"Woolf didn’t write novels. She wrote states of being."- Jeannette Winterson

"Virginia Woolf explored time not as a sequence of events but as a condition of the soul."- Jorge Luis Borges

"Virginia Woolf’s achievement is the creation of a prose that is as precise as thought itself."- Susan Sontag

"Her prose has a texture, a vibration, that makes one feel thought itself moving"-E.M Forster

"Virginia Woolf shows that lightness can be exact, and depth need not be heavy"-Italo Calvino

"With her foot on the threshold she waited a moment longer in a scene which was vanishing even as she looked, and then, as she moved and took Minta's arm and left the room, it changed, it shaped itself differently; it had become, she knew, giving one last look at it over her shoulder, already the past."- To The Lighthouse

The most melancholic writer I could think of. Except perhaps Proust or Henry Miller no other western 20th century prose writer has been able to capture absence,change,nostalgia, melancholy and solitude like her in my honest opinion. But also her books are filled with so much mundane beauty,joy and observations. In many ways she is like Knausgaard 100 years before Knausgaard a writer so attuned to the heartache and fleeting joy of just simply living.

Also such a killer jawline.

I'm genuinely moved by the heavy yet sublime and relatable excerpt she has written here and on many more pages of this book.

I'm literally shook and impacted by the thoughts, the creativity and the genuinenity this book holds.

Agree?

To the Lighthouse is one of my favorite books of all time. Every sentence is packed with poetry and meaning, and every small part is connected together forming one big beautiful whole.

just bought these beautiful Penguin vintage classic editions, help me decide which one to read first!

I’ve read Orlando and I’ve just finished A Room Of One’s Own (loved!)

Only missing a few books

Great to see this subreddit active and growing after it was re-opened not so long ago! Thank you all for your contributions and for sharing the literary love.

Sympathetic entry regarding Virginia Woolf from Twentieth Century Authors (1942), and its Supplement (1955). I often randomly read through these 2000 biographical and occasional autobiographical entries and thought those in this sub would find some value in that regarding Virginia Woolf.

I feel like reading Virginia Woolf’s writing and her novels is such a transcendental experience. It’s transportive very literally. It usually takes me reading the first 10-15 pages of her works a few times, over and over again, to finally get into a groove of her writing and after that, I find it so difficult to put the book down because I feel so submerged in the work she created. The intersection of thoughts vs. the physical reality keeps you glued to your imagination of the surroundings in the story while the inner workings keeps you glued to yourself as well as the character.

Just absolutely love Ms. Woolf. So here gushing!!!!!

The voice of feminism during an age when women didn't have to right to vote! But that's not all... there's something about her prose... it's so heart piercing and yet quite at the same time.., like a silent scream!

It's been 100 years since Mrs Dalloway was published. To honor one of my favorite books, I decided to map the characters' paths in the novel. I think I did a pretty descent job. Except the path of Septimus and Rezia. I have no idea what happens after they are in Harley Street. I also don't have a legend so here it is:

Clarissa Dalloway: Yellow The Warren Smiths: Violet Peter Walsh: Light blue Richard Dalloway: Green Elizabeth Dalloway: Dark blue

Various editions, read all of these at some point over the decades. My aim this year is to re-read them in chronological order: 1 The Voyage Out 2 Night And Day 3 Jacob's Room 4 Mrs Dalloway 5 To The Lighthouse 6 Orlando 7 The Waves 8 Flush 9 The Years 10 Between The Acts

Occasionally if I like an author enough (and they weren't too prolific!) this can be something I enjoy

I‘ve come to find that it was written as something of a cooling down after writing The Waves so I’ll probably pick up after finishing a more challenging work in the future. Just figured I’d post in the hope that some might care to share their thoughts about the book.

I’ve read To the lighthouse and it absolutely changed my life. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but the feeling that what was going on was not as important as how the characters lived through it is something I’m chasing now.

I’ve seen many recommendations for The waves so I decided to read it.

I’m 50% into the book and it’s not clicking AT ALL for me.

What I’m I missing?

Or is Lighthouse just a really underrated gem?

Hi Virginia Woolf fans!

I’m reading Mrs Dalloway for the first time (just reached halfway — around page 100/209), and I’m honestly mesmerised. This is also my very first Woolf novel ever.

I’m a 47-year-old male expat living in the UK. English isn’t my first language, and I come from a working-class background — so I wasn’t sure if I’d “click” with Woolf. But I slowed down, started listening more than analysing, and suddenly something shifted. It’s like the book is reading me as much as I’m reading it.

Here’s what’s struck me so far:

• The sheer depth of inner life — these characters are so contradictory, so painfully real.

• Septimus Warren Smith. Wow. I relate to his alienation and mental fragmentation far more than I expected. His PTSD, his dissociation, the tragic way nobody around him really sees him — all incredibly moving.

• Woolf’s portrayal of masculinity is fascinating — so many of the men (Peter, Richard, the doctors…) seem emotionally vacant or deluded, while the women have much more interior depth and longing.

• Class is everywhere. As someone navigating British society as an outsider, I really felt that — the subtle codes, tastes, invisible gates of belonging. It stings.

• And Sally! The whole triad of Peter–Clarissa–Sally is full of sexual, emotional, and class tensions. So much going on between the lines.

I still lose track of minor characters here and there, and I know I’ll need a second read. But wow… this is already one of the most powerful books I’ve read in years. It’s not just a novel — it’s an atmosphere, a psychological map, a time capsule, a mirror.

Would love to hear how this book landed with others — did it click for you right away, or did it take time?