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allapaz's review against another edition
4.25
if you just want to read some of the most intricate character work you can imagine, this is the one. no plot, just character building, and some really delicious lines of literary genius peppered throughout. Ms. Woolf has done it again, folks
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
diana_raquel's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
kikalox's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Death, and Grief
sas_lk's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
taleofclockworks's review against another edition
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
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