On Being Ill (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Modernist Essay on Illness, Consciousness, the Body, and the Literature of Embodiment
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- $59.00
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- $59.00
Descripción editorial
In On Being Ill, Virginia Woolf transforms bodily suffering into a subject of philosophical and aesthetic inquiry. First published in 1926, the essay argues that illness—so central to human experience—has been strangely neglected by literature, which prefers love, battle, and ambition to fever, pain, and convalescence. Woolf's prose is characteristically fluid, associative, and luminous, moving from the sensations of the sickroom to questions of language, solitude, reading, and the altered perceptions produced by physical vulnerability. Within modernist literary culture, the essay stands as a subtle challenge to conventional realism and to the hierarchy of subjects deemed worthy of art. Woolf's lifelong struggles with illness, nervous collapse, and enforced rest deeply inform the essay's authority. As a central figure of the Bloomsbury Group and one of modernism's most innovative stylists, she was acutely attentive to states of consciousness that evade ordinary description. Her personal experience gave her unusual insight into how illness rearranges time, identity, social relations, and the act of reading itself. This brief but profound work is recommended to readers interested in modernism, medical humanities, feminist criticism, or the literature of embodiment.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"In illness words seem to possess a mystic quality," writes Woolf, and she proves her observation correct in this essay (originally published in 1930), which leaps from observations of clouds to heaven to Shakespeare in stream-of-consciousness prose that, by design, borders on delirium. Her immersion in this mental state rings all the clearer for its contrast, in this edition, with "Notes from Sick Rooms," an essay written by Woolf's mother, Julia Stephen in 1883. While Woolf believes illness in literature should be no less stirring than war or love, her mother offers gentle instruction on things like pillows, baths, and the omnipresent scourge of crumbs, in what amounts to a nurse's how-to guide. Hermione Lee's introduction provides much appreciated context for Woolf's essay, though at 34 pages to Woolf's 28, it seems unnecessarily long-winded. Separating the two original texts is Mark Hussey's introduction to Stephen's essay, which notes that Stephens died when Woolf was 13, one potential explanation for the profound isolation Woolf experiences in illness. The book closes with a more personal note from internist Rita Charon, founder and director of Columbia University's Program of Narrative Medicine. In the conjunction of the two essays, Charon finds "the necessary equilibrium between knowledge and feeling." The book may have a surplus of commentary, but Woolf and Stephen will certainly change the way readers think of illness.
