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lostingothicmusic 's review for:
The Waves
by Virginia Woolf
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."