Hmm… with the exception of “A Society,” I wouldn’t really call these stories, although I do think Woolf accomplished what she set out to do with them. These pieces are written in the stream of consciousness style and fit perfectly with what Woolf wrote in “Modern Fiction”: “Examine for a moment an ordinary mind on an ordinary day. The mind receives a myriad impressions--trivial, fantastic, evanescent, or engraved with the sharpness of steel. From all sides they come, an incessant shower of innumerable atoms; and as they fall, as they shape themselves into the life of Monday or Tuesday, the accent falls differently from of old.”

As a result, to me (again, with the exception of “A Society”) these read like excerpts from a journal or notebook -- thoughts and impressions and character sketches that could have been shaped into stories, but never were. So for me, these don’t work well as narratives. They do, however, provide interesting insights into Woolf’s observations and writing process.

I haven’t read a ton of Woolf’s work, but I did enjoy her novel Mrs. Dalloway, as well as the long-form essay A Room of One’s Own and some of her other nonfiction. The stream of consciousness style worked far better for me in Mrs. Dalloway than it did in this collection. Perhaps it is more effective in the novel form as opposed to short fiction. I’m not sorry I read this slim volume, but I can’t imagine that it will stay with me.

I'm sending a box of surprise RABCKs that I thought you might enjoy. As always, no pressure to read them if they are not for you... do as you please with them! This one is not my favorite of the Woolf works that I have read, but... hey, it's short!

The box of books arrived safely today - a lovely surprise; many thanks! This slim volume includes some Woolf works that I haven't read before; looking forward to it. (And it's perfect for the "Tick Tock" release challenge {wry grin}.)

Later: Yeah, some of the more stream-of-consciousness vignettes didn't really do it for me, but I did enjoy the atmospheric feel of "Haunted House" and the impressionistic chaos of "Kew Gardens". Oh, and "Mark on the Wall," which had a surprisingly humorous conclusion!

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in this new-to-me Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Tick Tock challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2021 Keep Them Moving challenge. ***