A Room of One's Own

I sat in the park yesterday with a new acquaintance, Virginia Wolf. She would have approved the setting. The light was inexplicably golden and, while most of the trees were still green, the black walnuts along the path were dropping a fine shower of golden leaves. The effect was magnificent and very soothing. I must admit that I found some of the comments Ms. Wolf made to be dated but on the whole her opinions are quite thought provoking. It would be fascinating to hear what she thought of women writers today and of society in general.

One of the most interesting things she speculates is that great minds are androgynous in that they are not so conscious of the separation of the sexes. Thinking about really good books this makes sense. Many of my favorites are almost exclusively about men yet I have never felt patronized or left out by their authors.

Having read some of her work I am looking forward to reading more. I wish I could pinpoint why. In its own way this has proven to be a very subversive little book. As I read it I wasn't crazy about it yet the more I think about it the more I find it has burrowed into my brain, not only from my reading but also from its peculiar relation to the work of other women.

"If you would please me-and there are thousands like me-you would write books of travel and adventure, and research and scholarship, and history and biography, and criticism and philosophy and science."

The Miller's Tale

I had the privilege of curling up with Chaucer for a while the other day. Coming off of the Knight's Tale the Miller's Tale feels exceptionally low browed and a bit slapstick. The prologue has a section that warns the reader of this but it is almost titillation rather than just a warning. The Miller's comments about how many good wives there are is amusing when set against his obvious admiration of the wife. His belief that he is not a cuckold is also of doubtful worth given his own stupidity and absence from home.
The only incomprehensible part of the tale is why the elaborate set up if Nicholas lives in the same house with her. The carpenter is manifestly often from home so it feels rather contrived. Of course it does give the Miller a chance to poke fun at the Carpenter as too dumb to keep 'Noah' and 'Noel' straight in his head.