At the start of 2021, encouraged by all the goal-setting a new year may spark, I decided on a reading challenge for the months ahead. This year would be the year of Woolf, or The One and Only Woolf, or, Who Isn’t Re-reading Woolf anyway? Indeed, I could spend far too long coming up with numerous titles for this challenge.
Basically, I planned to read one book by Virginia Woolf each month this year. Why Woolf? Several reasons to mention briefly. A writer that I hold in great esteem, but that’s not just personal - she is up there in the Canon of writers. Yes Woolf gets pigeon-holed and labelled, gets talked about as part of something more: Bloomsbury, bohemian culture in the early twentieth century, Modernism. I have a particular interest in all of these things. I know Woolf as an author and as part of something has become, or will always be, rather trendy in a literary/arty sort of way.
I was also interested in the idea of keeping a sketchbook to work in alongside my reading. I began this with all good intentions but after a few months found I just didn’t want to do it - eg. It felt like homework. The equivalent of writing an essay. Somehow reductive to my reading, I do not think of myself as an illustrator. So I said to myself: guess what, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Now, there’s a thing…. But I like the pages I did make.
I hoped my year of re-reading Woolf would allow me to simply enjoy reading without the anxiety of having to write an essay once the book was read. It would be a year of finding pleasure in Woolf; re-reading so often allows a reader to discover new and appreciate the best of. Whilst I did not want to make the reading year a chore, I did set myself a goal of reading a book a month and felt that this would fit in, somehow or other, with other books I might want to read.
If you want to see the kind of books that I read then you are welcome to go over to my Goodreads (where you can see a very old photo of me). I’ve not always been the best at keeping track of what I am reading, which is why I don’t think my Goodreads account reflects how much I have really read. For example, for some reason I decided art books did not count ?? So for years I have not included artist biographies that I read and re-read because they include ‘pretty pictures’?? I know, what is that all about? I am not beginning to add ‘work books’ and ‘art books’ to my Goodreads and am currently reading a fantastic book on Bosch.
Back to Woolf. I was excited about my year ahead, had a plan of what book I would be reading each month and so began…. January was Jacob’s Room and I certainly enjoyed re-reading this one. I had only vague memories and found it far more enjoyable than previously. Always helps that you do not have to turn in an essay at the end.
February was Mrs Dalloway - and I enjoyed this one so much. Years on from reading in my twenties and churning out a so-so essay, I actually got my head around Mrs Dalloway, could appreciate the wistfulness of the protagonist, the tensions of the time period and etc…. It was a joy to read, not to have to take notes but to sit back and see all the chimera and light and shade Woolf was guiding me toward. The walks around London that I know from my own time, I could take in my mind’s eye and embellish.
It was possibly the best reading experience I have had for some time, as far as re-reading a book is concerned. There are pros and cons to re-reading a book you value as ‘good’. Will it stand the test of a second experience? It’s like so many other second experiences perhaps, going back to a favourite city or gallery, for example. The first time is electric with excitement, the not knowing and then the discovery. Second time around you can go deeper, notice different things, but will you be as satisfied. We crave, well I crave, constant jolts of inspiration. I think many artists make terribly tough critics because we have high expectations from ourselves and everything we experience. It is like the dial has to be set to almost max all of the time or else risk bitter disappointment. I would rather hate something than feel indifferent about something I want to love. The worst reaction is indifference, perhaps, when it comes to creative work?
I know now that after re-reading Mrs Dalloway and having such a lucid experience I should have put my Woolf project on hold and let the experience settle in. But instead I plowed on and read, Flush, To the Lighthouse and The Years. Whilst I enjoyed the books and can feel they were good, I think they deserved more breathing space.
So now I realise reading one book a month by a selected author - alongside other books I wish to read - is really not a good idea for me. This plan of mine to read a Woolf a month has exposed my weaknesses as a reader. Such a demanding reader! Well, such a fickle reader too. I need to read eclectically to appreciate the different authors and stories that I read. I need to time travel and embrace different cultures and a diversity of voices. And yes I need to read for the sheer fun of it as well as being challenged.
I sort of knew all the above before attempting my year of Woolf, but you know sometimes you have to try something. A challenge like reading a Woolf a month is not a bad challenge, perhaps to some it might seem a little too much, or it might seem like hard work, or trying to achieve something you don’t ‘need’ to, but to me it was always going to be about enjoyable reading. Except now I have put a hold on reading any more Woolf for at least several months. I am scrapping my list of month to month books. I am going to hop about my bookshelves and simply enjoy a little of everything from now on.
What are you reading? Did you set yourself any reading challenged and / or goals for the year? How have things worked out?
Thanks for reading
Hi Cathy, I borrow endless books from my library..mostly any crime drama. I’ve never read Virginia Woolf but I am inspired to start now, although I probably won’t blitz read only her work. I did that once with Ayn Rand and by the 4th novel I was sort of over it.. I look forward to your essays every week. Thankyou and please continue. Take care
When I read, earlier this year, of your year of reading Woolf I decided to take on the challenge myself. I have been struggling with reading for a while and thought this might be an inspiring kickstart. I read Kew Gardens and then forgot all about it. Still can’t find my reading mojo.
I’m the same with Goodreads, I only list novels. So much of my reading is art books or craft/textiles books, but I never think of adding the non fiction I read. Or journals. I read a lot of literary journals, I’ve just read the latest Charleston Press, I must start adding these too.