Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York, Harcourt, Brace and company [c1938]
Description
Three Guineas is written as a series of letters in which Virginia Woolf ponders the efficacy of donating to various causes to prevent war. In reflecting on her situation as the "daughter of an educated man" in 1930s England, Woolf challenges liberal orthodoxies and marshals vast research to make discomforting and still-challenging arguments about the relationship between gender and violence, and about the pieties of those who fail to see their complicity in war-making. This pacifist-feminist essay is a classic whose message resonates loudly in our contemporary global situation.
User reviews
LibraryThing member dczapka
Though substantially less well-known than her other book-length essay, A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf's nonfiction work Three Guineas shares with it lucidity and eloquence, coupled with an intense set of endnotes and research that lend weight to her sometimes too-lofty claims.
The book's
Three Guineas resembles A Room of One's Own with respect to its wandering style, Woolf in this text embedding hypothetical letters within letters and subplots within subplots until it's nearly impossible to recall how she got there in the first place. Yet Woolf somehow manages to possess extraordinary command of her material, which is most probably the result of the extensive amount of planning and research she did in preparation for writing the text. (In fact, this is one of the few works in which the footnotes are not only helpful but practically essential.)
If the book has any substantial weaknesses, it's that the convolution of the narrative highlights to a certain degree that some of Woolf's claims are somewhat suspect. In addition, the idea that many of the points take an increasingly long time to come to fruition makes the book a bit of a trial to read despite its slim size. The trade-off between weightiness and readability, however, seems like a risk that Woolf was willing to take, and so perhaps the patient approach is the right approach to this work.
It may never reach the level of fame of A Room of One's Own, but Three Guineas, despite its unpopularity at the time of its publication, has grown to be a mature and well-documented argument that is an important moment in the development of Woolf as a thinker, a writer, and a woman.
The book's
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conceit is that an unnamed male interlocutor has written Woolf, asking for a donation and advice on how to prevent war. From this simple question, Woolf, in her typical circuitous style, weaves an argument that instead proves that the source of the conflict stems from the inequalities between men and women. In the end, her choice of causes and the conditions to which her guineas are attached create a controversial but compelling case for women's rights.Three Guineas resembles A Room of One's Own with respect to its wandering style, Woolf in this text embedding hypothetical letters within letters and subplots within subplots until it's nearly impossible to recall how she got there in the first place. Yet Woolf somehow manages to possess extraordinary command of her material, which is most probably the result of the extensive amount of planning and research she did in preparation for writing the text. (In fact, this is one of the few works in which the footnotes are not only helpful but practically essential.)
If the book has any substantial weaknesses, it's that the convolution of the narrative highlights to a certain degree that some of Woolf's claims are somewhat suspect. In addition, the idea that many of the points take an increasingly long time to come to fruition makes the book a bit of a trial to read despite its slim size. The trade-off between weightiness and readability, however, seems like a risk that Woolf was willing to take, and so perhaps the patient approach is the right approach to this work.
It may never reach the level of fame of A Room of One's Own, but Three Guineas, despite its unpopularity at the time of its publication, has grown to be a mature and well-documented argument that is an important moment in the development of Woolf as a thinker, a writer, and a woman.
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LibraryThing member TheBooknerd
Of all Woolf's writing that I've read, I enjoyed this book the most. Woolf's keen mind and crafty way with words comes across very well in 'Three Guineas' -- much more so than in her plodding, puzzling fiction.
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
Like A Room of One's Own, this is really an extended essay-- while that book revolves around women need space to be effective writers, this one is about how women need money to be effective in the anti-war movement. Or really, to do anything. The best part of the book is Woolf's deconstruction of
The notes in my Harvest annotated edition were extra annoying, because in addition to the series's usual unmarked editorial endnotes, there were also marked endnotes originally supplied by Woolf herself, so I had to bounce around. And to make matters worse, Woolf's endnotes were annotated in the editor's endnotes! So for any one passage you could hypothetically have three sets of endnotes to look up... only one of which would actually be indicated in-text. Why? Do people who make these kinds of decisions even read books?
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establishment male excuses for not admitting women into something, most of which don't really hold up to any sort of scrutiny.The notes in my Harvest annotated edition were extra annoying, because in addition to the series's usual unmarked editorial endnotes, there were also marked endnotes originally supplied by Woolf herself, so I had to bounce around. And to make matters worse, Woolf's endnotes were annotated in the editor's endnotes! So for any one passage you could hypothetically have three sets of endnotes to look up... only one of which would actually be indicated in-text. Why? Do people who make these kinds of decisions even read books?
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LibraryThing member xenchu
Woolf's book is a long essay on feminism and pacifism. Her thoughts on pacifism were much less persuasive than her thoughts on feminism. Her thoughts on feminism were clear, direct and persuasive. I felt her pacifism was lacking in sound argument.
One of the minor interest of the work was how
One of the minor interest of the work was how
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pessimistic she was concerning women's progress in the world. What she thought would take centuries has taken much less time. Not completely what is wanted but much more than Woolf evidently believed could happen. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
A very dry treatise on women's issues. Explores the need for women to have education, employment and financial independence in order to truly make an impact on the world. Makes one appreciate what my sisters before me had to go through.
LibraryThing member kell1732
For years I have been meaning to read this book and I finally did over the summer. After I was done with it, I wondered why I hadn’t read this book in the first place. I blamed it on the fact that I tend to be more of a fantasy reader than a science fiction reader. However, I am now finding a
I was pretty disturbed by this book. Not only was the government in this book “recruiting” young geniuses to fight their wars for them, but they were turning it into a game. Since every training exercise was a game many of the children would forget the fact they were training for war, which gave me the creeps. War, in this future world, is a game to the people who are being forced to fight it.
This book really made me think about the prevalence of war based video games today. Now, I’m not against these games but I did find it interesting to compare what these children were doing during training to what my friends do in their own living rooms. There were some eerie similarities between the two, like the planning and strategy that sometimes goes in to playing them.
While there were some parts that were a little slow, the book was totally worth the read. It really makes the reader look more critically at how our society views war today and even video games. I give this book a 4/5 and I recommend it to most everyone. This book is proof that the science fiction genre can have literary value despite what critics of the genre may say.
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place in my heart for this genre.I was pretty disturbed by this book. Not only was the government in this book “recruiting” young geniuses to fight their wars for them, but they were turning it into a game. Since every training exercise was a game many of the children would forget the fact they were training for war, which gave me the creeps. War, in this future world, is a game to the people who are being forced to fight it.
This book really made me think about the prevalence of war based video games today. Now, I’m not against these games but I did find it interesting to compare what these children were doing during training to what my friends do in their own living rooms. There were some eerie similarities between the two, like the planning and strategy that sometimes goes in to playing them.
While there were some parts that were a little slow, the book was totally worth the read. It really makes the reader look more critically at how our society views war today and even video games. I give this book a 4/5 and I recommend it to most everyone. This book is proof that the science fiction genre can have literary value despite what critics of the genre may say.
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LibraryThing member shulera1
Three Guineas was not an easy read for me, but it was an immensely satisfying one. I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I had never read Woolf before now. None of my high school or college classes (so far) taught her, and the only reason I picked this one up was because a friend handed it to me
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I've always heard people complaining about Woolf and how boring she is to read, but I didn't find Three Guineas boring at all. Woolf's snarky tone was a pleasure to read and the way she backed every one of her points was a pleasure to see. This isn't just somebody complaining that people are asking for her money -- this is a woman who has thought deeply on some very complicated issues and knows just how to express herself.
All that being said, it's low page count is deceiving. As much as I enjoyed the book, I couldn't read much at a time. It's dense, and needs to be read slowly so it can be savored and thought about critically.
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and said I'd enjoy it.I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I've always heard people complaining about Woolf and how boring she is to read, but I didn't find Three Guineas boring at all. Woolf's snarky tone was a pleasure to read and the way she backed every one of her points was a pleasure to see. This isn't just somebody complaining that people are asking for her money -- this is a woman who has thought deeply on some very complicated issues and knows just how to express herself.
All that being said, it's low page count is deceiving. As much as I enjoyed the book, I couldn't read much at a time. It's dense, and needs to be read slowly so it can be savored and thought about critically.
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LibraryThing member margaretfield
author weighs three appeals for a donation; really funny and dry;
LibraryThing member suesbooks
I found many truths in this book about the value of treatment of women that are , unfortunately, still true today. However, I felt the book was too detailed and too repetitive to make its case well. It also was directed to Brits so I did not possess foreknowledge of many of many of the references.
LibraryThing member kristykay22
Three Guineas is the other half of the novel-essay conceived by Virginia Woolf that ultimately split apart into a novel (The Years) and an essay-length book (Three Guineas). Here Woolf charmingly responds to the honorary treasurer of an anti-war organization who wants her to donate to and join
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their cause. Before sending him her guinea, though Woolf explores how she, as an "educated man's daughter" could most effectively help the pacifist cause while also mulling over requests from two other honorary treasurers raising money for women's education and for support in women entering the professions. Backed up by numerous quotations from newspapers, biographies, and diaries/letters, Woolf weaves a compelling, logical, and witty response to her requestors. Written on the brink of World War II, and mere decades after British women had won the right to vote, to get an education, and to enter the professions, the arguments feel like more than just an intellectual exercise -- there is really something at stake here. Often seen as a companion piece to A Room of One's Own, Woolf's take-down of the patriarchy and her understanding of its impact on the lives of women continue to feel fresh and vibrant. She also gives David Foster Wallace a run for his money in the funny footnote department. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ghost_Boy
After reading most of Virginia Woolf novels (except for one) I have decided to move on to her non-fiction works. Wasn't really a fan of this topic, I mean it was interesting, but if it was written by someone else I wouldn't bother to read Three Guineas.
This is long essay about giving women the
I wasn't a fan of how this edition was set up either. It's not Woolf's fault at all, but there was no table of contents or index which I think would help this book. I also skimmed the chapter long notes page. Not that it's not important, just nothing to my interest.
This is long essay about giving women the
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right to have a good college education to maybe prevent wars from starting or giving anyone the proper education to see that war is bad. Woolf herself was a feminist and she was against wars. She didn't like seeing soldiers coming back with all these issues they never had before war (Mrs. Dalloway goes into this too). She was also self-taught. She never had the money for an education and she read books above her age limit as a girl. To her, learning was a key to life.I wasn't a fan of how this edition was set up either. It's not Woolf's fault at all, but there was no table of contents or index which I think would help this book. I also skimmed the chapter long notes page. Not that it's not important, just nothing to my interest.
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Language
Original publication date
1938-06
1. ed. italiana edizioni La Tartaruga, 1975
Physical description
4 p.; 21 cm
Local notes
feminisms
Other editions
Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf (Paperback)