Reviews with content warning for Death - The Waves

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

11 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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erica_cronje's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was my first Woolf, and after attempting to read the first few pages, I realised that it is recommended that you read any of her other books first, considering the experimental style of The Waves. The book is written from multiple perspectives on one page, in that way it's almost written as though it is a dialogue, except it's the characters inner thoughts. This style, and Woolf's use of descriptive language makes it quite confusing to read and i discovered that i needed to focus quite a bit to determine what was the characters thoughts, when were the addressing each other and when were they simply noting things around them, which meant it took about 2 months for me to finish reading this book, but i do believe it was for the best to read it so slowly.

reading at my own pace, allowed me to truly absorb each sentence and chapter, and i found i related so much to what these characters were thinking and feeling through various stages of their lives. I enjoyed analyzing these characters and their thoughts and i do think there is something to be said about the theme of friendship in this novel, and how, on the surface the friends seem to get along, but their innermost thoughts expose how they really feel towards each other, which was just absolutely fascinating and it made me wonder how many groups of friends would fall apart if everyone knew what the others really thought of them. In the same breath, Woolf expresses the importance of friendship and keeping friendships alive, and how friends can become your safe place even if you had drifted apart.

I really enjoyed this book, the only thing that brought the rating down for me from a four star, is the fact that it took quite an emotional toll on me to read it, since the entire book you constantly hear these characters deepest fears, insecurities, joys and how they strive to accomplish certain things in life, it just means that the book is incredibly intense due to the fact that the reader experience every thought and emotion the character does, in a way that has not been done in any other book i have heard of.

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diana_raquel's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

“I am not one and simple, but complex and many.”

I always had a somewhat complicated relationship with Woolf. Mrs Dalloway took me three times to finish but I ended up loving it and A Room of one's Own is probably one of my favorite books of Woolf (I haven't read all of her books). After these two books my conclusion was that although Woolf's quintessential writing style isn't a favorite of mine, I liked her books. So, I decided to buy The Waves. And that was my second mistake with Woolf (the first was to try reading Mrs Dalloway without an audiobook).

Look, I feel like I'm being generous with my rating, however, this year has been a year where I just want to read romance stories, with cuteness and fluff. So, maybe I just decided to read this book at the wrong time. Maybe, in the future, I might came back and love this book.

I just couldn't connect with this book. I don't know why. But I couldn't. The characters are interesting but I couldn't care about their lives and thoughts.

I think that I will give Orlando a try. But this may be my least favorite of Virginia Woolf.

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kikalox's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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sas_lk's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Now this room seems to me central, something scooped out of the eternal night. Outside lines twist and intersect, but round us, wrapping us about. Here we are centred. Here we can be silent, or speak without raising our voices.

Where do I even start with this book... I annotated almost every singly page and fell in love with Virginia Woolf's writing. Even deciding on a quote for this review was so hard because there are so so many good ones. I felt like Woolf opened up every single part of my soul and put it down on paper. The way different parts of ourselves melt together or oppose each other, she wrote it so well.
Reading this made me understand why her mind led her to suicide, while at the same time being confused about how she could have committed suicide if this was the way her mind worked. I felt so included and loved reading this, I cried and I felt hugged, held, understood, loved.
I will probably reread this book a million times because I think it will be important to me in all chapters of my life. I felt like I was reading my soul, and the lines between reality and pages blurred.
I think if I were to write a novel, I would probably have similar writing to hers - not claiming to be as talented as she is - but I write similarly, and it made me feel at home.

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jacq_s's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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taleofclockworks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Formation and erosion of waves, which form the inner self, ever changing, evolving, moving from childhood to death
This book is definitely challanging to get through at times, and the dread of existential crisis can creep on you and make you sad. But still worth reading! It's more or less the story of life seen and told by six friends. Rather than focusing on the events, it is the inner voice of the characters that is the focus of the book. Their unspoken secrets, repressed emotions, hardships of dealing with the death of a friend, journey to finding their own identity, etc.
Ifound it quite interesting to read about their ways of observing themselves, and the world around them, and how different the same event and moment were percieved by different minds. I have a bias for Bernard and Rhoda since I looked forward to their chapters the most, I suppose there is something that resonates within me while I read about the world through their eyes. A friendly storyteller, lost in his stories to the point he finds it hard to know exactly who he is; and a highly sensitive, imaginative introvert that longs for escape from reality. They're tragic, but interesting.
For those trying to figure out what this whole human experience thing is about, I think this was an amazingly written book that explored the topic in a very clever and poetic way!

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