Night and Day Virginia Woolf 9781520123325 Books
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Virginia Woolf had been writing about the plight of the young unmarried middle-class woman since her earliest works such as the short story Phyllis and Rosamund (1906). She continued to develop her observations and criticisms about women’s education and their role in society in her non-fiction polemic A Room of One’s Own (1929) and these ideas were further developed into her wholesale attack on the patriarchal nature of British society in Three Guineas (1938). Katharine Hilbery has not been educated or trained to do anything useful except live at home with her parents. She feels oppressed by the family and its illustrious history, and her only possibility of change is the option of marriage, which is why she initially feels doomed to accept William Rodney’s offer when it comes along. Katherine is very conscious of being cut off from the world of work – and she actively wishes she had a job. She sees this as an antidote to the somewhat pointless life she leads as an unmarried young woman living at home where she ‘helps’ her mother in the vanity project of writing her grandfather’s biography.
Night and Day Virginia Woolf 9781520123325 Books
A well-crafted book can linger in my mind long after it is finished, its words, sentences, scenes or characters appearing in random spaces of my life, like the grocery store checkout line or in the car, prompting me to philosophize, laugh, smile, and frown. The novel Night and Day by Virginia Woolf is one such book.Although there is much in Night and Day to analyze, savor, or dislike—all equally valid reactions from a good read—one of the most memorable scenes takes place mainly in the consciousness of the family, and more specifically, in Katherine’s consciousness. The catalyst for this scene, which is also the beginning of the book, is a visit from Ralph Denham, a poor man who wants to be rich. To him, Katherine Hilbery and her family have it all—wealth, property, position—without having to work for it. Despite appearances, not all is perfect within Katherine’s family, and not for the typical reasons we see unfolding in a TV drama series. The situation is as follows: Katherine’s grandfather, Richard Alardyce, was a great and important poet; and as with so many other, great, important poet men—Woolf is poking a little fun here—his biography must be written. Katherine and her mother have been tasked since birth with the writing of this biography.
Woolf unfolds her narrative carefully, lulling the reader dreamily into the deep mire into which Katherine one day finds herself. At age 27, she and her mother still have no biography to show the world. Nevertheless, Katherine’s view of her mother has been up to this point optimistic and sympathetic, even as she realizes how absurd the task has become for both of them. Her account of watching her mother at work:
"These spells of inspiration never burnt steadily, but flickered over the gigantic mass of the subject as capriciously as a will-o’-the wisp, lighting now on that point, now on that. It was as much as Katherine could do to keep the pages of her mother’s manuscript in order, but to sort them so that the sixteenth year of Richard Alardyce’s life succeeded the fifteenth was beyond her skill. And yet they were so brilliant, these paragraphs, so nobly phrased, so lightning-like in their illumination, that the dead seemed to crowd the very room. Read continuously, they produced a sort of vertigo, and set her asking herself in despair what on earth she[Katherine] was to do with them…But the book must be written. It was a duty that they owed the world, and to Katherine, at least, it meant more than that, for if they could not between them get this one book accomplished they had no right to their privileged position." (Pg. 30).
The situation intensifies when we discover that Katherine is hiding what she truly feels passionate about, and prefers doing over writing:
"[Katherine]…would not have cared to confess how infinitely she preferred the exactitude, the star-like impersonality, of figures to the confusion, agitation, and vagueness of the finest prose. There was something a little unseemly in thus opposing the tradition of her family; something that made her feel wrong-headed, and thus more than ever disposed to shut her desires away from view and cherish them with extraordinary fondness." (Pg. 34).
Her desire to do math and retreat into silence and thought provides the bulk of a thin but tenacious little thread that runs through the entire book, hinted at only a few times—as if the thinking of it in front of the reader is too much a kind of betrayal. This small, unassuming thread destabilizes her relationships—including her engagement to Rodney, who often observed Katherine within the strict confines of their position and endlessly misunderstood her, even if he did love her—and brings her finally to a place where she must decide for herself what to do. Thereafter a delightful sense of irony colors the entire story. Katherine, who clearly prefers “figures” which she finds simple and clear, is herself perpetually enmeshed and paralyzed in the “confusion, agitation, and vagueness of the finest prose”; in this case, in Woolf’s own finest prose. Woolf as author becomes Greek god, inserting Katherine directly into the kind of story she would dislike reading, a life that has been dragged into a dark thicket of mismatched engagements, feelings that confuse and entangle, and only after all that emotional upheaval and pain and discomfort, a union with Ralph, the most turbulent, emotionally distressed character in the entire book. Her own expression of love comes in a “broken statement” (Pg. 430) and is filled with imagery of fire—perhaps a symbol of the destruction such a partnership has wrought on her own day-to-day patterns up until this point. Yet with Ralph, there will be space for a different life in the form of a cottage where she can become the mathematician she wishes to be. And even though Katherine cannot describe or say to herself that she is falling in love, not very well, Woolf wonderfully describes the situation for the reader:
“Moments, fragments, a second of vision, and then the flying waters, the winds dissipating and dissolving; then, too, the recollection from chaos, the return of security, the earth firm, superb and brilliant in the sun.” (Pg. 432)
A subtle but satisfying ending.
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Tags : Night and Day [Virginia Woolf] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Virginia Woolf had been writing about the plight of the young unmarried middle-class woman since her earliest works such as the short story Phyllis and Rosamund (1906). She continued to develop her observations and criticisms about women’s education and their role in society in her non-fiction polemic A Room of One’s Own (1929) and these ideas were further developed into her wholesale attack on the patriarchal nature of British society in Three Guineas (1938). Katharine Hilbery has not been educated or trained to do anything useful except live at home with her parents. She feels oppressed by the family and its illustrious history,Virginia Woolf,Night and Day,Independently published,1520123329,Fiction General,Literary Collections General
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Night and Day Virginia Woolf 9781520123325 Books Reviews
this is Woolf’s work, but it is not woolf’s book. this was printed on createspace and pawned off as Woolf’s book published by Woolf herself!!
An enjoyable read. After watching the Jesse Stone movies, comfortable with the characters and it’s like coming home to Paradise, Mass.
Why is it that once who read page 1 you can't put the book down. I know the movies have me picturing Selleck as Stone, but the more I read these great stories everyone else comes to life. Being a retired cop only makes me part of the story. I'll warn you right now, read one and you'll want to read them all. Parker has a way of entangling you into the story, you find yourself a part of it, and join Paradise PD in solving the mystery. Great Story!!!
It took about half way through the book before I really got hooked. Stay with it. Woolf goes into great depth in slowly revealing each characters thoughts and desires. The story has twists and turns. The inability of characters to decide on the nature of love and what they should do with their lives was a topic I could personally relate to. I did a lot of highlighting on my kindle because there were so many pithy phrases that held enough meaning for me to want to think over later.
Writes like we talk. Great dialogue. Have enjoyed the first eight so far. Too bad he died. Saw a few of the Hallmark series on TV. Always picture Selleck while reading.
Hallmark left out the juicy parts so must read the books.
It starts off somewhat sluggish and I admit I struggled to keep interest ( although I enjoy the relationship & story of life drama genre) The later part of this book does pick up the pace and does get some what interesting. Certain books you can read any time and others you must read it at a certain time for it to really take hold. I might re-read this book at a later date but overall I was disappointed by this Work. This Is First Virginia Wolf work I have read and although her grammar arrangement is perfect. I find this work to lack any overall depth.
Virginia Woolf is arguable the greatest female writer of the 20th century and is right alongside such giants as Joyce, Proust, Hemingway, Conrad and Dickens. "Night and Day" is a wonderful example of how brilliantly gifted Mrs. Woolf was and why her books are taught in universities across the world. Her brilliant depiction of London society and the comic touches she interjects throughout are marvelous. Any serious student of literature needs to read her works and "Night and Day" would be a great starting point.
A well-crafted book can linger in my mind long after it is finished, its words, sentences, scenes or characters appearing in random spaces of my life, like the grocery store checkout line or in the car, prompting me to philosophize, laugh, smile, and frown. The novel Night and Day by Virginia Woolf is one such book.
Although there is much in Night and Day to analyze, savor, or dislike—all equally valid reactions from a good read—one of the most memorable scenes takes place mainly in the consciousness of the family, and more specifically, in Katherine’s consciousness. The catalyst for this scene, which is also the beginning of the book, is a visit from Ralph Denham, a poor man who wants to be rich. To him, Katherine Hilbery and her family have it all—wealth, property, position—without having to work for it. Despite appearances, not all is perfect within Katherine’s family, and not for the typical reasons we see unfolding in a TV drama series. The situation is as follows Katherine’s grandfather, Richard Alardyce, was a great and important poet; and as with so many other, great, important poet men—Woolf is poking a little fun here—his biography must be written. Katherine and her mother have been tasked since birth with the writing of this biography.
Woolf unfolds her narrative carefully, lulling the reader dreamily into the deep mire into which Katherine one day finds herself. At age 27, she and her mother still have no biography to show the world. Nevertheless, Katherine’s view of her mother has been up to this point optimistic and sympathetic, even as she realizes how absurd the task has become for both of them. Her account of watching her mother at work
"These spells of inspiration never burnt steadily, but flickered over the gigantic mass of the subject as capriciously as a will-o’-the wisp, lighting now on that point, now on that. It was as much as Katherine could do to keep the pages of her mother’s manuscript in order, but to sort them so that the sixteenth year of Richard Alardyce’s life succeeded the fifteenth was beyond her skill. And yet they were so brilliant, these paragraphs, so nobly phrased, so lightning-like in their illumination, that the dead seemed to crowd the very room. Read continuously, they produced a sort of vertigo, and set her asking herself in despair what on earth she[Katherine] was to do with them…But the book must be written. It was a duty that they owed the world, and to Katherine, at least, it meant more than that, for if they could not between them get this one book accomplished they had no right to their privileged position." (Pg. 30).
The situation intensifies when we discover that Katherine is hiding what she truly feels passionate about, and prefers doing over writing
"[Katherine]…would not have cared to confess how infinitely she preferred the exactitude, the star-like impersonality, of figures to the confusion, agitation, and vagueness of the finest prose. There was something a little unseemly in thus opposing the tradition of her family; something that made her feel wrong-headed, and thus more than ever disposed to shut her desires away from view and cherish them with extraordinary fondness." (Pg. 34).
Her desire to do math and retreat into silence and thought provides the bulk of a thin but tenacious little thread that runs through the entire book, hinted at only a few times—as if the thinking of it in front of the reader is too much a kind of betrayal. This small, unassuming thread destabilizes her relationships—including her engagement to Rodney, who often observed Katherine within the strict confines of their position and endlessly misunderstood her, even if he did love her—and brings her finally to a place where she must decide for herself what to do. Thereafter a delightful sense of irony colors the entire story. Katherine, who clearly prefers “figures” which she finds simple and clear, is herself perpetually enmeshed and paralyzed in the “confusion, agitation, and vagueness of the finest prose”; in this case, in Woolf’s own finest prose. Woolf as author becomes Greek god, inserting Katherine directly into the kind of story she would dislike reading, a life that has been dragged into a dark thicket of mismatched engagements, feelings that confuse and entangle, and only after all that emotional upheaval and pain and discomfort, a union with Ralph, the most turbulent, emotionally distressed character in the entire book. Her own expression of love comes in a “broken statement” (Pg. 430) and is filled with imagery of fire—perhaps a symbol of the destruction such a partnership has wrought on her own day-to-day patterns up until this point. Yet with Ralph, there will be space for a different life in the form of a cottage where she can become the mathematician she wishes to be. And even though Katherine cannot describe or say to herself that she is falling in love, not very well, Woolf wonderfully describes the situation for the reader
“Moments, fragments, a second of vision, and then the flying waters, the winds dissipating and dissolving; then, too, the recollection from chaos, the return of security, the earth firm, superb and brilliant in the sun.” (Pg. 432)
A subtle but satisfying ending.
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