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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
This masterpiece goes straight to my favorites. I'm always in awe of how beautiful Virginia Woolf can write, but this time, with this book, she really outdid herself.
challenging
emotional
reflective
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
holy shit. holy shit. holy shit
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
From the POV of literary studies, this is a great book as it combines a lot of techniques of modernism with excellent writing. From the POV of a reader, this is a terrible book as it lacks both plot and character development, and is extremely dull and verbose.
challenging
emotional
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
challenging
reflective
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:
Complicated
Ok, so I get why this book is so well regarded as a piece of experimental writing. I felt the ebb and swell of the voices throughout, which must have been so difficult to construct! But my ND ass could not deal with the chaotic blend of character voices. (The collective consciousness). I couldn't wait to get out of their heads. Bernard's was the easiest to read by far and by the middle of the book I was relieved when he began speaking. For such a short book this seemed interminable.
I enjoyed the writing of the interludes far more and with these I could understand why Woolf is such a highly celebrated writer. These were the highlights for me.
Yet whilst there is all this praise for the style of writing and the poetic, stream of consciousness that the characters vomit onto the page, Woolf seems to have forgotten any sense of plot. (Possibly on purpose, I don't know.) And this, for me, made all the furore over the structure ultimately pointless. And dull. Soooo dull. This seems to be the crowning glory of Style-over-Substance writing, but left me feeling frustrated and empty.
For a novel that was all vibes, no plot - side note, this is not a bad thing; I often enjoy such books - I don't think the vibes of 'utter pointlessness' was the intent. I expect many other readers will tell me that I have just missed the point entirely, but I am not a literary savant or even 'well read', just an ordinary, everyday reader. It almost seems like Woolf was just trying to let the ordinary, everyday reader know how clever she was with her word-craft and forgot to give the novella a soul, excepting for the sea. The sea, despite its constant state of flux, was the most solid, unchanging and grounding thing here.
So in summary, this book is the first I have read where I could truly react as "Thanks; I hated it."
I enjoyed the writing of the interludes far more and with these I could understand why Woolf is such a highly celebrated writer. These were the highlights for me.
Yet whilst there is all this praise for the style of writing and the poetic, stream of consciousness that the characters vomit onto the page, Woolf seems to have forgotten any sense of plot. (Possibly on purpose, I don't know.) And this, for me, made all the furore over the structure ultimately pointless. And dull. Soooo dull. This seems to be the crowning glory of Style-over-Substance writing, but left me feeling frustrated and empty.
For a novel that was all vibes, no plot - side note, this is not a bad thing; I often enjoy such books - I don't think the vibes of 'utter pointlessness' was the intent. I expect many other readers will tell me that I have just missed the point entirely, but I am not a literary savant or even 'well read', just an ordinary, everyday reader. It almost seems like Woolf was just trying to let the ordinary, everyday reader know how clever she was with her word-craft and forgot to give the novella a soul, excepting for the sea. The sea, despite its constant state of flux, was the most solid, unchanging and grounding thing here.
So in summary, this book is the first I have read where I could truly react as "Thanks; I hated it."
"Let us be trivial, let us be intimate."
SO GOOD.
A bit melancholic, too.
The prose is delicious, refreshing - waves of beautiful words and phrases and imagery creeping up and then crashing down on you every page. There were countless times where I had to pause to re-read and write down passages before I could move on because the writing was so on point. I like seeing which passages caught the attention of other reviewers.
I did find the chapter beginnings (description of the sun and ocean) a bit tedious (but maybe this is also because the version I was reading had them set in italics which was difficult to read!).
I could read this book several more times and notice something new each time.
"Yes, the appalling moment has come when Bernard's power fails him and there is no longer any sequence and he sags and twiddles a bit of string and falls silent, gaping as if about to burst into tears. Among the tortures and devastations of life is this then -- our friends are not able to finish their stories."
It's like the original dictionary of obscure sorrows.
SO GOOD.
A bit melancholic, too.
The prose is delicious, refreshing - waves of beautiful words and phrases and imagery creeping up and then crashing down on you every page. There were countless times where I had to pause to re-read and write down passages before I could move on because the writing was so on point. I like seeing which passages caught the attention of other reviewers.
I did find the chapter beginnings (description of the sun and ocean) a bit tedious (but maybe this is also because the version I was reading had them set in italics which was difficult to read!).
I could read this book several more times and notice something new each time.
"Yes, the appalling moment has come when Bernard's power fails him and there is no longer any sequence and he sags and twiddles a bit of string and falls silent, gaping as if about to burst into tears. Among the tortures and devastations of life is this then -- our friends are not able to finish their stories."
It's like the original dictionary of obscure sorrows.
So meh.
Quizás por que vengo de leer Wuthering Heights, que es todo lo que este libro no es: comparten la estructura de 6-7 personajes que se mantienen, una messy storyline, romances y muertes, todos aportan en la narración mientras avanza el timeline. Sin embargo, en una te perdés y te aburrís y la otra te mantiene al ritmo y te entretiene.
Quizás por que vengo de leer Wuthering Heights, que es todo lo que este libro no es: comparten la estructura de 6-7 personajes que se mantienen, una messy storyline, romances y muertes, todos aportan en la narración mientras avanza el timeline. Sin embargo, en una te perdés y te aburrís y la otra te mantiene al ritmo y te entretiene.
me gusto, la primera vez leyendo a virginia woolf NO ES PARA LEERLO APURADO y el final no m gusto. bernard mi personaje favorito
This book gave me the same feeling as reading Pride and Prejudice in English for the first time as a non-native English speaker. I was confused through the most of it and still feel a bit at loss afterwards.
Maybe I wasn’t into it because the book’s prose is very poem-like and I’m not very good with poems or it’s because I currently favor a very simple and concise writing style in the novels I read... Which ever the case, the book was an interesting, yet strenuous read. I won’t let this hinder my quest in reading more of Woolf, though!
Maybe I wasn’t into it because the book’s prose is very poem-like and I’m not very good with poems or it’s because I currently favor a very simple and concise writing style in the novels I read... Which ever the case, the book was an interesting, yet strenuous read. I won’t let this hinder my quest in reading more of Woolf, though!