Reviews

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

emmaisnotavampire's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

savaging's review

2.0

I had the embarrassing experience of realizing, part-way in, that not only had I read this novel before -- but that previous time reading it I figured out that I had read it before THAT. So my best guess is this is my third time submitting to these waves, and I still have very little to show for it. Ten years from now I'll pick it up once again like I've never seen it before. Or else by then I'll have finally admitted to myself that I've lost my fanaticism for Virginia Woolf.

aycallatepam's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

veerveer's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jiminluvr's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

not having read anything by woolf before, this really posed a bigger challenge to me than i ever expected. I've never read anything like this before, and reading this for the first time, I found myself at times forgetting to concentrate or, then again, trying too hard to "make sense" of the prose or narrativize it. I will absolutely return to this work one day, hopefully soon, because what I got out of it, in parts and fragments this time already was really special. 

aspiegs's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

"There is a sound like the knocking of railway trucks in a siding. That is the happy concatenation of one event following another in our lives. Knock, knock, knock. Must, must, must. Must go, must sleep, must wake, must get up - sober, merciful word which we pretend to revile, which we press tight to our hearts, without which  we should be undone." 

This is now my third time returning to this book in ten years. There is something so special about the look at how we are who we are through those closest to us. 

sashamrti's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Virginia woolf books take me forever to read

poetryandsolitude's review

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

This book is so beautifully crafted, Virginia Woolf is an extremely talented author !! the way she weaves so intricately the lives of 6 people around their shared experiences, their grief and their perception of each other, and how gradually they all change and merge into one another over the years is simply breathtaking. I dare say this has become one of my all time favourite books <3

But now I have not a moment to spare. There is no respite here, no shadow made of quivering leaves, or alcove to which one can retreat from the sun, to sit, with a lover, in the cool of the evening. The weight of the world is on our shoulders;

litchyn's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

han_reardonsmith's review against another edition

5.0

Beautiful to revisit, although also at times enlightening about the mindset of the educated class in England about peoples and places their country has colonised. There is a great sadness underlying the whole work, to me, not only Percival’s death but also the passing of time, the changing priorities and concerns of each person, as they navigate life and love and ambition and mediocrity. It seems to me each represents a possible angle on Woolf’s own character, and perhaps relationship to depression. I felt deeply for each of the six friends (none more than Rhoda) and through them felt for Woolf also.