9 h 13 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if reading well begins with pleasure, not with knowing what the experts think?
In The Common Reader, Virginia Woolf takes the ordinary reader as her companion. Her essays move from the letters of a fifteenth-century Norfolk family to Greek plays, from Montaigne to Jane Austen and George Eliot. She approaches older writers through their voices, asking how their words reach us across the distance of time.
In The Pastons and Chaucer, On Not Knowing Greek, and Modern Fiction, Woolf explores what readers can feel, understand, and judge for themselves. The title draws on Samuel Johnson's trust in the general reader. This is a novelist thinking aloud about books she loves, with wit and personal taste rather than a neat system of literary theory.
What you’ll discover
- Pleasure before expertise Meet the common reader, whose love of books matters more than the urge to instruct.
- Voices from the past Explore the Paston family's letters as Woolf listens for people rather than merely tracing dates.
- The distance of Greek Consider how what we cannot fully know can sharpen what we feel in literature.
- A novelist reads novelists Follow Woolf's eye for the choices that distinguish writers such as Defoe, Austen, and Eliot.
- Life beyond literary rules Enter Woolf's argument that fiction should follow life rather than submit to fixed rules.
Who will love it
For anyone who reads for love rather than for exams, and anyone curious about how a great novelist thought about older writers. For readers who enjoy literary wit, independent judgment and fiction that follows the life of the mind.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The common reader reads for pleasure
- Old writers speak best through their voices
- Distance can sharpen what we feel
- Novelists teach through what they chose
- Fiction should follow life, not rules
- Read with love, and trust yourself
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 13 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Der gewöhnliche Leser in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Der gewöhnliche Leser
by Virginia Woolf · 1925
Virginia Woolf takes the ordinary reader through books she loves, inviting you to trust your own judgment.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Common Reader is a book of essays by Virginia Woolf, first published in 1925 by the Hogarth Press, which she ran with her husband Leonard. Many of the pieces first appeared in newspapers and magazines, and she revised them for the book.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The common reader reads for pleasure
Woolf opens the book with a short portrait of the person she writes for. The common reader, she says, differs from the critic and the scholar. He is less educated, and he reads for his own pleasure rather than to teach others or correct their opinions. She borrows the phrase from Samuel Johnson, who wrote that he was glad to agree with the common reader when judging a poet.
This choice sets the tone for every essay that follows. Woolf does not lecture from a height. She walks through libraries and old houses as a guest, picks up a book, tells you what struck her and wanders on. The essays are short, and each one has the shape of a conversation.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Der gewöhnliche Leser
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Common Reader about?
It is a collection of essays on books, writers and the art of reading. Woolf discusses authors from Chaucer and Montaigne to Jane Austen and George Eliot, and she argues for reading with independence and pleasure.
Who is the common reader in Virginia Woolf's book?
The phrase comes from Samuel Johnson. Woolf uses it for the ordinary reader who reads for enjoyment, not for scholarship or to judge others, and who still helps keep literature alive.
Is The Common Reader hard to read?
Not usually. The essays are short and conversational. You do not need to know every author she mentions, since she explains enough to follow her points.
The author
Virginia Woolf
1882–1941 · English modernist novelist
Virginia Woolf was an English writer born in London in 1882. She wrote novels and essays, including The Voyage Out (1915), Jacob’s Room (1922), Mrs. Dalloway (1925), and The Common Reader (1925). She lived in London and Sussex. She died in Sussex in 1941.
More by Virginia Woolf
All 5 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
