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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
"Beauty had this penalty- it came too readily, came too completely. It stilled life- froze it, one forgot the little agitations; the flush, the pallor, some queer distortion, some light or shadow which made the face unrecognisable for a moment and yet added quality one saw for ever after."
A beautiful British wife, her eight children, and her boobie of a husband congregate at their summer home on the Scottish shore every year.
Virginia. Virginia. Virginia. You do things to me. Your words infest and nest in my brain. Your rambling stream of consciousness makes me want to become one of your characters in order to understand myself better.
This is one of those books where not a damn thing happens. They don't even go to the lighthouse. They talk about it a lot, and go to the beach, and go on a boat ride, but that's as close as they get.
Yet everything happens. To attend one of Woolf's dinner parties is to take a swan dive into the mind of each person present. Her observations are all so polite. Incredibly understated. And astoundingly honest. Talk about stripping your characters to their interior!
Reading Woolf is a process. I started this book and read halfway through, started it over, got to the 3/4 point, and then started it at the 1/3 point again. And I could still read it 50 more times and not grasp everything that is going on. Because nothing is happening. Except for a deep movement of the human spirit, which means everything is happening.
A beautiful British wife, her eight children, and her boobie of a husband congregate at their summer home on the Scottish shore every year.
Virginia. Virginia. Virginia. You do things to me. Your words infest and nest in my brain. Your rambling stream of consciousness makes me want to become one of your characters in order to understand myself better.
This is one of those books where not a damn thing happens. They don't even go to the lighthouse. They talk about it a lot, and go to the beach, and go on a boat ride, but that's as close as they get.
Yet everything happens. To attend one of Woolf's dinner parties is to take a swan dive into the mind of each person present. Her observations are all so polite. Incredibly understated. And astoundingly honest. Talk about stripping your characters to their interior!
Reading Woolf is a process. I started this book and read halfway through, started it over, got to the 3/4 point, and then started it at the 1/3 point again. And I could still read it 50 more times and not grasp everything that is going on. Because nothing is happening. Except for a deep movement of the human spirit, which means everything is happening.
Virginia Woolfe writes like I think. Which is fascinating...aaannddd...made it difficult for me to stay focused. My mind wandered more times than I can count while listening because it was so much like being in my own head that I very quickly transitioned from "active listening" to "diving into mental commotion." I did enjoy what I was tuned in for 😂
reflective
slow-paced
my second read. a bit harder to parse on audiobook i think, though it's been years since i first read it. goes a bit too fast for the complexity of the language. i'm not sure why but this is the most difficult of woolf's novels for me so far. i'm up to maybe 20% comprehension; and yet i could read this over and over and not get bored.
challenging
reflective
sad
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
perhaps the best novel of english literature. complexity is perfectly captured through simplicity.
Honestly had some difficulty reading parts of this book. The language and meandering sentences lost me at times. However, I appreciate it for the classic that it is - a novel exploring the most intimate feelings: “Love had a thousand shapes.”
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced