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Love Letters: Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West
'I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone. I just miss you...'
At a dinner party in 1922, Virginia Woolf met the renowned author, aristocrat - and sapphist - Vita Sackville-West. Virginia wrote in her diary that she didn't think much of Vita's conversation, but she did think very highly of her legs. It was to be the start of almost twenty years of flirtation, friendship, and literary collaboration. Their correspondence ended only with Virginia's tragic death in 1941.
Intimate and playful, these selected letters and diary entries allow us to hear these women's constantly changing feelings for each other in their own words. Eavesdrop on the affair that inspired Virginia to write her most fantastical novel, Orlando, and glimpse into their extraordinary lives: from Vita's travels across the globe, to Virginia's parties with the Bloomsbury set; from their shared love of dogs and nature, to their grief at the beginning of the Second World War. Discover a relationship that - even a hundred years later - feels radical and relatable.
WITH AN ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION FROM ALISON BECHDEL, AUTHOR OF FUN HOME AND CREATOR OF THE BECHDEL TEST.
At a dinner party in 1922, Virginia Woolf met the renowned author, aristocrat - and sapphist - Vita Sackville-West. Virginia wrote in her diary that she didn't think much of Vita's conversation, but she did think very highly of her legs. It was to be the start of almost twenty years of flirtation, friendship, and literary collaboration. Their correspondence ended only with Virginia's tragic death in 1941.
Intimate and playful, these selected letters and diary entries allow us to hear these women's constantly changing feelings for each other in their own words. Eavesdrop on the affair that inspired Virginia to write her most fantastical novel, Orlando, and glimpse into their extraordinary lives: from Vita's travels across the globe, to Virginia's parties with the Bloomsbury set; from their shared love of dogs and nature, to their grief at the beginning of the Second World War. Discover a relationship that - even a hundred years later - feels radical and relatable.
WITH AN ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION FROM ALISON BECHDEL, AUTHOR OF FUN HOME AND CREATOR OF THE BECHDEL TEST.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1926
About the author
Virginia Woolf
1,564 books25.9k followers(Adeline) Virginia Woolf was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
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April 15, 2023oh, to be an aristocrat-gardener in the 1920s who falls in love with a bloomsbury author and you two then exchange the most iconic sapphic love letters over the course of a decade . . .
| Read for #FFFeb2021 |
Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a review copy!
| Read for #FFFeb2021 |
Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a review copy!
February 1, 2024
That's a long, almost daily correspondence between two women for nearly 20 years. Through these exchanges, we discover the two women's moods and lives, the frequent trips, the meetings, and the everyday worries. They talk to us about themselves, their desires, and their concerns. But, above all, this love is born, which will always be present despite the pranks, as if love could not conquer these admitted and revealed infidelities. There is this presence, this message. Love exists in all its forms; it can escape to other hearts but always comes back to the main one. No doubt it needs its ramifications, these additional sources so as not to dry you, and return to the first resurgence, even bigger and stronger. By interfering in their private lives, one manages to define the characters better, understand their works, extract a new sensibility there, and let oneself guide and slide more easily into their worlds, in their words. They were narrating a story of love.
July 5, 2013
i finished this thick collection off in a day, unable to interrupt my eavesdropping on virginia and vita, no matter how i tried. i sensed that this was dangerous territory, that in watching dual performances of idealized selves fall in love and flirt and fuck and fight, i would surely find myself heartsore and longing. it is true. i think of vita, her small lips, her giant eyes, her young, exuberant devotion and admiration and i have the chest pains of a living crush. i think of quiet virginia, the slender crag, with her pride and brilliance and wish to be her reincarnation -- madness, illness, ennui and all -- if it meant i could one day hope to match her prose. how did VW love VS-W so hard and still love L so well and perhaps even harder? how did VW write these letters and still have the emotional time for novels and essays and equally-voluminous (if not equally-passionate) correspondences with other lovers, with friends and family? i am overwhelmed. even on blank days, i am lucky to wring three pages from the dry stone that is my brain. and of course, she was the virginia woolf and i am just me, but really, need the disparity be so formidable!? my main complaint with this collection (and the reason for that one penalty star) is that virginia is too edited. in another collection of her letters (which i lost this weekend) one gets a better sense of her rhythms to vita, while in this collection we are lucky to two consecutive paragraph's from virginia without the maddening and enticing secrecy of the ". . . " in this particular collection, it is really vita who shines.
now, of course, i am off to read orlando and will probably be bedridden with all my swooning by the end of this.
now, of course, i am off to read orlando and will probably be bedridden with all my swooning by the end of this.
July 19, 2022
4.5
I’ve lived in you all these months – coming out, what are you really like? Do you exist? Have I made you up?
They met in 1922 at a dinner party and had one of the most fascinating and passionate literary love affairs of the 20th century.
Am I in love with her? But what is love?
This book is a collection of letters between the two friends and their diary entries which continued until Virginia's suicide.
I could only think of you as being very distant and beautiful and calm. A lighthouse in clean waters.
I’ve lived in you all these months – coming out, what are you really like? Do you exist? Have I made you up?
They met in 1922 at a dinner party and had one of the most fascinating and passionate literary love affairs of the 20th century.
Am I in love with her? But what is love?
This book is a collection of letters between the two friends and their diary entries which continued until Virginia's suicide.
I could only think of you as being very distant and beautiful and calm. A lighthouse in clean waters.
March 1, 2021
This is a curated selection from the letters and journals of Woolf and Sackville-West, packaged for a general readership and without any scholarly apparatus. Letters and extracts are truncated invisibly which is a bit misleading, and ellipses only indicate cuts from within sections. That's fine for a popular edition, but just something to be aware of.
The title of 'love letters' should also be taken in its widest sense, encompassing as it does deep friendship, gentle flirtation, physical attraction. VW and VS-W did love each other, but they also both loved their husbands and Vita has other affairs with women, some more passionate than that she shared with VW. In any case, their relationship is most usefully liberated from labels and categories: the important thing is the connection which developed, wavered, waned and was revived throughout the time they knew each other.
Both women are vivid, entertaining writers and that's the real value of this focused selection.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley
The title of 'love letters' should also be taken in its widest sense, encompassing as it does deep friendship, gentle flirtation, physical attraction. VW and VS-W did love each other, but they also both loved their husbands and Vita has other affairs with women, some more passionate than that she shared with VW. In any case, their relationship is most usefully liberated from labels and categories: the important thing is the connection which developed, wavered, waned and was revived throughout the time they knew each other.
Both women are vivid, entertaining writers and that's the real value of this focused selection.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley
October 2, 2023
Introduced by Alison Bechdel this is an ingenious recreation through letters and diary entries of the shifting relations between writers Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West - which famously spawned Woolf’s Orlando. This collection spans from an initial meeting at a dinner party in 1922 through to Virginia’s death by suicide in 1941. Their early encounters weren’t particularly promising, more stumbling and uncertain than fuelled by overwhelming, immediate attraction, their perceptions skewed by awkward first impressions and other peoples’ opinions. On the surface Vita and Virginia were vastly different: shabby, bohemian but fiercely judgemental Virginia versus well-travelled, “sapphist” and country aristocrat Vita. But somehow, they found common ground and eventually started a slow-burning affair. When they first met, Virginia was already 40 but not yet at the height of her fame, while Vita at 30 was a well-known society figure and respected author. Both were in solid, established, but unconventional marriages: Vita felt free to continue relationships with women that predated her marriage as her husband Harold Nicolson continued his with men; Virginia and Leonard had negotiated a close but “chaste” way of living and working together.
As well as charting their time together, and apart, Vita and Virginia’s letters and diary entries offer an intriguing glimpse of key moments in cultural and social history: from the cabarets of Weimar Germany to the impact of the Spanish Civil War to the struggle to adjust and survive the early years of WW2. They also present an unusual perspective on love and desire from its early beginnings to its gradual fading. It’s clear from their letters Vita and Virginia each recognised something wonderfully different and special about the other: Vita’s increasingly fascinated by Virginia’s sharp intellect, the originality of her thoughts on literature and culture; and Virginia by Vita’s bodily confidence and independent spirit. But even so they took years to fully confess their feelings and desires, and throughout I had an impression of them holding something back. A fundamental tentativeness and a prickliness about their relationship, like Schopenhauer’s porcupines caught up in a fragmented intimacy, continually moving closer then hastily springing apart – Vita lingering on Virginia’s doorstep not daring to knock, Virginia hesitant to suggest meeting. Virginia’s cautious about fully committing to Vita who’s notorious for her numerous intense affairs with women; Vita’s concerned about what she’s heard about Virginia’s fragile mental state. In the early stages of their love affair, they often seem to live vicariously through each other’s experiences: her husband’s job meant intrepid Vita frequently travelled across the world to places Virginia could only dream about; Virginia juggling frequent bouts of ill health but firmly embedded in Bloomsbury and London literary circles that Vita found intriguing but difficult to handle. One constant seems to be their close bonds with animals particularly their dogs, as well as their emerging ideas about writing, each striving to find ways to express perceptions about language and their wider worlds. Ultimately bittersweet but incredibly compelling.
As well as charting their time together, and apart, Vita and Virginia’s letters and diary entries offer an intriguing glimpse of key moments in cultural and social history: from the cabarets of Weimar Germany to the impact of the Spanish Civil War to the struggle to adjust and survive the early years of WW2. They also present an unusual perspective on love and desire from its early beginnings to its gradual fading. It’s clear from their letters Vita and Virginia each recognised something wonderfully different and special about the other: Vita’s increasingly fascinated by Virginia’s sharp intellect, the originality of her thoughts on literature and culture; and Virginia by Vita’s bodily confidence and independent spirit. But even so they took years to fully confess their feelings and desires, and throughout I had an impression of them holding something back. A fundamental tentativeness and a prickliness about their relationship, like Schopenhauer’s porcupines caught up in a fragmented intimacy, continually moving closer then hastily springing apart – Vita lingering on Virginia’s doorstep not daring to knock, Virginia hesitant to suggest meeting. Virginia’s cautious about fully committing to Vita who’s notorious for her numerous intense affairs with women; Vita’s concerned about what she’s heard about Virginia’s fragile mental state. In the early stages of their love affair, they often seem to live vicariously through each other’s experiences: her husband’s job meant intrepid Vita frequently travelled across the world to places Virginia could only dream about; Virginia juggling frequent bouts of ill health but firmly embedded in Bloomsbury and London literary circles that Vita found intriguing but difficult to handle. One constant seems to be their close bonds with animals particularly their dogs, as well as their emerging ideas about writing, each striving to find ways to express perceptions about language and their wider worlds. Ultimately bittersweet but incredibly compelling.
January 27, 2024
Vita Sackville-West e Virginia Woolf conheceram-se no dia 14 de dezembro de 1922 num jantar em casa de Clive Bell.
No seu diário Virginia escreveu:«[...] a bonita e prendada aristocrata Sackville-West [...] os seus modos aristocráticos são idênticos aos de uma actriz - sem falsa timidez ou falsa modéstia - fazem-me sentir virgem, tímida, menina de escola. [...] Ela é uma granadeira; dura; bem-parecida; varonil; com tendência para o duplo queixo.»
Vita numa carta ao seu marido escreve:«Simplesmente, adoro Virginia Woolf. [...] Mrs Woolf é tão simples: dá a impressão de algo grandioso. É absolutamente genuína: não usa quaisquer adornos exteriores - veste-se de modo atroz. [...] uma espécie de beleza espiritual impõe-se-nos, e sentimos o fascínio de a observar. [...] É ao mesmo tempo reservada e humana, silenciosa até querer dizer alguma coisa, e então di-la surpreendentemente bem. [...] Querido, apaixonei-me perdidamente.»
Ambas identificaram os sentimentos uma pela outra desde esse primeiro encontro; a amizade e admiração rapidamente se tranformaram em amor - mais físico do lado de Virginia mais intelectual do lado de Vita (assim o entendi).
Com casamentos que tinham muito em comum por causa da liberdade que se permitiam de cada lado o amor foi vivido sem obstáculos nem planos radicais. Vita e Virginia mantiveram sempre um respeito e uma dignidade inalteráveis para com os seus maridos.
Não há segredos entre Vita e Virginia: falam abertamente sobre relações que mantêm paralelamente com outras mulheres. Vita era mais mulherenga, Virginia mais ciumenta e de saúde frágil.
O relacionamento durou até à morte de Virginia.Houve amuos, críticas, ciúmes mas só uma zanga a propósito do livro Os Três Guinéus e um afastamento gradual.
«A minha amizade com Vita chegou ao fim. Não com uma desavença, não com um estrondo, mas assim como a fruta madura cai. [...] E não existe amargura, nem desilusão, apenas um certo vazio.», escreveu Virginia no seu diário em 1935, mas com o início da guerra há uma reaproximação.
As cartas são apaixonadas, bonitas, espirituosas com extravagâncias humorísticas.
De todas as cartas escolho duas:
De Virgínia para Vita:
«Acabei agora de falar contigo. Parece tão estranho. Aqui reina uma paz perfeita - eles estão a jogar bowls - eu já tinha ido pôr flores no teu quarto. E tu aí, com as bombas a cair à tua volta.
O que posso eu dizer - senão que te amo e que passarei este estranho fim de dia a pensar em ti, que estás aí sozinha.
Queridíssima - escreve-me duas ou três linhas [...]
Deste-me tanta felicidade.»
pág. 261
De Vita para Virgínia:
«Que bom foi estar contigo - como me soube bem esta visita. Não sou capaz de expressar todo o prazer de estar contigo. Sabes que te amo e sabes que gosto de Leonard. Existe uma diferença entre amar e gostar. Por isso, tu és o meu amor e de Leonard eu gosto. Gosto imensamente de Leonard [...].
Querida - obrigada pelas minhas horas felizes contigo. Significas mais para mim do que alguma vez saberás.»
pág. 263
No seu diário Virginia escreveu:«[...] a bonita e prendada aristocrata Sackville-West [...] os seus modos aristocráticos são idênticos aos de uma actriz - sem falsa timidez ou falsa modéstia - fazem-me sentir virgem, tímida, menina de escola. [...] Ela é uma granadeira; dura; bem-parecida; varonil; com tendência para o duplo queixo.»
Vita numa carta ao seu marido escreve:«Simplesmente, adoro Virginia Woolf. [...] Mrs Woolf é tão simples: dá a impressão de algo grandioso. É absolutamente genuína: não usa quaisquer adornos exteriores - veste-se de modo atroz. [...] uma espécie de beleza espiritual impõe-se-nos, e sentimos o fascínio de a observar. [...] É ao mesmo tempo reservada e humana, silenciosa até querer dizer alguma coisa, e então di-la surpreendentemente bem. [...] Querido, apaixonei-me perdidamente.»
Ambas identificaram os sentimentos uma pela outra desde esse primeiro encontro; a amizade e admiração rapidamente se tranformaram em amor - mais físico do lado de Virginia mais intelectual do lado de Vita (assim o entendi).
Com casamentos que tinham muito em comum por causa da liberdade que se permitiam de cada lado o amor foi vivido sem obstáculos nem planos radicais. Vita e Virginia mantiveram sempre um respeito e uma dignidade inalteráveis para com os seus maridos.
Não há segredos entre Vita e Virginia: falam abertamente sobre relações que mantêm paralelamente com outras mulheres. Vita era mais mulherenga, Virginia mais ciumenta e de saúde frágil.
O relacionamento durou até à morte de Virginia.Houve amuos, críticas, ciúmes mas só uma zanga a propósito do livro Os Três Guinéus e um afastamento gradual.
«A minha amizade com Vita chegou ao fim. Não com uma desavença, não com um estrondo, mas assim como a fruta madura cai. [...] E não existe amargura, nem desilusão, apenas um certo vazio.», escreveu Virginia no seu diário em 1935, mas com o início da guerra há uma reaproximação.
As cartas são apaixonadas, bonitas, espirituosas com extravagâncias humorísticas.
De todas as cartas escolho duas:
De Virgínia para Vita:
«Acabei agora de falar contigo. Parece tão estranho. Aqui reina uma paz perfeita - eles estão a jogar bowls - eu já tinha ido pôr flores no teu quarto. E tu aí, com as bombas a cair à tua volta.
O que posso eu dizer - senão que te amo e que passarei este estranho fim de dia a pensar em ti, que estás aí sozinha.
Queridíssima - escreve-me duas ou três linhas [...]
Deste-me tanta felicidade.»
pág. 261
De Vita para Virgínia:
«Que bom foi estar contigo - como me soube bem esta visita. Não sou capaz de expressar todo o prazer de estar contigo. Sabes que te amo e sabes que gosto de Leonard. Existe uma diferença entre amar e gostar. Por isso, tu és o meu amor e de Leonard eu gosto. Gosto imensamente de Leonard [...].
Querida - obrigada pelas minhas horas felizes contigo. Significas mais para mim do que alguma vez saberás.»
pág. 263
August 12, 2023
Okay, I’m quite sure this review is going to be one of the most personal reviews I’ve ever written, which is a little unsettling. But this book has touched me so deeply that I just can’t help it.
It’s practically a sapphic romance novel, with all the components you could ever wish for: longing, desire, passion, jealousy, loss, disappointment, estrangement, hope, reunion, and, above all, undying love.
Besides, there are some popular sapphic tropes in the book, like Age Gap (Virginia was born in 1882, Vita in 1892) or Ice Queen (Vita and Virginia accused each other of giving each other the cold shoulder several times), and there’s even some blue blood involved, since Vita was a noblewoman.
Looking like an epistolary novel, the book tells the love story between the bold, fun-loving, wealthy womanizer Vita and the sickly, much more isolated intellectual Virginia through numerous letters (and a few diary entries), which make their flamboyant personalities and their changeable relationship come vividly to life, in an amusing or thoughtful, witty or tragic way.
You can witness the relationship between these two deeply fascinating women (both married, both writers, both lesbian, both sometimes strong and happy, sometimes sad and needy) from making each other’s acquaintance in 1922 till their last letter in 1941. And you can watch them getting to know each other better, becoming intimate with each other physically and emotionally, becoming spatially separated (Vita travelled a lot), longing for each other and being mutually jealous, becoming estranged and finding each other again. The terms “friendship” and “love” are words they used frequently.
But in each romance, there has to be an end eventually – and that’s where reality strikes. Because Vita and Virginia are no fictional characters, invented by some author, but they were very real personalities with very human characteristics and weaknesses.
That’s why I sympathized with them a lot during reading. When, for example, Virginia expresses her longing for being physically intimate with Vita, when Vita keeps her distance in her letters while they’re physically close, whereas she describes her love for Virginia in passionate words while she’s away, when Vita tries to hide her affairs with other women while Virginia is wild with jealousy, when Vita is jealous of Virginias female lovers nevertheless, I just couldn’t stay indifferent.
I can’t help but connect strongly with Virginia, and not only because I’m also a lesbian woman, also a writer (although I‘m not so presumptuous as to compare my own works with her famous masterpieces, of course ;-)) who publishes her books at her own expense, also a feminist, also a freethinker with strong feelings and a predisposition to depression, but I’ve recognized a certain philosophy of life and a certain way to express it in her letters that just speaks to me intensely as well.
There are a thousand more reasons why this touching book resonates deeply with me. I can’t wait to re-read it as soon as possible (if only for the countless quote worthy phrases :-)).
If I could, I would give 20 Stars.
It’s practically a sapphic romance novel, with all the components you could ever wish for: longing, desire, passion, jealousy, loss, disappointment, estrangement, hope, reunion, and, above all, undying love.
Besides, there are some popular sapphic tropes in the book, like Age Gap (Virginia was born in 1882, Vita in 1892) or Ice Queen (Vita and Virginia accused each other of giving each other the cold shoulder several times), and there’s even some blue blood involved, since Vita was a noblewoman.
Looking like an epistolary novel, the book tells the love story between the bold, fun-loving, wealthy womanizer Vita and the sickly, much more isolated intellectual Virginia through numerous letters (and a few diary entries), which make their flamboyant personalities and their changeable relationship come vividly to life, in an amusing or thoughtful, witty or tragic way.
You can witness the relationship between these two deeply fascinating women (both married, both writers, both lesbian, both sometimes strong and happy, sometimes sad and needy) from making each other’s acquaintance in 1922 till their last letter in 1941. And you can watch them getting to know each other better, becoming intimate with each other physically and emotionally, becoming spatially separated (Vita travelled a lot), longing for each other and being mutually jealous, becoming estranged and finding each other again. The terms “friendship” and “love” are words they used frequently.
But in each romance, there has to be an end eventually – and that’s where reality strikes. Because Vita and Virginia are no fictional characters, invented by some author, but they were very real personalities with very human characteristics and weaknesses.
That’s why I sympathized with them a lot during reading. When, for example, Virginia expresses her longing for being physically intimate with Vita, when Vita keeps her distance in her letters while they’re physically close, whereas she describes her love for Virginia in passionate words while she’s away, when Vita tries to hide her affairs with other women while Virginia is wild with jealousy, when Vita is jealous of Virginias female lovers nevertheless, I just couldn’t stay indifferent.
I can’t help but connect strongly with Virginia, and not only because I’m also a lesbian woman, also a writer (although I‘m not so presumptuous as to compare my own works with her famous masterpieces, of course ;-)) who publishes her books at her own expense, also a feminist, also a freethinker with strong feelings and a predisposition to depression, but I’ve recognized a certain philosophy of life and a certain way to express it in her letters that just speaks to me intensely as well.
There are a thousand more reasons why this touching book resonates deeply with me. I can’t wait to re-read it as soon as possible (if only for the countless quote worthy phrases :-)).
If I could, I would give 20 Stars.
February 10, 2021
Finally! A collection of their letters with an introduction written by a lesbian! When I found out this was being published, I almost cried. I have reviewed the original publication of their letters to each other, “The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf” and made it clear I had a few issues with the introduction by Mitchell A. Leaska, so while Alison Bechdel’s was much more brief, it still made my heart sing.
These letters are my comfort read. They mean something incommunicable to me, and trying to put that into words seems insurmountable. But I will say: while I found a few editorial errors (I am almost far too familiar with these these letters by now not to notice), it was a beautifully compiled edition, and I adored the addition of diary entries and some of Vita’s letters to her husband, Harold. While it was of course an abridged collection, having the letters and diary entries all in one place made it an even more enjoyable read. And while I wish they hadn’t omitted some of my favourite Virginia excerpts, even holding this gorgeous book felt like a privilege. It felt like the correct way to read these beautiful love letters between two women who will always fascinate and mean the world to me.
These letters are my comfort read. They mean something incommunicable to me, and trying to put that into words seems insurmountable. But I will say: while I found a few editorial errors (I am almost far too familiar with these these letters by now not to notice), it was a beautifully compiled edition, and I adored the addition of diary entries and some of Vita’s letters to her husband, Harold. While it was of course an abridged collection, having the letters and diary entries all in one place made it an even more enjoyable read. And while I wish they hadn’t omitted some of my favourite Virginia excerpts, even holding this gorgeous book felt like a privilege. It felt like the correct way to read these beautiful love letters between two women who will always fascinate and mean the world to me.
February 10, 2022
Vita and Virginia met in December of 1922, and not long after they begun a friendship, that turned into an intimacy - at times sexual, but most of the time not - that would last until Virginia's suicide in 1941.
Their letters to each other bear witness to this intimacy. Here they share everyday events, thoughts on writing, on books (their own and others), but also a longing, a yearning, for each other.
There's a case to be made that what Vita and Virginia felt for each other transcended the normal affair one would have, and many of those affairs Vita ended up having with other women while she knew Virginia. Theirs was not a fascination only, of bodies or sexual desire, it was also a fascination with the other, as a woman, an artist and as a person in the world.
Virginia seems fascinated with Vitas self-assurance, her dominance, and her womanliness. And also, the foreword suggest, a craving for Vitas maternal instinct, as Virginia had grown up largely without a mother.
Vita, on the other hand, seems fascinated with Virginia The Writer, the Artist and the genius, as well as the childlike aspect of her. It was, at times, perhaps, a game of dominance and compliance.
At least they seem to desire something from the other, that goes beyond the physical and beyond being in love. Which might also explain why, although Vita had other affairs with other women, Virginia was never abandoned.
Their letters showcase the intelligence, wit and humour of both, as well as their literary prowess. Virginia especially seems to be able to peer through the letters and into Vitas inner thoughts. Their letters are always a delight, and often moving, touching and simply beautiful:
"I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone: I just miss you, in a quite desperate human way. [...] It is incredible how essential to me you have become. I suppose you are accustomed to people saying these things. Damn you, spoilt creature; I shan't make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this - But oh my dear, I can't be clever and stand-offish with you: i love you too much for that. Too truly. You have no idea how stand-offish I can be with people I don't love. I have brought it to a fine art. But you have broken down my defences. And I don't really resent it."
But these letters also show us a deep love and appreciation of the other. They marked and formed each other in a myriad of ways. And Virginia ends up writing Orlando a story about Vita. Vita who seemed, all her life, to struggle with the fact of being woman, which meant she could never inherit her family's estate, Knole, which instead went to her uncle. In Orlando Virginia "rights" that wrong, by making Orlando first a man and then a woman, thereby giving Vita in fiction, what she could not gain in real life.
Vita, more so than Virginia, seemed to struggle with sexuality and gender. Both of them seemed to exist outside of what was the norm, but especially Vita. Vita, whose bisexuality was far from accepted by society, and who felt the shame of being a woman in that her inheritance had been taken from her. This struggle between the "feminine" and "masculine" might have obscured the real Vita, the one that could have gotten to the depths of Virginia. Both Vita and her husband, Harold Nicholson, had affairs with both men and women, and didn't seem to mind much when the other found someone new. Harold, at one point, writes to Virginia:
"I am glad that Vita has come under an influence so stimulating and so sane... You need never worry about my having any feelings except a longing that Vita's life should be as rich and sincere as possible. I loathe jealousy as I loathe all forms of disease."
Their love was progressive, as, I think, was the love between Virginia and Vita. It seemed to transcend whatever got between them, be it other women or disagreements. Theirs seems to be a deep, devoted love. Many of their letters bear the mark of their longing, sometimes physical, sometimes just a longing of the mind of the other.
As much as they were fascinated with particular aspects of the other - The Woman, The Artist, The Genius - they also simply loved each other deeply and seemed to need each other in a very human way.
Their letters are some of my favorite things in the world. A great argument for keeping the epistolary tradition alive.
Their letters to each other bear witness to this intimacy. Here they share everyday events, thoughts on writing, on books (their own and others), but also a longing, a yearning, for each other.
There's a case to be made that what Vita and Virginia felt for each other transcended the normal affair one would have, and many of those affairs Vita ended up having with other women while she knew Virginia. Theirs was not a fascination only, of bodies or sexual desire, it was also a fascination with the other, as a woman, an artist and as a person in the world.
Virginia seems fascinated with Vitas self-assurance, her dominance, and her womanliness. And also, the foreword suggest, a craving for Vitas maternal instinct, as Virginia had grown up largely without a mother.
Vita, on the other hand, seems fascinated with Virginia The Writer, the Artist and the genius, as well as the childlike aspect of her. It was, at times, perhaps, a game of dominance and compliance.
At least they seem to desire something from the other, that goes beyond the physical and beyond being in love. Which might also explain why, although Vita had other affairs with other women, Virginia was never abandoned.
Their letters showcase the intelligence, wit and humour of both, as well as their literary prowess. Virginia especially seems to be able to peer through the letters and into Vitas inner thoughts. Their letters are always a delight, and often moving, touching and simply beautiful:
"I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia. I composed a beautiful letter to you in the sleepless nightmare hours of the night, and it has all gone: I just miss you, in a quite desperate human way. [...] It is incredible how essential to me you have become. I suppose you are accustomed to people saying these things. Damn you, spoilt creature; I shan't make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this - But oh my dear, I can't be clever and stand-offish with you: i love you too much for that. Too truly. You have no idea how stand-offish I can be with people I don't love. I have brought it to a fine art. But you have broken down my defences. And I don't really resent it."
But these letters also show us a deep love and appreciation of the other. They marked and formed each other in a myriad of ways. And Virginia ends up writing Orlando a story about Vita. Vita who seemed, all her life, to struggle with the fact of being woman, which meant she could never inherit her family's estate, Knole, which instead went to her uncle. In Orlando Virginia "rights" that wrong, by making Orlando first a man and then a woman, thereby giving Vita in fiction, what she could not gain in real life.
Vita, more so than Virginia, seemed to struggle with sexuality and gender. Both of them seemed to exist outside of what was the norm, but especially Vita. Vita, whose bisexuality was far from accepted by society, and who felt the shame of being a woman in that her inheritance had been taken from her. This struggle between the "feminine" and "masculine" might have obscured the real Vita, the one that could have gotten to the depths of Virginia. Both Vita and her husband, Harold Nicholson, had affairs with both men and women, and didn't seem to mind much when the other found someone new. Harold, at one point, writes to Virginia:
"I am glad that Vita has come under an influence so stimulating and so sane... You need never worry about my having any feelings except a longing that Vita's life should be as rich and sincere as possible. I loathe jealousy as I loathe all forms of disease."
Their love was progressive, as, I think, was the love between Virginia and Vita. It seemed to transcend whatever got between them, be it other women or disagreements. Theirs seems to be a deep, devoted love. Many of their letters bear the mark of their longing, sometimes physical, sometimes just a longing of the mind of the other.
As much as they were fascinated with particular aspects of the other - The Woman, The Artist, The Genius - they also simply loved each other deeply and seemed to need each other in a very human way.
Their letters are some of my favorite things in the world. A great argument for keeping the epistolary tradition alive.
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April 23, 2021Листування Вірджинії Вулф і Віти Севілл-Вест, укладене в максимально цілісну любовну історію (тобто доповнене тематично релевантними щоденниковими записами і листами до інших людей - і з пропущеними частинами листів, які не про стосунки); з прикольною передмовою Елісон Бекдел, доступною онлайн тут.
Прикольно комбінувати читання "Місячного каменя" Сйона (де месідж зокрема такий, що щасливі квір-історії в певні епохи - це falsified self-exculpatory fantasies мейнстриму) з реальними квір-історіями з тієї самої епохи - нещасливими не через гендерну комплектацію учасників, а просто тому, що люди в принципі складні мудаки, конституційно не дуже призначені для щастя)))
Звичайно, треба наполювати і якесь повніше видання листів, але така тематична підбірка читається як цілком добра проза людей, які вміють складати слова в речення, з сюжетом і драмою, де дуже скептичне перше знайомство (ВВ про ВСВ: "Not much to my severer taste – florid, moustached, parakeet coloured, with all the supple ease of aristocracy, but not the wit of the artist") швидко переростає в романтизацію іншої. Вірджинія Вулф, звичайно, краща письменниця з них двох, тому вона сама виглядає складноукомплектованою на всю голову людиною, від якої треба тікати чимшвидше, зате Віта Секвілл-Вест в її розповідях - просто епічна героїня, навколо якої оживає історія.
Скажімо, от як ВВ у щоденнику описує візит у маєток ВСВ: "You perambulate miles of galleries; skip endless treasures – chairs that Shakespeare might have sat on – tapestries, pictures, floors made of the halves of oaks [...] All these ancestors and centuries, and silver and gold, have bred a perfect body. She is stag like, or race horse like, save for the face, which pouts, and has no very sharp brain. But as a body hers is perfection".
І в іншому щоденниковому записі: "There is her maturity and full breastedness: her being so much in full sail on the high tides, where I am coasting down backwaters; her capacity I mean to take the floor in any company, to represent her country, to visit Chatsworth, to control silver, servants, chow dogs; her motherhood (but she is a little cold and offhand with her boys), her being in short (what I have never been) a real woman".
І ще в іншому: "her ancestresses had walked so on the snow with their great dogs bounding by them. All the centuries seemed lit up, the past expressive, articulate; not dumb and forgotten". Загалом, видно, як з цього проростає "Орландо".
Але - навіть поза захопленою призмою перспективи ВВ - мені здається, що Віта Севілл-Вест мусила б бути якоюсь лайфстайл-коучкою чи бодай давати майстеркласи з тайм-менеджменту, бо це ж треба вміти так жити: ходити на хайкінг в Італії до того, як це стало модно, і їздити машиною Іраном, і засаджувати сади, і вести господарство у древньому маєтку, і заводити щотижня по новому роману, і при цьому писати книжки, частину з яких перевидають навіть за сто років. Тут навіть при своєму безподієвому нудному житті не завжди встигаєш вкластися в дедлайни, а люди он як уміли жити!
Стереоскопічний ефект від поєднання щоденників, листів між ВВ і ВСВ і їхніх листів іншим людям прямо дуже ефектно підсвітлює всі драми - скажімо, той напряжний ранній етап "любить-не любить" чи, що гірше, "люблю-не люблю", на якому у своїх щоденниках чи листах до інших людей вони синхронно пишуть: нє-нє, от я не закохана, але "she loves me, which flatters and pleases me" (ВСВ) і "Am I in love with her? But what is love? Her being ‘in love’ with me, excites and flatters" (ВВ). Ну і всю душу висотує цей контраст між людиною, яка живе у світі, і людиною, яка живе в голові. ВВ - людина зі складною емоційною палітрою і ментальною географією, сильні почуття їй даються десь так само легко, як стоматологічна операція, вона намацує обриси емоцій, як рану від вирваного зуба - через болючу відсутність: "She is doomed to go to Persia; and I mind the thought so much (thinking to lose sight of her for five years) that I conclude I am genuinely fond of her". І тільки це дає якусь визначеність: "I’m settling down to wanting you, doggedly, dismally, faithfully – I hope that pleases you. It’s damned unpleasant for me".
І ВСВ - яка таки краще вміє жити - зчитує цю специфіку: "she is very very fond of me, and says she was so unhappy when I went to Persia that it startled and terrified her. I don’t think she is accustomed to emotional storms, she lives too much in the intellect and imagination. Most human beings take emotional storms as a matter of course".
Цікаво стежити, як це спілкування тягнеться - змінюючись у різні формати - через багато років. А крім, так би мовити, сю��ету, в книжці просто багато прекрасних формулювань - скажімо, ось який милий спосіб висловити захват: "She is a genius and l would carry a thousand hair-shedding dogs to the gates of Hell for her did she wish it!"
Загалом, дуже читабельно.
Прикольно комбінувати читання "Місячного каменя" Сйона (де месідж зокрема такий, що щасливі квір-історії в певні епохи - це falsified self-exculpatory fantasies мейнстриму) з реальними квір-історіями з тієї самої епохи - нещасливими не через гендерну комплектацію учасників, а просто тому, що люди в принципі складні мудаки, конституційно не дуже призначені для щастя)))
Звичайно, треба наполювати і якесь повніше видання листів, але така тематична підбірка читається як цілком добра проза людей, які вміють складати слова в речення, з сюжетом і драмою, де дуже скептичне перше знайомство (ВВ про ВСВ: "Not much to my severer taste – florid, moustached, parakeet coloured, with all the supple ease of aristocracy, but not the wit of the artist") швидко переростає в романтизацію іншої. Вірджинія Вулф, звичайно, краща письменниця з них двох, тому вона сама виглядає складноукомплектованою на всю голову людиною, від якої треба тікати чимшвидше, зате Віта Секвілл-Вест в її розповідях - просто епічна героїня, навколо якої оживає історія.
Скажімо, от як ВВ у щоденнику описує візит у маєток ВСВ: "You perambulate miles of galleries; skip endless treasures – chairs that Shakespeare might have sat on – tapestries, pictures, floors made of the halves of oaks [...] All these ancestors and centuries, and silver and gold, have bred a perfect body. She is stag like, or race horse like, save for the face, which pouts, and has no very sharp brain. But as a body hers is perfection".
І в іншому щоденниковому записі: "There is her maturity and full breastedness: her being so much in full sail on the high tides, where I am coasting down backwaters; her capacity I mean to take the floor in any company, to represent her country, to visit Chatsworth, to control silver, servants, chow dogs; her motherhood (but she is a little cold and offhand with her boys), her being in short (what I have never been) a real woman".
І ще в іншому: "her ancestresses had walked so on the snow with their great dogs bounding by them. All the centuries seemed lit up, the past expressive, articulate; not dumb and forgotten". Загалом, видно, як з цього проростає "Орландо".
Але - навіть поза захопленою призмою перспективи ВВ - мені здається, що Віта Севілл-Вест мусила б бути якоюсь лайфстайл-коучкою чи бодай давати майстеркласи з тайм-менеджменту, бо це ж треба вміти так жити: ходити на хайкінг в Італії до того, як це стало модно, і їздити машиною Іраном, і засаджувати сади, і вести господарство у древньому маєтку, і заводити щотижня по новому роману, і при цьому писати книжки, частину з яких перевидають навіть за сто років. Тут навіть при своєму безподієвому нудному житті не завжди встигаєш вкластися в дедлайни, а люди он як уміли жити!
Стереоскопічний ефект від поєднання щоденників, листів між ВВ і ВСВ і їхніх листів іншим людям прямо дуже ефектно підсвітлює всі драми - скажімо, той напряжний ранній етап "любить-не любить" чи, що гірше, "люблю-не люблю", на якому у своїх щоденниках чи листах до інших людей вони синхронно пишуть: нє-нє, от я не закохана, але "she loves me, which flatters and pleases me" (ВСВ) і "Am I in love with her? But what is love? Her being ‘in love’ with me, excites and flatters" (ВВ). Ну і всю душу висотує цей контраст між людиною, яка живе у світі, і людиною, яка живе в голові. ВВ - людина зі складною емоційною палітрою і ментальною географією, сильні почуття їй даються десь так само легко, як стоматологічна операція, вона намацує обриси емоцій, як рану від вирваного зуба - через болючу відсутність: "She is doomed to go to Persia; and I mind the thought so much (thinking to lose sight of her for five years) that I conclude I am genuinely fond of her". І тільки це дає якусь визначеність: "I’m settling down to wanting you, doggedly, dismally, faithfully – I hope that pleases you. It’s damned unpleasant for me".
І ВСВ - яка таки краще вміє жити - зчитує цю специфіку: "she is very very fond of me, and says she was so unhappy when I went to Persia that it startled and terrified her. I don’t think she is accustomed to emotional storms, she lives too much in the intellect and imagination. Most human beings take emotional storms as a matter of course".
Цікаво стежити, як це спілкування тягнеться - змінюючись у різні формати - через багато років. А крім, так би мовити, сю��ету, в книжці просто багато прекрасних формулювань - скажімо, ось який милий спосіб висловити захват: "She is a genius and l would carry a thousand hair-shedding dogs to the gates of Hell for her did she wish it!"
Загалом, дуже читабельно.
April 25, 2021
I also Fell in Love with them
February 7, 2021
It feels rude to rate a book made up entirely of personal letters and diaries never intended for publication like this, but here we go. It is a fascinating historical text, beautifully collected and expertly edited. It is in turns funny and heartbreaking, and unerringly human.
July 9, 2021
Video Review
Better and longer than I expected. Alison Bechdel's foreword was great, and I think it will attract the right kinds of readers to this important archive for romance between women in literature.
This book is important because it most clearly shows the discourse between Virginia and Vita, and their respective diary entries, and shows how this relationship heavily inspired Virginia Woolf's writing. The same may be true for the writing of Vita Sackville-West, who I've yet to read.
I do wonder whether these were intended by the authors as 'love' letters, as suggested by the cover. Love is not always present here. It surely emerges, but it's debatable for whom and for how long! Virginia was afraid to use the word love in her letters, and Vita perhaps was too unafraid to use it. This one-sidedness creates a great tension in their letters that makes it worthy of being an epistolary novel. Both women were married to men who they loved, but in their letters it wasn't clear how much their romance was against these mononormative or heteronormative conventions. It seems like they were very intimate companions, and their love seemed at times sometimes sisterly or motherly, sometimes of the intellectual or social admiration of how one might love a teacher, but at other times very much like romantic intimacy. I don't think social norms were censoring their expression of love in their letters, they are both very expressive and candid writers which makes them a joy to read.
Not to cast a shadow, but was there not a conflict of interest here in Virginia being Vita's prospective publisher? Might Vita not be wooing Virginia with some small professional interest, given that, when Vita stops writing poetry she also stops writing letters to Virginia? That Vita may have ingratiated herself with Hogarth Press by continually flattering Virginia's writing, and fishing for compliments for her own? I'm not here to make any big accusations, I just find it interesting to see how their relationship morphs with their impression of each other's writing, it seems more than chance. But this whole written correspondence is so deep and long that there are surely things that could be seen more clearly now about the method of how these authors write now than ever before.
There's definitely many complex dynamics between these writers that each reader will experience and interpret in their own way.
That Virginia, like many other classic female authors, was in continually bad health and died before their time is sad. I think the correspondence adds a new glimpse to that too. Having not read Virginia Woolf's diaries or letters before, I was surprised at how poor her health was for most of her writing life.
As a straight man something I should clarify, if only to myself for myself, is why I was particularly interested in reading romantic letters between two women from almost 100 years ago. The notion might be absurd to some people, and my reasons might be relevant justifications for other readers who do not identify as themselves as LGBT. Simply, Virginia Woolf's writing is marvelously distinct and expressive even today and in comparison to all, and so, seeing how she would write private letters to someone she is passionate about is interesting to me. I read to get a better understanding of people, and the tender intimacy of love letters between female writers is strangely touching in an era where heteronormative relationship dynamics are so brash and unsociable that quite rarely out of a fairly established relationship do we see a slow and innocent courtship, the 'little steps toward someone', that these letters resemble.
This is my 7th advanced reader copy (ARC) review. This means I received this ebook for free, in exchange for this review by Netgalley. I'm not financially motivated, as I read library books, so I only read ARCs I actually think will be good enough for me to rate and review honestly.
Better and longer than I expected. Alison Bechdel's foreword was great, and I think it will attract the right kinds of readers to this important archive for romance between women in literature.
This book is important because it most clearly shows the discourse between Virginia and Vita, and their respective diary entries, and shows how this relationship heavily inspired Virginia Woolf's writing. The same may be true for the writing of Vita Sackville-West, who I've yet to read.
I do wonder whether these were intended by the authors as 'love' letters, as suggested by the cover. Love is not always present here. It surely emerges, but it's debatable for whom and for how long! Virginia was afraid to use the word love in her letters, and Vita perhaps was too unafraid to use it. This one-sidedness creates a great tension in their letters that makes it worthy of being an epistolary novel. Both women were married to men who they loved, but in their letters it wasn't clear how much their romance was against these mononormative or heteronormative conventions. It seems like they were very intimate companions, and their love seemed at times sometimes sisterly or motherly, sometimes of the intellectual or social admiration of how one might love a teacher, but at other times very much like romantic intimacy. I don't think social norms were censoring their expression of love in their letters, they are both very expressive and candid writers which makes them a joy to read.
Not to cast a shadow, but was there not a conflict of interest here in Virginia being Vita's prospective publisher? Might Vita not be wooing Virginia with some small professional interest, given that, when Vita stops writing poetry she also stops writing letters to Virginia? That Vita may have ingratiated herself with Hogarth Press by continually flattering Virginia's writing, and fishing for compliments for her own? I'm not here to make any big accusations, I just find it interesting to see how their relationship morphs with their impression of each other's writing, it seems more than chance. But this whole written correspondence is so deep and long that there are surely things that could be seen more clearly now about the method of how these authors write now than ever before.
There's definitely many complex dynamics between these writers that each reader will experience and interpret in their own way.
That Virginia, like many other classic female authors, was in continually bad health and died before their time is sad. I think the correspondence adds a new glimpse to that too. Having not read Virginia Woolf's diaries or letters before, I was surprised at how poor her health was for most of her writing life.
As a straight man something I should clarify, if only to myself for myself, is why I was particularly interested in reading romantic letters between two women from almost 100 years ago. The notion might be absurd to some people, and my reasons might be relevant justifications for other readers who do not identify as themselves as LGBT. Simply, Virginia Woolf's writing is marvelously distinct and expressive even today and in comparison to all, and so, seeing how she would write private letters to someone she is passionate about is interesting to me. I read to get a better understanding of people, and the tender intimacy of love letters between female writers is strangely touching in an era where heteronormative relationship dynamics are so brash and unsociable that quite rarely out of a fairly established relationship do we see a slow and innocent courtship, the 'little steps toward someone', that these letters resemble.
September 17, 2022
Este compêndio de cartas, e algumas entradas de diário, torna-se num verdadeiro documento histórico e social, pela época e sociedade que retratam e que as envolve.
E levanta-nos uma pequeníssima ponta do véu sobre duas das mais importantes personalidades femininas dos inícios do século XX, Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville-West. Não só sobre a sua relação amorosa, mas também os seus traços de personalidade, as suas lutas e dramas, o seu quotidiano, ou as suas criações literárias.
“Acho a psicologia da guerra muito estranha - não achas? Até ao meio-dia sou uma perfeita cobarde, tenho medo dos ataques aéreos, das bombas, dos gases, etc. -, depois do meio-dia sou toda corajosa e britânica - e continuo corajosa até à manhã seguinte - quando começa tudo de novo, na mesma sequência assustadora de medo, terror e retraída cobardia.”
Carta de Vita para Virginia, 25 de Agosto de 1939
E levanta-nos uma pequeníssima ponta do véu sobre duas das mais importantes personalidades femininas dos inícios do século XX, Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville-West. Não só sobre a sua relação amorosa, mas também os seus traços de personalidade, as suas lutas e dramas, o seu quotidiano, ou as suas criações literárias.
“Acho a psicologia da guerra muito estranha - não achas? Até ao meio-dia sou uma perfeita cobarde, tenho medo dos ataques aéreos, das bombas, dos gases, etc. -, depois do meio-dia sou toda corajosa e britânica - e continuo corajosa até à manhã seguinte - quando começa tudo de novo, na mesma sequência assustadora de medo, terror e retraída cobardia.”
Carta de Vita para Virginia, 25 de Agosto de 1939
December 29, 2021
To be read in small portions, as most epistolary (non) fiction should be, probably. A well curated set of letters spanning most of the love affair and later life-long friendship between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. It's interesting and moving to see the relationship evolve with teasing, jealousy, one-sided idolizing and, later, comfortable friendship, all making appearances. In short, not that different from many other relationships but this one has been beautifully documented.
January 14, 2023
screaming... crying... throwing up... i want to carve this whole book into myself
"I'm setting down to wanting you, doggedly, dismally, faithfully - I hope that pleases you. It's damn unpleasant for me."
"I'm setting down to wanting you, doggedly, dismally, faithfully - I hope that pleases you. It's damn unpleasant for me."
June 30, 2024
✒️VIRGINIA WOOLF: mistrzyni modernizmu brytyjskiego, należy do kanonu literatury angielskiej, intelektualistka z klasy wyższej, która należała do bohemy swoich czasów;
📚 Dzie��a, które warto poznać: "Pani Dalloway", "Do latarni morskiej", "Orlando";
✒️ VITA SACKVILLE-WEST: popularna pisarka brytyjska swoich czasów, arystokratka o bujnej osobowości, która przeszła do historii nie tylko jako autorka poezji i powieści, ale twórczyni zjawiskowych ogrodów.
❤️ Virginia była wrażliwa, delikatna, o bogatej wyobraźni i niezwykłym talencie. Vita była barwna, głośna, nieokiełznana, kochała towarzystwo i podroże. Poznały się w 1922, pierwszą korespondencję wymieniły na początku stycznia 1923 roku.
Obie były mężatkami, Vita byla także matką, ale! Jako, że miały usposobienie bohemiczne (a eksperymenty pośród klas wyższych były w modzie), to nie stroniły od romansów, również, a nawet szczególnie, z płcią przeciwną. Ba, związek Vity i jej męża Harolda był oficjalnie uznany za otwarty. Mieli wpływy, mieli pieniądze, mieli koneksje - mogli sobie na to pozwolić bez utraty reputacji. Relacja Virginii i jej męża była szczególna, ze względu na bolesne doświadczenia pisarki z lat dorastania. Obie lubiły i ceniły towarzystwo kobiet.
💌 Związek Vity i Virginii był wyrazem wzajemnej fascynacji, nie tyle cielesnej, co umysłowej.
Vita podziwiała talent swojej przyjaciółki, wychwalała jej twórczość i zachwycała się intelektem. Ostatnie o niej słowa "Taki piękny umysł, taka piękna dusza".
Virginia była względem twórczości Vity często krytyczna, ale podziwiała jej charakter, jego barwność i umiejętność odnajdywania się w każdej sytuacji. "Vita naprawdę trzyma życie w garści (...)".
✒️ Ich korespondencja (między sobą, ale nie tylko), fragmenty wpisów dzienników, ukazują ich intymną, wyjątkową więź. Pełne są czułostek, wspomnień, ale przede wszystkim zabawnych anegdot z ich środowiska, ploteczek na temat towarzystwa, zmian kulturowych, społecznych i historycznych, ale też wzajemnej rosnącej fascynacji, bliskości, czasami zazdrości, szacunku.
🌟 Uwielbiam takie ukryte w listach i pamiętnikach ciekawostki! A tutaj jest ich mnóstwo! Poczułam się jak część tej elitarnej śmietanki swoich czasów 🙌🏻
September 1, 2022
never read such a personal, honest, real book about two women so deeply in love.. the longing for each other, just wow. i fell in love with them both, i think. Oh and virginia has my heart. sapphic lov . go read it y'all!! x
February 9, 2022
Can I give 6 stars? 10? What are star ratings anyway to the beauty and joy of these letters?
February 6, 2022
Kogoś dziwi 5 gwiazdek? Nie. I słusznie.
Ach, no po prostu kocham te listy, to drugi raz, jak je czytam, pierwsze poznałam w tłumaczeniu ponad 10 lat temu, które miałam z biblioteki, a które teraz chodzi za miliony monet na allegro. No ale to wydanie ma piękny wstęp Alison Bechdel, w którym autorka także przygląda się swojemu odbiorowi tych listów na przestrzeni lat i postanowiłam, że ja też tak będę. Może znów do nich wrócę za 10 lat, będę wtedy w wieku Virginii, kiedy poznała Vitę i znów inaczej spojrzę na te listy, których autorki świetnie się do siebie dopasowują, z biegiem upływu lat, nadając miłości coraz to nowe znaczenie.
Ach, no po prostu kocham te listy, to drugi raz, jak je czytam, pierwsze poznałam w tłumaczeniu ponad 10 lat temu, które miałam z biblioteki, a które teraz chodzi za miliony monet na allegro. No ale to wydanie ma piękny wstęp Alison Bechdel, w którym autorka także przygląda się swojemu odbiorowi tych listów na przestrzeni lat i postanowiłam, że ja też tak będę. Może znów do nich wrócę za 10 lat, będę wtedy w wieku Virginii, kiedy poznała Vitę i znów inaczej spojrzę na te listy, których autorki świetnie się do siebie dopasowują, z biegiem upływu lat, nadając miłości coraz to nowe znaczenie.
April 30, 2010
Look, I am still super annoyed with the editors of this collection, but the letters that are here are great. Review to come!
* * *
Original: Ordered Vita's letters to various people, these letters arrived first. You know what sucks? Virginia's letters are only excerpted from! Who the hell thought THAT was a good plan? It's maddening! Were there copyright issues? Either way: LAME. Guess I'll have to order VW's letters from the era...
* * *
Original: Ordered Vita's letters to various people, these letters arrived first. You know what sucks? Virginia's letters are only excerpted from! Who the hell thought THAT was a good plan? It's maddening! Were there copyright issues? Either way: LAME. Guess I'll have to order VW's letters from the era...
March 5, 2024
4.5 stars
I have (or did have) so many things to say about this but they wouldn't make sense if I put them all together, so review to come later.
******
'Look on it, if you like, as copy, - as I believe you look upon everything, human relationships included.' - Vita to Virginia, 1924
Reading this book was such a unique experience for me (I know I need to stop saying this about every book, but it's true) and I actually experienced what can only be described as a book hangover whilst reading the book. I was so immersed in the lives of Vita and Virginia that I almost forgot any other book existed. I was genuinely so confused when - at about the 100 page mark - the question of what I was going to read next popped into my head that the answer I gave myself was 'nothing'. The possibility of following up something so real and so emotional seemed ridiculous to me.
Before this, I had never read or been interested in reading any book composed purely of correspondence between two people, but I picked this up because of my interest in a) Virginia Woolf b) queer history and c) the lives of authors. And I am so glad that happened to come across this.
The way that Vita and Virginia communicate with each other is so....I don't even know how to describe it. Whilst reading this, you are a spectator of something so deeply personal that you have no choice but to get lost in it and really live alongside the authors. You can see the fluctuations of their relationship and what causes them, you can see how the way they interact with each other affects the way they interact with other people, and most of all you can see how precious their relationship was.
It feels so strange to say all of this, because of the fact that they were real people whose lives stretched far beyond the boundaries of these 280 pages. I won't say any more in that vein because it would just get repetitive, but what I will say is that if you are even remotely interested in queer history, Virginia Woolf, or both, you should read this.
Also, if you haven't already read this and are planning to, I would recommend watching the film Vita and Virginia first (I know recommending book lovers the film version doesn't work 50% of the time, but bear with me here). For me watching the film first helped me get a fuller picture of their lives, but if you do watch it after you have read the book you might find it slightly disappointing simply because it is completely different to their letters (it stops quite abruptly at the point when Virginia finishes Orlando, rather than continuing to 1941).
I am also doing an informal reading challenge whereby I read more lgbtq+ books than usual for Pride month. So far I have read:
Olivia by Dorothy Strachey*
Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West: Love Letters
*If someone could tell me how to hyperlink this review, it would be greatly appreciated.
I have (or did have) so many things to say about this but they wouldn't make sense if I put them all together, so review to come later.
******
'Look on it, if you like, as copy, - as I believe you look upon everything, human relationships included.' - Vita to Virginia, 1924
Reading this book was such a unique experience for me (I know I need to stop saying this about every book, but it's true) and I actually experienced what can only be described as a book hangover whilst reading the book. I was so immersed in the lives of Vita and Virginia that I almost forgot any other book existed. I was genuinely so confused when - at about the 100 page mark - the question of what I was going to read next popped into my head that the answer I gave myself was 'nothing'. The possibility of following up something so real and so emotional seemed ridiculous to me.
Before this, I had never read or been interested in reading any book composed purely of correspondence between two people, but I picked this up because of my interest in a) Virginia Woolf b) queer history and c) the lives of authors. And I am so glad that happened to come across this.
The way that Vita and Virginia communicate with each other is so....I don't even know how to describe it. Whilst reading this, you are a spectator of something so deeply personal that you have no choice but to get lost in it and really live alongside the authors. You can see the fluctuations of their relationship and what causes them, you can see how the way they interact with each other affects the way they interact with other people, and most of all you can see how precious their relationship was.
It feels so strange to say all of this, because of the fact that they were real people whose lives stretched far beyond the boundaries of these 280 pages. I won't say any more in that vein because it would just get repetitive, but what I will say is that if you are even remotely interested in queer history, Virginia Woolf, or both, you should read this.
Also, if you haven't already read this and are planning to, I would recommend watching the film Vita and Virginia first (I know recommending book lovers the film version doesn't work 50% of the time, but bear with me here). For me watching the film first helped me get a fuller picture of their lives, but if you do watch it after you have read the book you might find it slightly disappointing simply because it is completely different to their letters (it stops quite abruptly at the point when Virginia finishes Orlando, rather than continuing to 1941).
I am also doing an informal reading challenge whereby I read more lgbtq+ books than usual for Pride month. So far I have read:
Olivia by Dorothy Strachey*
Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West: Love Letters
*If someone could tell me how to hyperlink this review, it would be greatly appreciated.
February 14, 2021
Debating which of these literary geniuses I would rather fall in love with me quickly turned into crying over Virginia Woolf on Valentine’s Day.
July 15, 2022
COMENTÁRIO
"Cartas de Amor" de Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville West
Tradução de Margarida Periquito
Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville West mantiveram uma relação de proximidade durante quase 20 anos.
As cartas trocadas entre ambas e os diários de Woolf provam que esta relação foi, durante alguns anos, uma relação amorosa intensa e carnal.
Este maravilhoso volume editado pela Relógio d'Água de cartas trocadas entre ambas mostram a intensidade dessa relação, o modo como se foi construindo e depois como se foram afastando.
Estas cartas dão-nos ainda um retrato das vivências culturais e literárias dos anos 20 e 30 no Reino Unido.
Por fim este volume é, na minha opinião, um documento que demonstra a grande humanidade de Virgínia Woolf, mesmo nos momentos mais caseiros e irritados da vida quotidiana.
Um leitura perfeita para quem que aprender e saber mais sobre o amor entre duas mulheres...
"Cartas de Amor" de Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville West
Tradução de Margarida Periquito
Virginia Woolf e Vita Sackville West mantiveram uma relação de proximidade durante quase 20 anos.
As cartas trocadas entre ambas e os diários de Woolf provam que esta relação foi, durante alguns anos, uma relação amorosa intensa e carnal.
Este maravilhoso volume editado pela Relógio d'Água de cartas trocadas entre ambas mostram a intensidade dessa relação, o modo como se foi construindo e depois como se foram afastando.
Estas cartas dão-nos ainda um retrato das vivências culturais e literárias dos anos 20 e 30 no Reino Unido.
Por fim este volume é, na minha opinião, um documento que demonstra a grande humanidade de Virgínia Woolf, mesmo nos momentos mais caseiros e irritados da vida quotidiana.
Um leitura perfeita para quem que aprender e saber mais sobre o amor entre duas mulheres...
November 20, 2022
Too sad to write a review right now. 1941 never happened.
August 25, 2023
4.5
crying
crying
July 25, 2012
Oh my, I hardly have words for this. It was an extremely exquisit pleasure to take a peek at their lives through the letters (while constantly feeling a little like a voyeur, reading words only meant for one other person) and I feel so much richer for their experiences.
I wish they had been able to include more of Virginia's letters; the fact that they often printed merely a handful of lines made me sad and was rather frustrating, though I understand of course, that these were mainly Vita's letters. I do hope, however, to one day read their complete correspondence (as far as it's available at least) because I admire and adore their relationship more than anything. It seems like such a special and unique bond, so much more than simply a love affair.
Their minds shine brightly and eloquently through those letters.
I wish they had been able to include more of Virginia's letters; the fact that they often printed merely a handful of lines made me sad and was rather frustrating, though I understand of course, that these were mainly Vita's letters. I do hope, however, to one day read their complete correspondence (as far as it's available at least) because I admire and adore their relationship more than anything. It seems like such a special and unique bond, so much more than simply a love affair.
Their minds shine brightly and eloquently through those letters.
August 30, 2020
Their letters are art. I felt so strange reading these letters that were probably not meant to be read by a third party but I also felt really, really fortunate. I love them. Even when they disagreed, it circled right back to love. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Virginia’s gentle mind and Vita’s adventurous personality. I hope I connect with another woman on this level someday. Yes, I love love and I love vita and Virginia.
December 27, 2022
Oh, my heart! I'm still clutching the book to my chest as we speak.
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