read this book, of course, but you do encourage me!)
Oo, glad it's encouraged you Vicki! I do like the fact that the domestic was so important to the middlebrow AND the highbrow in the period.