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A review by al13ex
Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
1.0
So many times I felt tempted to put it down, give it up and just go on to something more enjoyable! These harsh words come from the fact that the pace of the book was really slow, the action was unidentifiable and the characters just couldn't make up their minds. I'm still a bit frustrated that I spent so much time on it, but after much consideration, I did find something interesting here...
There's a lot of insight on the characters' thoughts, but I had to dig really deep to begin to understand what they really desire and what their feelings are, the latter being extremely difficult, when they don't know themselves. Besides, they change their minds and feelings so often, I started to bet for another change with every opportunity. There's a lot of talk about the women's suffrage, which is an important factor for that time (the book being published in 1919, the action would take place around that period, as well), but it actually doesn't go anywhere with it. Maybe it only helps in modeling the changes that take place in the society. Women started to work and thought about it as a salvation (from their own thoughts and lives), they fight for their right to vote and there even is talk about living with a man without being married to him. There is definitely a new freedom for them and, despite people talking (which will never end), their relationship with men is quite different from the nineteenth century. I don't remember reading any other book set in this period and I suppose I had a little shock, imagining how the transition actually took place.
Well, I am truly glad that I managed to finish the book, because it was truly one of the longest books I've ever read, and not because of its page number.
There's a lot of insight on the characters' thoughts, but I had to dig really deep to begin to understand what they really desire and what their feelings are, the latter being extremely difficult, when they don't know themselves. Besides, they change their minds and feelings so often, I started to bet for another change with every opportunity. There's a lot of talk about the women's suffrage, which is an important factor for that time (the book being published in 1919, the action would take place around that period, as well), but it actually doesn't go anywhere with it. Maybe it only helps in modeling the changes that take place in the society. Women started to work and thought about it as a salvation (from their own thoughts and lives), they fight for their right to vote and there even is talk about living with a man without being married to him. There is definitely a new freedom for them and, despite people talking (which will never end), their relationship with men is quite different from the nineteenth century. I don't remember reading any other book set in this period and I suppose I had a little shock, imagining how the transition actually took place.
Well, I am truly glad that I managed to finish the book, because it was truly one of the longest books I've ever read, and not because of its page number.