Seeing Jane Austen Through Virginia Woolf’s Eyes

At this meeting we will be discussing Virginia Woolf’s essay “Jane Austen” from her The Common Reader. In this essay Woolf, one of the most original voices of the twentieth century, reflects on Austen’s writing, her style, and the circumstances in which she worked.
Woolf discusses what makes Austen’s novels distinctive, how her quiet observations of daily life carry such power, and why her work continues to resonate long after her time. At the same time, the essay reveals something about Woolf herself — the way one great writer reads and responds to another. This makes the piece not just a study of Austen, but also an opportunity to glimpse Woolf’s own literary mind in operation.
Please join us if you can to discuss this thoughtful essay.

Link to the essay:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/64457/pg64457-images.html#Jane_Austen
Link to an audio reading of the essay:
https://ia804505.us.archive.org/6/items/commonreader_2108_librivox/commonreader_15_woolf_128kb.mp3