Virginia Woolf (Lives)

Nigel Nicolson is uniquely qualified to write a brief biography of Virginia Woolf. First, he is one of the most important caretakers of her written work, having edited her letters for publication. Second, as a small boy, he actually knew Virginia Woolf. Third, his mother was Vita Sackville-West, one of the major figures in Virginia's life, the object of her affections, one of her closest friends, and the basis for the main character in ORLANDO. This could well be, in fact, one of the last books written about Virginia Woolf by someone who actually knew her. Perhaps as a result of his unusual connection with her, this biography has an aura of the real Virginia Woolf that many do not. As Nicolson puts it early on, while for many she was "Woolf," for him he was always "Virginia." He knew her before she was the icon she was later to become. Auden said of Yeats that upon his death "he became his admirers," and Woolf has certainly undergone a similar transformation, and frequently books deal one her deal not with who she was, but who they need her to be. Nicolson's portrait is a remarkably rich and concrete one, a splendid portrait of an amazingly gifted and complex individual. He captures her gift for friendship and kindness along with her need to sometimes hurt others with her words. He deals with her openness to love between men or women along with her near dread of actual sexual involvement with either (indeed, most biographies point up the fact that while she had several romantic attachments, her sex life was nonetheless almost nonexistent). He contrasts her feminism with her restricted view of how far women's rights should extend (she was never able to break out of her class bound views on the lower classes) with her apathy to politics in general. He makes vivid her huge capacity for enjoying life while invoking the struggles she underwent to stay sane enough to do so. He also provides a sympathetic portrait of her marriage to Leonard Woolf, who was simultaneously her biggest supporter, her caretaker and nurse, and greatest devotee. If Leonard sometimes emerges as a bit codependent, one can forgive him because he seemed capable of giving a great deal while still producing a prodigious amount of work himself. They seemed, improbably, to have a remarkably good marriage, given her mental problems. Nicolson also provides good insight into Virginia's struggles with mental health, even making her suicide seem less an act of despair than an insistence on ending life when it still was more or less sane (she killed herself largely because she thought she was about to go insane again, was about to succumb to the hallucinations that had plagued her on more than one occasion in the past, with one difference: she was convinced that if she became insane again, she would not reemerge from it again as she had in the past). Her's was a suicide not of despair but of a fear of losing her humanity. I have to state that I find the comments by one t

In this "Penguin Life" Nigel Nicolson provides a balanced, affectionate and eloquent introduction to the life of Virginia Woolf. Nicolson provides us with the major events, the major players, the family background, and Bloomsbury. He also introduces the reader to some of the controversies (e.g., the extent and effect of her sexual abuse by her half-brothers.) The picture that emerges is one of a brilliant and complex woman -- difficult, loving, deeply insightful, wrong-headed, sympathetic, prickly, loyal, jealous, witty, snobbish, and liberal.Nicholson is an editor of Woolf's letters and the son of Vita Sackville-West, with whom Virginia Woolf had an affair. Nicolson's having known and liked Virginia Woolf adds a personal touch without compromising objectivity.

This is really a great book, written with such love from a man who truly knew Ms Woolf. If you want to know about Ms Woolf I highly recommend this book.

VIRGINIA WOOLF by Nigel Nicolson departs from the template used by the Penguin Lives series so far as I've read down the list. It cannot claim that its subject exists in obscurity behind clouds of legend or of lack of existing documentation. Woolf was a public person in her life time, she left not only a respectable body of work but an extensive collection of letters, essays and journals. She has been the subject of substantial, well received biographies and is also featured prominently in profiles of Bloomsbury, the Hogarth Press and biographies of her contemporaries. This volume is also distinguished from others in the Penguin Lives Series in that it was written by the son of Woolf's female lover, Vita Sackville-West; in other words, someone close to the inner circle. Woolf belongs to the visitable past. The book remains, however, a fine member of the Series because of its skill in purveying the whole through a spritely revisiting of the significant passages in Woolf's life. Nicholson writes with warmth and holds forth his opinions in controversial areas, but he is impressively objective given his relationship with his subject and those closest to her. Nicolson manages to capture all the ambiguities of the woman, makes them comprehensible, honest and, sparingly, poignant.

I would call this a portrait and not a biography. This is not meant to denigrate a wonderful book but differentiate it from full-blown biographies that extend to volumes. Rather, this is an intimate portrait by someone who knew Virginia Wolf, has read her books and edited her letters for publication. Nigel Nicolson gives us an intimate portrait of Virginia Woolf in a highly readable book of 191 pages. Because of his mother Vita Sackville-West's close relationship with Virginia we gain a perspective that a biographer who takes his subject as an assignment cannot always supply. However, Mr. Nicolson maintains his objectivity giving us a Virginia Woolf with all her complexity and contradictions. We are treated to frequent quotes from her diaries and letters that bring her all the closer. I enjoyed the personal touch offered by Mr. Nicolson; he is not intrusive and when he speaks from his personal knowledge of his subjects he adds a dimension of intimacy. You come away with a feeling that you know something of Virginia Woolf rather than facts about her.There are several photographs illustrating the book. If you want to know about Virginia Woolf, or want to become reacquainted with her life and books, this is a book to read.