I finished reading The hours, by Michael Cunningham, which is a postmodern triple refraction (or maybe a fractured triptych?) of the theme of the novel Mrs. Dalloway and the life of its author, Virginia Woolf. As I haven’t read Mrs. Dalloway I am not really qualified to review this spin-off, but I’ll take the opportunity to convene all the books I’ve read that are in one way or another related to it or to Virginia Woolf. I had the idea when I read the scene where her sister, Vanessa Bell, comes visiting with her children, and I had to juggle a very complex network of memories of the same characters from other books. So here goes:
K, the art of love by Hong Ying (2002)
I loved this book way back when, should read it again. One of the main characters is based on Vanessa’s son Julian Bell (who appears in The hours as a child). The book was censored in China and studiously ignored in the UK.
Exploring bohemia by Virginia Nicholson (2003)
another favourite of mine, this is a non-fiction account of the unconventional lives of Virginia, Vanessa and the rest of the gang. This Virginia is Quentin Bell’s daughter, so the earlier Virginia was her great-aunt.
moving on from people to places, this 1950s book simply called
covers all the streets and many of the houses and historic residents, but hasn’t got much time for the bohemians of the Bloomsbury set.
Charleston by Quentin Bell and Virginia Nicholson, photographs by Alen Macweeney
This gloriously illustrated book about the Sussex countryhouse gives a very good idea of their interior decorations and art works. Should have reviewed this but didn’t obviously.
Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf
I saw this play many years ago, memories are very vague, but I seem to remember Virginia was no more than a figure of speech in this one.
A room of one's own
I read this one, but again, memory is fading …
Maybe I should continue my studies with this new, annotated edition of Mrs Dalloway:
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