A review by readsbytay
The Waves by Virginia Woolf

5.0

i think it's almost impossible to rate this anything other than 5 stars purely because of how beautiful the language is. woolf brilliantly follows the ebbs and flows of life through six alternating voices, ending with a 30,000 foot view in the last "chapter" surveying the rollercoaster of life, specifically how maturity allows for a clearer, more honest, and scarier understanding of the past. the tension of life's routine (if we allow it to dominate our perceptions), the stories we tell ourselves about life, and our identity as seen through the mosaic of friendship are all captivatingly captured through the waves which figuratively and literally lull you along through the pages. shorelines are chaotic and moody just as life is, and, while death seems to send one's understanding of life into a tailspin, the waves continue to crash on the shore. woolf's novel quite poignantly stands the test of time and should be read and re-read by a variety of age groups.

quotes:

"Visual impressions often communicate thus briefly statements that we shall in time to come uncover and coax into words."

"To be myself (I note) I need the illumination of other people's eyes, and therefore cannot be entirely sure what is my self."

"The room fills and fills with knowledge, anguish, many kinds of ambition, much indifference, some despair."