Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
3.5 — The amount of times I had to google which (and when) certain British monarchs were alive to figure out what century we were in was quite humbling!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Perfect. Please read Virginia and Vita’s love letters before beginning Orlando! Knowing the most significant moments of Vita’s life beforehand helps to see how much of a beautiful portrait this is
This is a 3/3.5⭐️ book in the way a classic is 3/3.5⭐️ rather than a runoff the mill contemporary book. Like the writing is in-depth and conceptual but is that just because it’s from 1929?
I got bored with this book, which was sad because I loved the film so much when I first watched it. The character of Orlando is hard to get behind because they are whiny, selfish and morose to an extreme and majorly because you the reader are kept at a distance from them by the structure of narration. In 400 years Orlando spends most of their time learning nothing and doing nothing and then falling in love…kinda?
Also as a modern audience you can feeeeel that this book is from 1920s USA as Wolf inputs her own understanding of gender essentialism from time to time in random chapters and throws in the odd slur that makes reading this book uncomfortable and/or frustrating.
While the concept of Orlando is interesting, the core storybeat of Orlando changing sex comes late-ish into the book and is mostly glossed over by the mc themself. It is a short book and yet it felt so long.
I got bored with this book, which was sad because I loved the film so much when I first watched it. The character of Orlando is hard to get behind because they are whiny, selfish and morose to an extreme and majorly because you the reader are kept at a distance from them by the structure of narration. In 400 years Orlando spends most of their time learning nothing and doing nothing and then falling in love…kinda?
Also as a modern audience you can feeeeel that this book is from 1920s USA as Wolf inputs her own understanding of gender essentialism from time to time in random chapters and throws in the odd slur that makes reading this book uncomfortable and/or frustrating.
While the concept of Orlando is interesting, the core storybeat of Orlando changing sex comes late-ish into the book and is mostly glossed over by the mc themself. It is a short book and yet it felt so long.
emotional
fast-paced
emotional
funny
medium-paced
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first explicitly non binary / gender fluid character in fiction I think - they actually turn from man to woman part way through. Some extremely thought provoking discussion of how the clothes we wear influence our outlook and actions and also how people's perceptions change based on your sex.
This is a fictional biography of Orlando who starts as a young boy in Queen Elizabeth's court and ends up an early 30s woman in the 20th Century. It even has an index. It is more than loosely based on the life of Vita Sackville West although I needed the introduction to explain them all. The way the centuries are portrayed implies a level of research and the change in the 19th which means Orlando feels she needs to be married to be free to pursue her literary work is really interesting.
As with all the Woolf I've read it is written in a very poetic and occasionally rambling way. She takes her time to explore concepts and pokes fun at biography by describing the process and how limiting it is when your subject does nothing for a time. She also pokes fun at a few authors throughout time as well as critics. I instantly got the reference to Lady Chatterley's but needed the introduction for clarification of the references to Pope etc
The last section deals with Orlando's connection to her property and the fact that she was built up of many parts - in her case many different lifetimes of experience - which applies to us all I think. When they all come together she feels complete.
Not my favorite Woolf of the ones I've read but thought provoking and a really interesting concept for a novel. As always with a classic read the introduction last but in this case it really added context for me.
This is a fictional biography of Orlando who starts as a young boy in Queen Elizabeth's court and ends up an early 30s woman in the 20th Century. It even has an index. It is more than loosely based on the life of Vita Sackville West although I needed the introduction to explain them all. The way the centuries are portrayed implies a level of research and the change in the 19th which means Orlando feels she needs to be married to be free to pursue her literary work is really interesting.
As with all the Woolf I've read it is written in a very poetic and occasionally rambling way. She takes her time to explore concepts and pokes fun at biography by describing the process and how limiting it is when your subject does nothing for a time. She also pokes fun at a few authors throughout time as well as critics. I instantly got the reference to Lady Chatterley's but needed the introduction for clarification of the references to Pope etc
The last section deals with Orlando's connection to her property and the fact that she was built up of many parts - in her case many different lifetimes of experience - which applies to us all I think. When they all come together she feels complete.
Not my favorite Woolf of the ones I've read but thought provoking and a really interesting concept for a novel. As always with a classic read the introduction last but in this case it really added context for me.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced