
Virginia Woolf in 90 Minutes
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $8.56
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Vance
-
By:
-
Paul Strathern
About this listen
A highly sensitive and intelligent child, Virginia Woolf grew up in a large family prone to psychological instability. Throughout her life, she was subject to periods of mental breakdown, yet when she was lucid she was capable of a uniquely perceptive and frank introspection. Under the influence of the Bloomsbury Group and their progressive social attitudes, she became experimental in her life and art, breaking with convention to produce some of the finest and most unique literary works of the 20th century.
Virginia Woolf in 90 Minutes offers a concise, expert account of Woolf's life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world. The book also includes a list of Woolf's chief works, a chronology of her life and times, and recommended reading for those who wish to delve deeper.
©2005 Paul Strathern (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Dostoevsky in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After narrowly avoiding a firing squad when he was just twenty-eight years old, Dostoevsky never took things lightly. His great novels burst upon the European literary scene like a succession of thunderbolts. His understanding of the darker and more extreme recesses of the human mind cast a forceful light into these areas of experience. The raw psychology and passionate involvement of his books galvanized writers and thinkers as disparate as Nietzsche and Kafka.
-
-
Author doesn’t actually like Dostoevsky
- By Customer on 07-11-21
By: Paul Strathern
-
Rousseau in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Rousseau we encounter a walking ego, naked sensibility. Feeling triumphs over intellectual argument in his works, which are both deeply stirring and deeply inconsistent. Yet while his contemporaries Kant and Hume may have been superior academic philosophers, the sheer power of Rousseau's ideas was unequaled in his time. It was he who encouraged the introduction of both liberty and irrationality into the public domain.
-
-
In 90 Minutes Series overview
- By L Mark Higgins on 08-01-12
By: Paul Strathern
-
Garcia Marquez in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Latin American literature was never primitive; yet, from its beginnings, it was suffused with a fresh, often childish lyricism. Gabriel Garcia Marquez stands on the shoulders of a great Latin American literary heritage, but he is a modern rarity: a writer with aspirations to high art who also remains hugely popular. For those who fall under his spell, his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the richest literary dreams ever written.
-
-
Finally, a way to get through 100 Years!
- By Lissa on 10-27-09
By: Paul Strathern
-
Kafka in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A handsome recluse, plagued by indecision and hypochondria, Franz Kafka nonetheless exhibited an extraordinary strength. He developed the uncanny ability to observe himself with cool objectivity, and he cultivated this ability in his writing, where it appeared in increasingly original metaphorical form. His works became among the greatest of the twentieth century, and his influence permeated far and wide, transcending literature.
-
-
Excellent
- By Samantha Cohen on 12-13-20
By: Paul Strathern
-
Beckett in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beckett in 90 Minutes offers a concise, expert account of Beckett's life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world. The book also includes a list of Beckett's chief works, a chronology of his life and times, and recommended reading for those who wish to delve deeper.
-
-
Well done invaluableB
- By Amazon Customer on 11-19-23
By: Paul Strathern
-
James Joyce in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a young age, James Joyce showed a precocious and original intellect and a confidence in his own artistic destiny. He would indeed go on to transform the nature of modern literature, employing a unique stream-of-consciousness technique rich in symbolism and wordplay. Through his art, the Dublin native sought to reveal the radiance and meaning that lurks in the everyday world - "the soul of the commonest object" - evoking a heightened sense of consciousness within the grit of common life.
-
-
An Enigma
- By VJD on 12-07-20
By: Paul Strathern
-
Dostoevsky in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After narrowly avoiding a firing squad when he was just twenty-eight years old, Dostoevsky never took things lightly. His great novels burst upon the European literary scene like a succession of thunderbolts. His understanding of the darker and more extreme recesses of the human mind cast a forceful light into these areas of experience. The raw psychology and passionate involvement of his books galvanized writers and thinkers as disparate as Nietzsche and Kafka.
-
-
Author doesn’t actually like Dostoevsky
- By Customer on 07-11-21
By: Paul Strathern
-
Rousseau in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Rousseau we encounter a walking ego, naked sensibility. Feeling triumphs over intellectual argument in his works, which are both deeply stirring and deeply inconsistent. Yet while his contemporaries Kant and Hume may have been superior academic philosophers, the sheer power of Rousseau's ideas was unequaled in his time. It was he who encouraged the introduction of both liberty and irrationality into the public domain.
-
-
In 90 Minutes Series overview
- By L Mark Higgins on 08-01-12
By: Paul Strathern
-
Garcia Marquez in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Latin American literature was never primitive; yet, from its beginnings, it was suffused with a fresh, often childish lyricism. Gabriel Garcia Marquez stands on the shoulders of a great Latin American literary heritage, but he is a modern rarity: a writer with aspirations to high art who also remains hugely popular. For those who fall under his spell, his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the richest literary dreams ever written.
-
-
Finally, a way to get through 100 Years!
- By Lissa on 10-27-09
By: Paul Strathern
-
Kafka in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A handsome recluse, plagued by indecision and hypochondria, Franz Kafka nonetheless exhibited an extraordinary strength. He developed the uncanny ability to observe himself with cool objectivity, and he cultivated this ability in his writing, where it appeared in increasingly original metaphorical form. His works became among the greatest of the twentieth century, and his influence permeated far and wide, transcending literature.
-
-
Excellent
- By Samantha Cohen on 12-13-20
By: Paul Strathern
-
Beckett in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beckett in 90 Minutes offers a concise, expert account of Beckett's life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world. The book also includes a list of Beckett's chief works, a chronology of his life and times, and recommended reading for those who wish to delve deeper.
-
-
Well done invaluableB
- By Amazon Customer on 11-19-23
By: Paul Strathern
-
James Joyce in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a young age, James Joyce showed a precocious and original intellect and a confidence in his own artistic destiny. He would indeed go on to transform the nature of modern literature, employing a unique stream-of-consciousness technique rich in symbolism and wordplay. Through his art, the Dublin native sought to reveal the radiance and meaning that lurks in the everyday world - "the soul of the commonest object" - evoking a heightened sense of consciousness within the grit of common life.
-
-
An Enigma
- By VJD on 12-07-20
By: Paul Strathern
-
D. H. Lawrence in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
D. H. Lawrence in 90 Minutes offers a concise, expert account of Lawrence's life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world. The book also includes a list of Lawrence's chief works, a chronology of his life and times, and recommended reading for those who wish to delve deeper.
-
-
Concise perfection
- By Anonymous User on 08-15-22
By: Paul Strathern
-
Borges in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Borges in 90 Minutes offers a concise, expert account of Borges' life and ideas and explains their influence on literature and on man's struggle to understand his place in the world. The book also includes a list of Borges' chief works, a chronology of his life and times, and recommended reading for those who wish to delve deeper.
-
-
Why is Strathern so obsessed with Borges sex life?
- By SRP on 02-01-21
By: Paul Strathern
-
Spinoza in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spinoza's brilliant metaphysical system was derived neither from reality nor experience. Starting from basic assumptions, with a series of geometric proofs he built a universe which was also God, one and the same thing, the classic example of pantheism. Although his system seems an oddity today, Spinoza's conclusions are deeply in accord with modern thought, from science (the holistic ethics of today's ecologists) to politics (the idea that the state exists to protect the individual).
-
-
Very Useful for the Beginner
- By Jesse on 05-06-06
By: Paul Strathern
-
Descartes in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rene Descartes spent most of his childhood in solitude, a situation that also came to characterize his adult life. Fortunately, these countless lonely hours helped Descartes produce the declaration that changed all philosophy: "I think, therefore I am." Eventually convincing himself to doubt and disregard sensory knowledge, Descartes found he could prove his existence through his thoughts. This internal information, he believed, was the true reality and external forces were hopelessly deceiving.
-
-
The title says it all
- By James McIlvaine on 10-27-20
By: Paul Strathern
-
Schopenhauer in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Schopenhauer, the "philosopher of pessimism", makes it very plain that he regards the world and our life in it as a bad joke. But if the world is indifferent to our fate, it doesn't thwart us on purpose. The world's facade is supported by what Schopenhauer calls the Universal Will, blind and without purpose. This Will brings on all our misery and suffering; our only hope is to liberate ourselves from its power and from the trappings of individualism and egoism that are at its mercy.
-
-
In 90 Minutes Series overview
- By L Mark Higgins on 08-01-12
By: Paul Strathern
-
St. Augustine in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In St. Augustine in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of St. Augustine's life and ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world. The book also includes selections from St. Augustine's work, a brief list of suggested readings for those who wish to delve deeper, and chronologies that place St. Augustine within his own age and in the broader scheme of philosophy.
-
-
Author hates subject
- By MM on 06-21-10
By: Paul Strathern
-
Hegel in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Hegel, philosophy became very difficult indeed. His dialectical method produced the most grandiose metaphysical system known to man. Even Hegel conceded that "only one man understands me, and even he does not." Hegel's system included absolutely everything, but its most vital element was the dialectic of the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. This method sprang from Hegel's ambition to overcome the deficiencies of logic and ascended toward mind as the ultimate reality.
-
-
WWF Bodyslam on Hegel
- By quinet on 10-22-05
By: Paul Strathern
-
Nietzsche in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Friedrich Nietzsche, philosophy was dangerous not only for philosophers but for everyone. His ideas presaged a collective madness that had horrific consequences in Europe in the early 1900s. Though his philosophy is more one of aphorisms than a system, it is brilliant, persuasive, and incisive. His major concept is the will to power, which he saw as the basic impulse for all our acts. Christianity he saw as a subtle perversion of this concept, thus Nietzsche's famous pronouncement, "God is dead."
-
-
Shallow and misleading
- By Mark G on 07-17-04
By: Paul Strathern
-
Marx in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Karl Marx's devastating critique of capitalism, and his proposal of communism as the answer to the failings of the capitalist system, bore their greatest fruits in the twentieth century with the formation of the communist state in the Soviet Union. This great venture has now all but completely failed. Yet the force of the communist belief offered the prospect of "justice on this earth" to countless numbers. And Marx's critique has influenced generations of thinkers who call themselves Marxists.
-
-
Save your 90 minutes
- By Derek on 04-15-06
By: Paul Strathern
-
Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"If we accept Wittgenstein's word for it," Paul Strathern writes, "he is the last philosopher. In his view, philosophy in the traditional sense was finished."
-
-
Hatchet Job
- By Joseph on 05-13-05
By: Paul Strathern
-
Socrates in 90 Minutes
- By: Paul Strathern
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just a century after it had begun, philosophy entered its greatest age with the appearance of Socrates, who spent so much of his time talking about philosophy on the streets of Athens that he never got around to writing anything down. His method of aggressive questioning, called dialectic, was the forerunner of logic; he used it to cut through the twaddle of his adversaries and arrive at the truth. Rather than questioning the world, he believed, we would be better off questioning ourselves.
-
-
I thought it was OK
- By Theodore on 11-21-11
By: Paul Strathern
-
The Poems of T. S. Eliot
- Read by Jeremy Irons
- By: T. S. Eliot
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons, Dame Eileen Atkins
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.
-
-
Horribly Frustrating to Follow
- By AVS on 06-18-18
By: T. S. Eliot
Critic reviews
Learning more
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Informative and interesting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good biographies
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Short but insightful essay on V Woolf
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Sensitive introduction to one of the great authors of all time
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating, but recording was choppy
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
describing an author and her writing,
that I never found clear or interesting.
Great!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Would you try another book from Paul Strathern and/or Robert Whitfield?
Filled with psychoanalytic speculation presented as "facts." Dreadful, content wise, although the narration was pure BBC.What do you think your next listen will be?
.Which scene was your favorite?
.What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
.Any additional comments?
.Psychobabble
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.