This was an interesting and fascinating read and one that that attempts to rescue Woolf from the literary mythology that has grown around her. I really felt that I understood more about Woolf the woman and the writer and the demons that chased her. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/d... ( )

The Grumpy Vegan just finished Julia Briggs' Virginia Woolf--An inner life. This is a stupendous book. Part biography and part literary criticism, each chapter focuses on one or more of Virginia's fiction and nonfiction. It's a brilliant insight into Virginia's creative process. Briggs' writes with great insight.

"As the guardians and interpreters of culture, artists are or become peculiarly receptive, or vulnerable to their times. Though Woolf did not believe in a personal God, "A Sketch of the Past" shows that she did believe in some kind of 'world soul' embodied in beauty, form and meaning, and transmitted by great artists: 'all human beings -- are connected with this; ... the whole world is a work of art; ... we are parts of the works of art ... we are the words; we are the music; we are the thing itself.' But if we are the words and the music, we must also participate in evil creations -- in bombs, concentration camps and gas chambers." ( )

This weighty tome is often cited as the definitive Woolf biography, and with good reason. Lee's densely detailed portrait is rigorously sourced and referenced - she does not indulge in baseless speculation, yet still unearths many intriguing nuggets concerning her subject. Woolf's achievements seem all the more astonishing in light of these reflections on her often tragic and turbulent life. A must-read for her fans, and for lovers of top-shelf biographies. ( )

Lee (English, Univ. of York, England) has succeeded in presenting a different side of Woolf somewhat overlooked in previous studies. Aspects of Woolf's personal life like her childhood abuse by her stepbrother and her stormy family life are already well documented (see Louise DeSalvo's Virginia Woolf, Ballantine, 1990, and Panthea Reid's Art and Affection, respectively); and literary studies abound (see James King's Virginia Woolf, and Lyndall Gordon's Virginia Woolf, Norton, 1993). By making use of Woolf's extensive correspondence, diaries, and works, Lee strives to present her not as a fragile, eccentric victim, as has been done often, but as a complex, sometimes troubled, yet brilliant artist who overcame much to accomplish what she did. What results is a biography that is part social history, part literary analysis, and overall a fuller picture of Woolf. Lee's eye for detail allows us to get closer than ever to knowing who she was. While the subject may not be new, this biography is well worth a close reading.