Virginia Woolf

a biography

Flush

Now Flush knew what men can never know - love pure, love simple, love entire; love that brings no train of care in its wake; that has no shame; no remorse; that is here, that is gone, as the bee on the flower is here and is gone.

Emily Netherland

I really truly loved it. It’s not a book filled with excitement and action— therefore could easily be misinterpreted as boring. However with purpose, it’s written with such authenticity to the protagonist (a literal dog). It is so increasingly sweet and beautiful, it feels like a Disney movie. As a dog owner, it changed my perspective on dogs and their bond to us entirely. I would urge everyone to read this. 

Anna Cassmer Ling-Vannérus

i know it's only january, but this might be my best read of 2025. so gut-wrenchingly bittersweet, i shed a tear when i finished it

isa/bella

gripping, funny & sweet story about a dog w/ incredibly subtle (imo) but sharp class commentary!! (worthy of many rereads to glean what definitely went over ur head the first read)!!! what's not to love!!!!

gio☕

In "Flush" ho ritrovato diverse analogie con "The Mark on the Wall" che ho letto diversi mesi fa. E Virginia, quando parla della natura, degli animali, è ancora più magica e poetica di quanto già lo sia.
Ho amato vedere raccontare una storia d'amore attraverso gli occhi di un cane. Sarà che, quando si tratta di cani, soprattutto nei libri, divento particolarmente sensibile ed emozionata, ma, davvero, Virginia non finisce mai di incantare, rapire, stregare con le sue parole sempre sceltissime e misurate, adatte, perfette.

Di Elizabeth Barrett non sapevo nulla e, tutto d'un tratto, eccomi qui a sapere moltissime cose di lei e di Robert Browning. È sempre bello leggere, soprattutto attraverso le parole degli scrittori che più amiamo, delle vite di altri poeti, scrittori, artisti. E, ormai lo so, la mia Virginia si cala sempre alla perfezione nel ruolo di critica, biografa, romanziera, poetessa... Insomma, di scrittrice.

Flush es un cocker spaniel de orejas largas, cola ancha y unos «ojos atónitos color avellana». A los pocos meses de su nacimiento es regalado a la famosa poetisa Elizabeth Barrett. Flush se convertirá en su compañero inseparable y, posteriormente, en el cómplice de sus amoríos con el poeta Robert Browning, aunque primero debe superar la animadversión y celos que siente ante su afortunado rival... Virginia Woolf relató la historia del perro de Elizabeth Barrett con rigor biográfico, recreando una época tan impresionante como la victoriana y consiguiendo una de las obras más deliciosas de la literatura contemporánea. Como señala Quentin Bell, Flush no es el producto específico de un amante de los perros, sino una narración construida a partir del esfuerzo de ver el mundo a través de la mente de un perro, un mundo dominado por los olores, las fidelidades y los deseos caninos.

Emir Andrés Ibañez

No me siento digno de reseñar un libro de Virginia Woolf, simplemente diré que la pluma de esta mujer cada vez me enamora más.

Manon Trautsch

Flush was an English cocker spaniel who belonged to the nineteenth-century poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Virginia Woolf learned of him from the love letters Elizabeth wrote to her future husband, fellow poet Robert Browning, and found 'the figure of their dog made me laugh so, I couldn't resist making him a Life.' The resulting 'biography' combines sensuous imaginative description with sharp social comment, and brings Woolf's unsentimental humour and insight to the fore. We see Flush as loyal confidant to Elizabeth on her sickbed at Wimpole Street, and from his jealous perspective we witness her courtship by Browning, their elopement and new life in Italy. The perfect accessible introduction to Woolf's genius, a unique blend of fact and fiction, Flush is perhaps best read in the company of a canine companion. This edition includes the four original illustrations by Vanessa Bell and an afterword by Margaret Forster.

The life, personality, and world of Elizabeth Barrett Browning are intimately portrayed in a biography of her pet cocker spaniel

A Biography

Sabine Ballata

Rocío de la Hera

Yasmin

Shradha Thekkekara

marta

Michael Springer

eliz

'Things are not simple but complex. If he bit Mr. Browning he bit her too. Hatred is not hatred; hatred is also love.' Virginia Woolf's delightful biography of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel, which asks what it means to be human - and to be dog. One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

Flush a biography

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