so... as you guys might know, i totally struggled with James Joyce "Portrait of the Artist..." and before i knew it, i had to start on another book for class which was "To The Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf. it took just a minute to get into her style... and ultimately i enjoyed reading it so much more than Joyce! for me... i think it's sad characters in very beautiful and inspiring surroundings. i love the colorful and vibrant descriptors she uses which i think somewhat balances out the sad, insecure thoughts of the characters. ANYWAY!!!! i was in another class last night, and the kid who was sitting next to me has the same english class and had "To The Lighthouse" sitting on his desk. and this other guy in our group for the night, i think they were friends are friendly acquaintances, the other guy comes by and says something like "ugh Virgina Woolf... nobody likes her! well... no MALES!" and i did pipe up and say like "NO MALES!!!" but ... whatever they were already onto the next part of their conversation and as in general what i said was sort of disregarded (poor me LOL!!!) so, that's why i'm here... just wondering if that's a similar feeling to other people out there. and why!? it really did catch me off guard because the guy who said it doesn't seem like one of those types of people to say something like that. and than... well, i'm gay... so it always drives me crazy when someone makes a comment like gay men aren't men and without him even knowing that's what his comment made me feel like. because i was so enjoying the book and it's like "yeah that's for gays!" ... so that's that. what are your opinions on my very random post
I like Virginia Woolf, and I'm not gay. I haven't read much of her, but there's nothing in her books that would suggest that she's a popular writer among the gay community. That guy was just being rude, that's all.
A lot of her stories involved characters that appear to be homosexual (in Mrs. Dalloway for instance, both Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus appear to have at least had homosexual experiences), so naturally she is somewhat of a hero to a lot of gay readers. Not saying only gays and women appreciate her, but I think those are the groups that relate the most to her ideas. The average straight man, even though he is pro rights for gays and women, might not be able to connect to the story in the same way.
I will say that as far as stream-of-consciousness goes, the style of To the Lighthouse does come across as quite feminine. Nothing wrong with that, and that doesn't mean guys can't like Virginia Woolf. Nevertheless, last year in Lit class we read two classic steam-of-consciousness novels: To the Lighthouse and The Sound and the Fury. Most of the girls in the class seemed to prefer TTL, while most of the guys, including me, preferred TSATF. Doesn't mean there weren't exceptions, though! Just depends on taste.
I'm female, and I hate Virgina Woolf. Her style of writing makes me feel sick. I got part of the way through to the Lighthouse. It was as dull as dishwater.
I don't know about the writers, sorry. But I do know something else. Why does it matter to you if gays and women are the majority of fans? You are the one enjoying it, and spending your time. Don't worry about it. It is almost like you think women and gays are not the benchmark to be. There is nothing wrong with being who you are. After all, do you know for a fact that either of the other guys was fibbing to cover up his own percieved weakness?
Hmm, straight guy here who has a lot of time for Virginia Woolf. I must say I much preferred Mrs Dalloway over To The Lighthouse. But I was very much interested in style when I originally read this, and so I found her approach to stream-of-consciousness very interesting. I wasn't aware of any gender issues in the novel, to be honest. But I can't help feeling that a straight guy (your classmates) who won't read or enjoy a novel written by a woman are - at best - missing out.
How many of these old threads are you going to try and resurrect, @Vronsky? Anyway, the original post - Virginia Woolf is alright.
Well, have I have to make 20 comments, so I was browsing through to see which threads I had something of (at least some) value to add. But fair point: I'll stick to the more recent posts.
One question. Why it is not ideal to replie to an old thread if it is timeless like this one? On topic, I hadn't heard about Virginia Woolf prior to this thread. She is going to my list.
I don't know, but that seems to be etiquette in the the only other forum I contribute to (a guitar forum). I heartily recommend checking out Virginia Woolf!
It's just you had made posts on a few ancient threads so I was curious. And yeah, Virginia Woolf is preset good. I loved To The Lighthouse. I recommend that one.
