How Should One Read a Book?

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English writer who was concerned with gender equality and other forms of social justice. She wrote in multiple genres throughout her life, including essays, novels, and biographies. A key exponent of the modernist movement, Woolf was a leader in creating new expectations for the forms and aims of writing. Modernism was a movement which sought to reflect the truths and lived experiences of the early 20th century, which included World War I, technological advances, and social change. Woolf adopted different styles in her works and her experimental approach made her essential to the development of internal monologue and nonlinear narratives. Her preoccupations now associated with modernism are explored in “How One Should Read a Book?” including the responsibilities of a consumer of art, the role of literature, and the plural experiences of ordinary people.

Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen to a wealthy, intellectual family in South Kensington, London. She was raised and educated by her parents and private tutors. She began writing professionally in 1901. After the death of her parents in 1904, Woolf and her siblings moved to the bohemian London area of Bloomsbury, forming an artistic and intellectual group with other young artists and writers, now known as the “Bloomsbury Group”.