Project Gutenberg 2021-02-04 Public domain in the USA. 1032 Woolf, Virginia 1882 1941 Woolf, Virginia Stephen Stephen, Virginia 25010098 The Common Reader The common reader -- The Pastons and Chaucer -- On not knowing Greek -- The Elizabethan lumber room -- Notes on an Elizabethan play -- Montaigne -- The Duchess of Newcastle -- Rambling round Evelyn -- Defoe -- Addison -- Lives of the obscure: The Taylors and the Edgeworths. Laetitia Pilkington. Miss Ormerod -- Jane Austen -- Modern fiction -- "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" -- George Eliot -- The Russian point view -- Outlines: Miss Mitford. Dr. Bentley. Lady Dorothy Nevill. Archbishop Thomson -- The patron and the crocus -- The modern essay -- Joseph Conrad -- How it strikes a contemporary. Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images generously made available by Hathi Trust Digital Library.) "The Common Reader" by Virginia Woolf is a collection of essays written in the early 20th century. The book is a thoughtful examination of literature through the lens of the ordinary reader, emphasizing the value of reading for pleasure and the unique perspective that non-experts bring to literary criticism. Woolf's exploration includes both historical and contemporary figures in literature, focusing on the experiences, thoughts, and opinions of the common reader in relation to the complexities of literary appreciation. The opening of "The Common Reader" begins with a quote from Dr. Johnson that sets the tone for Woolf’s reflection on the role of the common reader, who, unencumbered by academic prejudice, has a genuine intuition towards what constitutes good poetry and literature. Woolf contrasts the common reader with critics and scholars, suggesting that the former possess a unique insight born from personal engagement with texts. She introduces this theme by discussing the history of the Paston family and their correspondence, which encapsulates the everyday aspirations, concerns, and lives of individuals from a particular era, highlighting how these narratives shape the larger tapestry of literary history. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 64.1 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en English literature -- History and criticism Literature, Modern -- History and criticism PR Text Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches 521102 2025-07-25T12:07:16.304178 text/html 496723 2024-10-18T10:16:39 text/html 517691 2025-07-25T12:07:26.262146 application/epub+zip 525507 2025-07-25T12:07:20.111161 application/epub+zip 522873 2025-07-25T12:07:17.950156 application/epub+zip 505679 2025-07-25T12:07:30.436125 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 478763 2025-07-25T12:07:24.706141 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 476546 2022-09-29T04:22:07.418419 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 498195 2025-07-25T12:07:15.880186 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 478410 2024-10-18T10:16:39 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16963 2025-07-25T12:07:30.577085 application/rdf+xml 8316 2025-07-25T12:07:18.653144 image/jpeg 2103 2025-07-25T12:07:18.323172 image/jpeg 655391 2025-07-25T12:07:16.354181 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia