The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf

Read now or download (free!)

Choose how to read this book Url Size
Read online (web) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.html.images 509 kB
EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.epub3.images 505 kB
EPUB (older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.epub.images 513 kB
EPUB (no images, older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.epub.noimages 511 kB
Kindle https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.kf8.images 494 kB
older Kindles https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.kindle.images 468 kB
Plain Text UTF-8 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64457.txt.utf-8 487 kB
Download HTML (zip) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/64457/pg64457-h.zip 640 kB
There may be more files related to this item.

About this eBook

Author Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
LoC No. 25010098
Title The Common Reader
Note Reading ease score: 64.1 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.
Contents The common reader -- The Pastons and Chaucer -- On not knowing Greek -- The Elizabethan lumber room -- Notes on an Elizabethan play -- Montaigne -- The Duchess of Newcastle -- Rambling round Evelyn -- Defoe -- Addison -- Lives of the obscure: The Taylors and the Edgeworths. Laetitia Pilkington. Miss Ormerod -- Jane Austen -- Modern fiction -- "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" -- George Eliot -- The Russian point view -- Outlines: Miss Mitford. Dr. Bentley. Lady Dorothy Nevill. Archbishop Thomson -- The patron and the crocus -- The modern essay -- Joseph Conrad -- How it strikes a contemporary.
Credits Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images generously made available by Hathi Trust Digital Library.)
Summary "The Common Reader" by Virginia Woolf is a collection of essays written in the early 20th century. The book is a thoughtful examination of literature through the lens of the ordinary reader, emphasizing the value of reading for pleasure and the unique perspective that non-experts bring to literary criticism. Woolf's exploration includes both historical and contemporary figures in literature, focusing on the experiences, thoughts, and opinions of the common reader in relation to the complexities of literary appreciation. The opening of "The Common Reader" begins with a quote from Dr. Johnson that sets the tone for Woolf’s reflection on the role of the common reader, who, unencumbered by academic prejudice, has a genuine intuition towards what constitutes good poetry and literature. Woolf contrasts the common reader with critics and scholars, suggesting that the former possess a unique insight born from personal engagement with texts. She introduces this theme by discussing the history of the Paston family and their correspondence, which encapsulates the everyday aspirations, concerns, and lives of individuals from a particular era, highlighting how these narratives shape the larger tapestry of literary history. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Language English
LoC Class PR: Language and Literatures: English literature
Subject English literature -- History and criticism
Subject Literature, Modern -- History and criticism
Category Text
EBook-No. 64457
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Aug 9, 2024
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 844 downloads in the last 30 days.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!