Thinking is My Resistance Author: [UK] Virginia Woolf Publisher: CITIC Press

Introduction · · · · · ·
Why do women need "A Room of One's Own"? Woolf's diary reveals all her feelings

Looking at every day under the threat of mental illness and continuous war

No need to rush, no need to fly, no need to be someone else, just be yourself

♛ "I realized that I don't need any stimulation to be so happy, and I used to think that those stimulations constituted happiness. L and I have always argued whether the only meaning of work is to make the workers happy. Now the only reason I write is that I like it, and I don't care what others say."

"Writing a diary is like scratching an itch; if it goes well, it's like taking a bath." From 1915 to 1941, from the age of 33 to 59, Woolf founded Hogarth Press and the Bloomsbury literary group with her soul mate Leonard, and then chose to commit suicide by jumping into a lake when her home in London was destroyed by air raids during World War II. Woolf always resisted the world in her own way, and thinking was her resistance.

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【Content Introduction】

This book contains Woolf's diaries written between 1915 and 1941, which truly record the highlights and abysses of her life from the age of 33 to 59, including the publication of her masterpieces, her friendship with her soul mate Leonard, her story with her girlfriend Vera, her relapse of depression, and her last moments before her death... It contains not only the daily life of the family, anecdotes in the literary and art circles, but also the changes in her ideas during creation and her insights into other people's works. With extremely sharp and delicate brushstrokes, it captures her thoughts and insights. The text is sometimes lively, sometimes mean, and sometimes depressed, allowing readers to glimpse the secret garden deep in the heart of this legendary female writer.

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【Editor's recommendation】

* The core of a legendary female writer's diary

In the original preface, Woolf's husband Leonard said: "For Woolf, the diary not only records her daily life and her thoughts on life and the universe, but also serves as her unique way of expression as a writer. She thinks deeply in her diary. Works being written or prepared to be written. "Here, we can see the more real and vivid side of the master of stream-of-consciousness novels and the pioneer of the feminist movement. The diary written by the writer will be more centered on the creation itself, capturing all the psychology and emotions flowing during the writing process. , and also records the "torture" of the mind caused by the long process of conception and revision.

* Those wonderful and witty metaphors when describing great writers and their works

As a member of the "Bloomsbury" group, Woolf was very close to Forster, Russell, Joyce, Henry James and Huxley. In her diary, she often joked about them or commented on their works unceremoniously, which was very interesting. For example, "The one who made me happiest was Eliot - he became as docile as an eel. He has become familiar with us and is very friendly, but he also retains a sense of authority. I hope so. I can't lick all the paint off my god." She also said that "Ulysses" is "an ignorant and rude work, written by a self-taught worker", and reading it is "like witnessing an anxious college student scratching his pimples."

* The issue of "emotion and gossip" from Woolf's perspective

Everyone knows that in addition to her husband Leonard, Vita is also very important in Woolf's life. If her husband is the "core of life", only with him can she find "complete comfort, satisfaction and peace, until she is rejuvenated, refreshed, and feels invulnerable". And Vera's "maturity and fullness are there: she hoists the sail on the highest waves", while she "rows slowly in the calm waters". Here, we can see Woolf's most real and soul-touching feelings about their relationship.