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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
In her introduction, Eudora Welby asserts that "from its beginning, the novel never parts from the subjective." p.vII.
After reading this book I wondered why it had taken me so long to find this masterpiece. It is indeed a classic: original, rhythmic, with a rich vocabulary, depth and a female perspective.
Note: I read a 1981 version of the Harcourt Brace book.
After reading this book I wondered why it had taken me so long to find this masterpiece. It is indeed a classic: original, rhythmic, with a rich vocabulary, depth and a female perspective.
Note: I read a 1981 version of the Harcourt Brace book.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh this book just gets better and better with every reread. I have so many thoughts--maybe I'll edit this review once I can gather all my feelings and impressions. just WOW
“Era una máquina miserable, una máquina ineficiente, ella pensó, el aparato humano para pintar o para sentir; siempre se avería en el momento crítico; heroicamente, una debe forzarlo a seguir.”
Una novela etérea, sublime, propia de la característica obra de su autora. No se relata una historia definida de forma linear, sino que se nos entrega, en mi opinión, lo más similar a la experiencia de vivir hecha texto. No vivimos la vida como una sucesión de eventos, sino que nos encontramos al vaivén de emociones, estímulos, recuerdos, divagaciones, monólogos, interrupciones, sueños, simulaciones, deseos. Este texto nos ubica justamente dentro de la experiencia de vida del círculo social en torno a la familia Tansley. Así, los momentos, personajes, pensamientos y lugares se mezclan en las corrientes de conciencia de los personajes que entretejen el texto. No hay casi diálogo explícito, ni división marcada entre qué conciencia se está vaciando en cada párrafo. Queda en manos de quien lee hilar e intuir los detalles de muchas escenas, dado que éstas se describen como desde el fuero interno de los personajes, quienes no suelen reparar en los aspectos concretos y básicos de quienes los rodean, tales como quiénes son, qué edad tienen, dónde están, qué hora es. A veces, vidas y años pasan entre un paréntesis o en pocas líneas, mientras que una cena puede ser un vaivén de pensamientos que se alarga por diez o más páginas. Un paisaje se torna en una reflexión que desemboca en una acción que pudo ser imaginada o real. Pero en el fondo, la trama no es más que una historia sobre la vida, así sin más. Infancia, familia, amistades, parejas, quiebres, muertes, ritos, arte. Todo tratado desde un flujo entre lo material, lo abstracto y lo poético, de una forma que te hace dudar si lo que lees es lo que la autora plasmó o si es lo que quien lee está proyectando sobre el texto. Es, insisto, como vivir en la conciencia de otra persona.
Una novela etérea, sublime, propia de la característica obra de su autora. No se relata una historia definida de forma linear, sino que se nos entrega, en mi opinión, lo más similar a la experiencia de vivir hecha texto. No vivimos la vida como una sucesión de eventos, sino que nos encontramos al vaivén de emociones, estímulos, recuerdos, divagaciones, monólogos, interrupciones, sueños, simulaciones, deseos. Este texto nos ubica justamente dentro de la experiencia de vida del círculo social en torno a la familia Tansley. Así, los momentos, personajes, pensamientos y lugares se mezclan en las corrientes de conciencia de los personajes que entretejen el texto. No hay casi diálogo explícito, ni división marcada entre qué conciencia se está vaciando en cada párrafo. Queda en manos de quien lee hilar e intuir los detalles de muchas escenas, dado que éstas se describen como desde el fuero interno de los personajes, quienes no suelen reparar en los aspectos concretos y básicos de quienes los rodean, tales como quiénes son, qué edad tienen, dónde están, qué hora es. A veces, vidas y años pasan entre un paréntesis o en pocas líneas, mientras que una cena puede ser un vaivén de pensamientos que se alarga por diez o más páginas. Un paisaje se torna en una reflexión que desemboca en una acción que pudo ser imaginada o real. Pero en el fondo, la trama no es más que una historia sobre la vida, así sin más. Infancia, familia, amistades, parejas, quiebres, muertes, ritos, arte. Todo tratado desde un flujo entre lo material, lo abstracto y lo poético, de una forma que te hace dudar si lo que lees es lo que la autora plasmó o si es lo que quien lee está proyectando sobre el texto. Es, insisto, como vivir en la conciencia de otra persona.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked how this book explores the difficulty of communication through art, and the intangible something that artists are trying to capture. I also liked analyzing all of the subtle dynamics between all the characters - Woolf, as expected, is very good at getting inside of character's heads and putting them in tension with one another.
I really tried, especially after visiting St Ives and Zennor but I found it too long winded, confusing and unreadable. Sorry.
slow-paced
Soo much energy to get through this book but the writing is beautiful and the characters are incredible and there’s nothing I can say about this that has not already been said to death.
Before this project, I had never read any Virginia Woolf, save for the short excerpted passages included in my Norton 5th Edition. I've always liked the idea of Virginia Woolf that formed somewhere along the line, but now I can say I love the real thing. She is a poet who prefers paragraphs to stanzas.
I had the same initial trouble penetrating this novel as I had with Mrs. Dalloway. There were so many characters and so many relationships to keep track of. My difficulty was compounded by Woolf's habit of so thoroughly stepping into the minds of her characters. I did not know who I was supposed to be critical of and who I was supposed to be rooting for. I don't think I ever realized how I look for these signals from an author when I read, but apparently, I do.
The difficulties of course worked themselves out as continual exposure let me trace out who was who and let me understand where everyone was coming from without the need to cheer for one character and boo down another. Everything evened up for me just in time to enjoy the amazing dinner scene in the first section. I wanted that scene to go on forever, jumping from head to head and thought to thought as the characters swim in the social waters. I found it mesmerizing and difficult to put down.
Part two, Time Passes, blew my mind. When has an author set up so many characters, especially what appears to me a main character, in the first part of a novel and then slaughtered them parenthetically in the second part without drama or incident. Mrs. Ramsey is simply not there one night to hold Mr. Ramsey. CRAZY! The second section was the most poetic. Had I a pen in hand (and was not reading from a library's copy of the book), I would have underlined the entire section for its beautiful insights and phrasings.
Politically, I'm not sure I'm smart enough to suss out this book. It tackles the same difficulties of community and communication between people that Mrs. Dalloway does, but now it tackles gender issues and issues of art very aggressively. Mr. Ramsey the tyrant, the man for whom women are fonts of sympathy to coddle his gentle ego, who seems to take a sadistic glee in shattering dreams . . . what am I to do with him. Regardless of what and who he is, his children crave his approval, and Cam finds herself in love with his very form and dignity. How do we move beyond these social and constructed roles, if at all? So much lies with Lily Briscoe and her comparison with Mrs. Ramsey, but I'm not the guy to tease that out. Much smarter scholars than I have deciphered this text and I shall be happy enough for now to swim in the deep end of Woolf's work, unable to touch bottom, floating, just enjoying the waters.
Come on in; the water's fine!
I had the same initial trouble penetrating this novel as I had with Mrs. Dalloway. There were so many characters and so many relationships to keep track of. My difficulty was compounded by Woolf's habit of so thoroughly stepping into the minds of her characters. I did not know who I was supposed to be critical of and who I was supposed to be rooting for. I don't think I ever realized how I look for these signals from an author when I read, but apparently, I do.
The difficulties of course worked themselves out as continual exposure let me trace out who was who and let me understand where everyone was coming from without the need to cheer for one character and boo down another. Everything evened up for me just in time to enjoy the amazing dinner scene in the first section. I wanted that scene to go on forever, jumping from head to head and thought to thought as the characters swim in the social waters. I found it mesmerizing and difficult to put down.
Part two, Time Passes, blew my mind. When has an author set up so many characters, especially what appears to me a main character, in the first part of a novel and then slaughtered them parenthetically in the second part without drama or incident. Mrs. Ramsey is simply not there one night to hold Mr. Ramsey. CRAZY! The second section was the most poetic. Had I a pen in hand (and was not reading from a library's copy of the book), I would have underlined the entire section for its beautiful insights and phrasings.
Politically, I'm not sure I'm smart enough to suss out this book. It tackles the same difficulties of community and communication between people that Mrs. Dalloway does, but now it tackles gender issues and issues of art very aggressively. Mr. Ramsey the tyrant, the man for whom women are fonts of sympathy to coddle his gentle ego, who seems to take a sadistic glee in shattering dreams . . . what am I to do with him. Regardless of what and who he is, his children crave his approval, and Cam finds herself in love with his very form and dignity. How do we move beyond these social and constructed roles, if at all? So much lies with Lily Briscoe and her comparison with Mrs. Ramsey, but I'm not the guy to tease that out. Much smarter scholars than I have deciphered this text and I shall be happy enough for now to swim in the deep end of Woolf's work, unable to touch bottom, floating, just enjoying the waters.
Come on in; the water's fine!
Wistful, nostalgic and melancholic, this tale is quintessentially Woolf. Semi-autobiographical in its descriptions, the story gives heed to the workings of a woman and her creative mind.
It is visual and atmospheric, she paints a picture as thorough as those painted by her character.
It is a thought-provoking read to calm your senses.
It is visual and atmospheric, she paints a picture as thorough as those painted by her character.
It is a thought-provoking read to calm your senses.