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5 Comments

  1. Marielle Teasdale
    March 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm · Reply

    Beautiful article. True, sadly a lot of people perceive Woolf as a dark, gloomy figure. She also had an incredible lightness of being and an insightful mind; looking for your book, I’m intrigued… :o)

    • Kyo
      March 29, 2012 at 2:05 pm · Reply

      Hi Marielle. I completely agree. Woolf had so many shades as a writer. I am constantly astounded by her playfulness and willingness to push boundaries. Her book On Being Ill is so surprisingly positive about the place of illness in her life and how it allowed her to desynchronize from life’s usual pace and priorities. (p.s. I do hope you enjoy my new book!)

  2. Mary
    March 28, 2012 at 4:19 pm · Reply

    Woolf seemed to have a highly developed sixth sense and a cracking intelligence. I suspect she was depressed too. What a lethal combination. I’m only sorry for the times she lived in, that there was no relief for her “discomfort with life.”

    Regarding your statements: “We have reached a point where we confuse self-reporting with genuine intimacy, where we select rushed journalism over literature, data over poetry. We have learned to surf without plunging.” People critical of memoir perhaps do not realize how difficult it is plunge into our memories and share them with others.

    This was a lovely, thoughtful article. Kyo, I wish you every success with your books.

    • Kyo
      March 29, 2012 at 2:13 pm · Reply

      Thank you for your comments, Mary. I am in awe of memoir writers and the brave vulnerability involved in sharing one’s life stories and experiences. I recently read Jeanette Winterson’s memoir (WInterson is also a great Woolf admirer) and was so struck by the raging and raw courage she showed throughout the book. As a novelist, I found it particularly fascinating to contrast the memoir version of Winterson’s adoptive mother to the fictional version (in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.)

  3. Suzy Davies
    January 2, 2019 at 12:27 pm · Reply

    A perceptive piece.

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Toronto, Ontario
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