Resumen
Resumen de El lector común
Para quién es
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.
De qué trata este libro
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. A second series followed in 1932. Together they show a novelist thinking aloud about the books she loves, and about how an ordinary person can read them well.
The essays range from the letters of a fifteenth century family to the Greek plays, from Montaigne to Jane Austen, and from George Eliot to the novelists of Woolf's own day. The title comes from Samuel Johnson, who trusted the judgment of the general reader over that of the expert. Woolf takes that reader as her companion. You get her taste, her wit and a way of reading that you can borrow. Let us begin with the figure who gives the book its name, the common reader himself.
En este resumen
- 1The common reader reads for pleasureFree
- 2Old writers speak best through their voices
- 3Distance can sharpen what we feel
- 4Novelists teach through what they chose
- 5Fiction should follow life, not rules
- 6Read with love, and trust yourself
Idea clave 1 de 6
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.
She also admits what this reader lacks. He is hasty and inaccurate, he snatches at scraps, and he builds a rough picture of an age from whatever he happens to find. Yet she believes that this reader, in a small way, shares the work of the great writers. Taste, spread across many private readers, becomes the public opinion that keeps books alive.
For you, the lesson is practical. You do not need a degree to have a right to your own response. Woolf asks only that you read with energy, notice what you feel, and be willing to be surprised.
That attitude carries her into the past, which is where she goes next.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about El lector común
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, though they assume some interest in literature. You do not need to know every author she mentions, since she explains enough to follow her points.
When was The Common Reader written and published?
The first series appeared in 1925, with many essays revised from earlier magazine and newspaper pieces. Woolf published a second series in 1932, which is why the title often appears with a first or second series label.
What is the main message of The Common Reader?
Woolf's message is that readers should trust their own judgment, read with imagination and love, and judge only afterward. She also argues that fiction should capture how life is actually felt.