How Should One Read a Book

Virginia Woolf dreamed of the Day of Judgment.
The 'great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen' come to receive their rewards - crowns, laurels, names carved on marble.
But, when he sees people coming with books under their arms, God turns to Peter and says: 'Look, those need no reward. We have nothing to give them here.
'They have loved reading.'
And this is the essence of her essay - sheer love for the written word: a joy in exploring the thoughts and imaginings of the author.
If you sometimes get bogged down in a book, Woolf has produced the perfect self-help manual and motivational guide to reading.
If you enjoyed 'How Should One Read a Book?', try 'How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading', by Mortimer J Adler.

'To read a novel is a difficult and complex art,' says Virginia Woolf.


Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) made an impact during her life, but her fame grew in the decades after her death.
The English writer helped launch the use of stream-of-consciousness in literature and was a pioneer of 20th century modernism.
Arguably her greatest legacy, though, comes from how her writing helped to inspire the feminist movements of the second half of the 20th century.
Along with members of her family and other authors, Woolf helped found the Bloomsbury Group.
After she married the political theorist and author Leonard Woolf in 1912, they went on the found the Hogarth Press.
Virginia also had a long relationship with the writer Vita Sackville-West. The affair featured in the 2018 movie Vita and Virginia', starring Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki,
He best-known works include the novels 'Mrs Dalloway', 'To the Lighthouse' and 'Orlando'.


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