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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Narrative employs orientalism and exoticized, stereotypical portrayals of the Ottoman empire and its people.
only read the first chapter. took me HOURS to get through those 95 pages, and usually I'm a pretty fast reader. it was so boring that I was genuinely reading at sloth speeds. I just couldn't do it.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Orlando still feels bold, experimental, and cutting-edge; yet it also feels like a novel that has aged poorly into the modern day. By which I don't mean that the novel is racist or morally regressive (though it is occasionally quite racist). It just feels so very much like a novel written for the reader of 1928 the novel's self-awareness that it is in fact, a novel published in 1928 by Hogarth Press is only the most obvious manifestation of this .
The timelessness that great literature can achieve is one of the thematic foci of Orlando and Woolf certainly seems to have managed this in her style. The outlandish narrative structure and the dry wit with which it is delivered still feel provocative and exciting (though I sometimes felt weary of the caustic, satirical tone). Meanwhile, much of the content seems intended to be delivered with a nudge and a wink to readers of the late 1920s. Preferably, British readers cracking open a brand new copy of the book on 11 October 1928. Ideally, I suspect, the singular reader Vita Sackville-West. It isn't that the humour is too arcane or outdated to be intelligible, or anything along those lines. I just had a general feeling reading it that the satire of Orlando has grown dated.
An enjoyable and worthwhile read all the same; Woolf's intelligence and skill as a writer is still a delight, even if I didn't think this her most interesting work.
The timelessness that great literature can achieve is one of the thematic foci of Orlando and Woolf certainly seems to have managed this in her style. The outlandish narrative structure and the dry wit with which it is delivered still feel provocative and exciting (though I sometimes felt weary of the caustic, satirical tone). Meanwhile, much of the content seems intended to be delivered with a nudge and a wink to readers of the late 1920s. Preferably, British readers cracking open a brand new copy of the book on 11 October 1928. Ideally, I suspect, the singular reader Vita Sackville-West. It isn't that the humour is too arcane or outdated to be intelligible, or anything along those lines. I just had a general feeling reading it that the satire of Orlando has grown dated.
An enjoyable and worthwhile read all the same; Woolf's intelligence and skill as a writer is still a delight, even if I didn't think this her most interesting work.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No