Flush

'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.

'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.

"Ak, også den mest detaljerede beskrivelse af Flush som hvalp og ung hund får vi kun ved at stole på poesien. Han var af den særlige nuance af mørkebrunt, der i solskinnet "glimter gyldent". Hans øjne var "så brune og yndigt milde". Ørene var "kvastede", de "slanke fødder" var "hyllet i frynser", og halen var tyk." Denne beskrivelse giver forfatterinden os af hunden Flush, som er denne biografis hovedperson. Rollen må dog uvægerligt deles med hundens herskerinde, den prominente engelske poet Elisabeth Barrett Browning. 'Flush' er en skønlitterær biografi, hvor Woolf mixer genrerne, opløser grænsen mellem virkelighed og fiktion og giver læseren en blændende indsigt i 1800-tallets verden set fra en cockerspaniels brune øjne.Virginia Woolf (25. januar 1882 – 28. marts 1941) var engelsk forfatter og feminist. Hun spillede en afgørende rolle i det londonske forfattermiljø og er kendt for at have været forud for sin tid – både hvad angår indhold og skrivestil. Hun er blevet anerkendt som en af det 20. århundredes vigtigste forfattere og den vigtigste kvindelige forfatter. Hendes største romaner er 'Mrs. Dalloway' (1925), 'Til fyret' (1927) og 'Bølgerne' (1931). Virginia Woolf døde efter at have begået selvmord.

Written after Woolf had finished her emotionally draining work on The Waves, Flush purports to be an autobiography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s eponymous cocker spaniel, charting the dog’s early days in the countryside, his adoption by the famous poet, his subsequent life in London and his travels with his owners to Italy. While the resulting narrative is light-hearted and playful on the surface, Woolf ingeniously uses the faux-naif impressions of her animal narrator to voice her social criticism on topics such as the class system and the relationship between man and woman. Much like its predecessor Orlando, Flush is a genre-defying blend of biography and fantasy, and an accessible yet stylistically innovative jeu d’esprit.

Written after Woolf had finished her emotionally draining work on The Waves, Flush purports to be an autobiography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s eponymous cocker spaniel, charting the dog’s early days in the countryside, his adoption by the famous poet, his subsequent life in London and his travels with his owners to Italy. While the resulting narrative is light-hearted and playful on the surface, Woolf ingeniously uses the faux-naif impressions of her animal narrator to voice her social criticism on topics such as the class system and the relationship between man and woman. Much like its predecessor Orlando, Flush is a genre-defying blend of biography and fantasy, and an accessible yet stylistically innovative jeu d’esprit.

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. Cover designed by the award-winning Finnish designer Aino-Maija Metsola

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. Cover designed by the award-winning Finnish designer Aino-Maija Metsola

Hvordan oplever vores husdyr verden? I Flush giver Virginia Woolf ordet til digteren Elizabeth Barrett Brownings cocker spaniel og lader hundens perspektiv definere billedet af verden. Vi følger således hunden Flush fra dens tidlige år i landlige omgivelser, tilbragt med forfatteren Mary Mitford, og frem til dens samliv med Elizabeth i London og senere på rejser med hende i Italien. Det er en begivenhedsrig biografi, fuld af de farer livet som hund indebærer, blandt andet kidnapning og isolation. Men også en bog om køn og klasse i det victorianske Englands London. Portrættet af Flush er skrevet med stor humor og elegance, og til trods for en charmerende lethed i sit anslag er Flush et uforglemmeligt værk fostret af en vild fantasi og en stærkt sanselig forestillingsevne, som uden omsvøb giver os et billede af livet som hund. Flush er en klassiker inden for den såkaldte dog fiction – og et tidligt eksempel på den artslitteratur, der i dag synes mere aktuel end nogensinde. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) var forfatter, essayist, forlægger og intellektuel. Hun blev en central figur i Bloomsbury-kredsen og betragtes i dag som en af det 20. århundredes mest indflydelsesrige forfattere og feminister. Hendes ikoniske essay Eget værelse var et forsvar for kvinders autonomi og kreative frihed. Hendes værker Mrs. Dalloway, Til fyret og Bølgerne er sammen med Flush. En biografi klassikere i moderne litteratur. Oversat af Mogens Boisen og Kirstine Ersbøll Meyhoff Efterord af Elisabeth Friis Illustration af Evalou Hauge