Tag Archives: Bloomsbury

[Book Nerd Links] Eve Babitz, Louise Bourgeois, Bloomsbury, and Harold Bloom

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I should probably rename this regular feature, as it often spotlights artists, musicians, and other creative-types. Until I decide on a new one (suggestions welcome!), however, Book Nerd Links it shall remain.

Nina Hamnett by Roger Fry (1917). (c) University of Leeds Art Collection and Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation. Public Domain. 

Shopping for the Bookworm: Bloomsbury Group

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Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson Greeting Card by Amanda White

Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson Greeting Card by Amanda White. $3.90.

Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson at The Glamourist

Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson at The Glamourist. $25.29.

Virginia Woolf Print by Lucy Loves This

Virginia Woolf Print by Lucy Loves This. $25.29.

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A Year in Books/Day 158: Bloomsbury Recalled

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  • Title: Bloomsbury Recalled
  • Author: Quentin Bell
  • Year Published: 1995 (Columbia University Press)
  • Year Purchased: 2002/2003
  • Source: Unknown
  • About: The author was the younger son of Vanessa and Clive Bell, two central figures in the Bloomsbury group (which was really just a loose network of friends, family and acquaintances). His aunt was, of course, novelist Virginia Woolf. Bloomsbury Recalled is his brief but excellently engaging memoir of the fascinating adults who formed his parents’ social and professional circles from WWI to the start of the next  great international conflict at the end of the 1930s. The little boy who grew up in a sticky web of conflicting personalities and crossed goals became an accomplished polymath with a distinctive, intelligent and highly amusing voice. His relaxed nature, probing wit and compelling birthright give this book a sparkle that the average Bloomsbury retrospective sorely lacks.
  • Motivation: Bloomsbury? Check. A relatively unbiased insider’s view? Check. Writers, artists and theorists? Oh my! Seriously, this book covers one of my favourite literary periods. That is reason enough.

    English: Portrait of Clive Bell

    English: Portrait of Clive Bell (Photo credit: Wikipedia). The author’s father.

  • Times Read: 3
  • Random Excerpt/Pages 11 & 12 : “I was not alarmed. I was convinced that I was not really consumptive; also, apart from the cough and high temperature, I did not feel at all ill. I enjoyed some fierce arguments with a clergyman, managed to do a little painting, and embarked upon historical research on the principality of Monaco for which I was totally unqualified.”
  • Happiness Scale: 10

Voices from the Grave #20: Leonard Woolf Speaking on Bloomsbury and Virginia Woolf

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This is a rare recorded interview of Leonard Woolf speaking about his wife, Virginia, and their friends and fellow artists in that loose, non-movement called the Bloomsbury Group. It is nearly ten minutes long but is well worth your time. It was recorded in May 1964, when Leonard was 83.