[Vwoolf] Encountering Virginia Woolf cont.

[annemarie bantzinger]

Thank you all for your stories. Here is one more.
 



Having read most classic novels in English, German, and French as part
of my secondary school education I found myself on my own in 1966, i.e., no
teachers who tell you what to read. My English teacher had instilled in me the
love of the English language  -  from then on it was only English literature I
read.  The Brontë sisters, George Elliot
were my favorites, their work limited.


Then in 1970 The Voyage Out crossed my path, a book by Virginia Woolf
who meant nothing to me. I liked it, in a way it reminded me of the more old-fashioned
style novels of her predecessors. What a pleasure to find out she wrote another
novel, Night and Day which I liked even better. She had
written yet another book Jacob’s Room which I totally fell in love with. Forget
everything you have read before. This is the way I like a novel to be. I found
it breathtaking, inspiring and fascinating. The book hit something inside me which
has stayed with me ever since. Mrs Dalloway, equally, almost painfully,
beautiful. What that is? Dare I say, a recognition? A soul mate? What? So,
eventually I read all the books and other works and every single one of them I
love. I always think myself lucky that I read her novels in the ‘right order’,
which I think is a bonus. The publication of her Letters, Diaries and eventually the biographies deepend my affection. The work of all the academics out there gave her work background. The different layers exposed, each decade opened up another angle. 


It is so easy to write this all down, what it doesn’t say how much
trouble it took  to find her work and
later everything about the Bloomsbury before the internet age. To figure out
what was published and by whom. Where to order, how to pay? First thing I
usually turned to was the bibliography of a book to see which titles I didn’t
have yet. We travelled to London a lot which helped me build up my library
which is rather extensive. 


Still, I was on my own with my ‘hobby’. The arrival of the first
Miscellany was an indescribable pleasure and helped me extend my VW world. Of
course I was aware of the conferences of which I faithfully bought and devoured
the proceedings  but I felt there was no
room for me there. Was there a place for a common reader among all those
academics? 


It was Natalya Reinhold who got me out of my room and into her symposium
in Moscow.(2003) There I met some VW persons who were all so kind and friendly
and encouraging and helpful. That gave me the confidence to attend the London
conference where the same thing happened. I’m tempted to drop some names here
but I won’t. (* I do have to mention two more i.e. Vara Neverow who together with Susan Wegener helped me prepare a special Miscellany on Leonard Woolf! ) Everybody was very, very kind. There were neither ranks, nor
hierarchy. From then on I was hooked. It is such a pleasure and so rewarding to
be in touch not only during the conferences but all year long with people who
share your enthusiasm. 


It has been a long and rewarding road since 1970. I’ve learnt so much,
all thanks to the hard and loving work of you all out there! Thank you.


And Jacob who will stay with me always as he does for others. AnneMarie Bantzinger, Bilthoven, The Netherlands


 


 


 		 	   		  
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