From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2007 #518 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Website: http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Sunday, December 30 2007 Volume 2007 : Number 518 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Mrs. Dalloway, NJC ["Mark Scott" ] Re: speaking of Mrs. Dalloway NJC ["Mark Scott" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:59:29 -0800 From: "Mark Scott" Subject: Re: Mrs. Dalloway, NJC - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Monika Bogdanowicz" > Anyway, what would you say is different about Nicole Kidman's > portrayal vs. what you learned about Woolf yourself from reading? I > am just curious. I don't think she was the brooding, introverted character that Kidman played. Her nephew, Quentin Bell, wrote a biography of her. He says she was always very lively when she was around her sister Vanessa's children (Vanessa Bell was Virginia's sister and Quentin Bell's mother, played by Miranda Richardson in 'The Hours'. Vanessa was a painter and seems to have been the more reserved and introverted of the two sisters. 'The Hours' seems to have got it the wrong way around, imo.) Virgnia was very funny and affectionate with Quentin and his brother Julian and sister Angelica (the little girl Virginia has the funeral for the bird with in the movie). Woolf suffered from manic depressive disorder so she probably was more like the Kidman portrayal when she was at her low points. But that was usually after she had finished a book and was waiting for publication. When she was writing she was usually in good mental health. My impression is that she was a very lively conversationalist among her intimate friends and family with a very sharp, often cutting wit. A brilliant, pretty much self-educated woman. ................................................................................................................................................ I've got to say though, it's terrible that Virginia Woolf's body wasn't found for quite some time. I read she drowned herself March 28th and her body wasn't found until April 18th or so. Then again, that's probably what she intended with putting stones in her pockets to weigh her down, hmm? ................................................................................................................................................. Virginia and Leonard Woolf had moved to Monk's House in Sussex full time during WWII. It was originally their summer and holiday getaway. They lived mostly in London. But during the blitz, of course, many people who were able to, got out of London. Still, the war was a terrible strain. The German planes flew right over Sussex on their way to and from London and the Woolf's house in London was bombed. She had also spent a lot of time not too long before the war started writing a pretty good sized novel called 'The Years'. Her mind kind of kicked into overdrive and she wrote and wrote and wrote hundreds and hundreds of words. She ended up cutting the finished book down quite a bit and was convinced it was no good and should be torn up. Leonard read it and managed to convince her to publish it. It was published in 1937. Her final novel was 'Between the Acts' which she was preparing for publication at the time of her death. I think 'The Years' had somehow sapped her confidence and put her mainspring out of whack. She had severe doubts about her writing in her later life. I think the agony of uncertainty she always went through before publishing a book along with the strain of the war brought on a severe attack of her depression. It was March of 1941 when she left Monk's House to walk to the Ouse River, put the stones in her pocket and end her life. I don't remember how long it was, but her body was not found for some time after that. It was found some distance downstream from where her walking stick had been found on the bank of the river. It has been speculated that the body may have caught on something and remained submerged for a time before finally floating to the surface. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:07:35 -0800 From: "Mark Scott" Subject: Re: speaking of Mrs. Dalloway NJC I actually liked 'The Hours' quite a lot when I first saw it. Kidman actually made me forget she was the blonde Australian actress who had been married to Tom Cruise. It was in some ways a very fine performance....but it wasn't Virginia Woolf. I kind of feel the same way about Diana Ross in 'Lady Sings the Blues'. Once I found some things out about the real Billie Holiday, I became disillusioned with that movie. But Diana really was very good, especially considering she had never acted in a movie before. She just wasn't playing the real Billie Holiday. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. But I do like the way 'Mrs. Dalloway' is referenced and incorporated into 'The Hours'. Meryl Streep gives her usual flawless performance. And Julianne Moore is brilliant, imo. Mark in Seattle - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Monika Bogdanowicz" > Yes, I know but thank you! It was an interesting film, wasn't it? > I liked how it incorporated three different women in very similar > circumstances. > -Monika > > Kate Johnson wrote: > Monica, > > Do you know that there is a movie, called The Hours and starring > Meryl Streep, that incorporates Mrs Dalloway? > > > Kate ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2007 #518 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------