Welcome to Litsy!

I had my interview with K.M[ansfield] on Friday. A steady discomposing formality and coldness at first. No pleasure or excitement of seeing me. It struck me that she is of the cat kind: alien, composed, always solitary & observant. And then we talked about solitude, & I found her expressing my feelings, as I never heard them expressed.
Virginia Woolf's diary, 31 May 1920.
#myyearofreadingWoolf

It's taken more than a month, but I finally finished the first volume of Woolf's letters. These years include the deaths of her father and brother, the formation of the Bloomsbury set, and the beginning of her writing career. It ends the day before she married Leonard Woolf in August 1912 at the age of 30.
Her tone matured a lot over the years. I enjoyed reading about her hopes and struggles with writing. Time for a novel!
#myyearofreadingwoolf

I'm about 80 pages into the first volume of Woolf's diaries. She discusses the weather, household affairs, writing projects, social engagements, etc. And occasionally she drops a witty, astute observation that makes me laugh. Like this little line. 🙂
#myyearofreadingwoolf

This late Woolf novel follows members of the Partiger family, jumping from 1880 to 1891 to 1907 and so on, ending around 1937. Along the way, people marry and die, there are big events and small. Always the feeling pervades that we are alone, and connection is elusive. The style and scope is less intimate than Woolf's other novels I've read. Overall, a thoughtful albeit melancholic exploration of time, change and purpose.
#myyearofreadingwoolf

Today's #bookmail. 🎉🎉 Things are getting serious!
#virginiaandme #myyearofreadingwoolf