5.44k reviews for:

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

3.84 AVERAGE

adventurous reflective slow-paced
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

IYKYK
challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

I will be pondering this one for a long time. My first Virginia Woolf adventure and after Orlando, I actually can’t wait to dive into her essays. 

The first half of this book was rich with motifs that were threaded together perfectly and made the moment of Orlando’s transition all the more jaw-dropping and beautiful. As the second half went on, I found it difficult to completely understand what was going on plot-wise and it was more difficult to keep up with the sharper details and I am sure I missed a lot of beautiful motifs and symbolism.

Beyond this being a ground-breaking and I can imagine radical examination of gender and sexuality for the time of its publication, more than that I was amazed at how effortlessly Woolf connected this to a deeper critique of industrialism and explored the question of whether monetization of art, literature, music — these uniquely human contributions to existence — has dampened our collective spirit to a point of no return.

Overall, this book was a beautiful reminder that we all deserve to create space in our lives, no matter how stressful, fast, or monotonous, to come back to what truly matters — what is OUR meaning of Life? What is OUR ecstasy? 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
reflective 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
adventurous emotional funny 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: No

Now this is brilliant. And beautiful. And bonkers. And happy. And sad. And funny. And fascinating. And mad. And romantic. And thought-provoking. And just... I really liked it!
adventurous challenging slow-paced

No real driving plot, but the narration was so engaging. The social commentary was also very interesting as Orlando's role as man and then as woman was not central but also I escapable.
challenging reflective relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Weer een reminder dat ik niks met absurdisme heb.