Books for Prep | |
 - Woolf's response to PlatoBefore reading "The Waves": 1) develop your own understanding of Virginia Woolf by reading two or three biographies of her; 2) read "To the Lighthouse" and "Mrs Dalloway" --- note the poetry and the biographical relevance; and 3) then read Plato's "The Symposium," or at least read Cliff's notes to get the gist of his symposium, or even a Wikipedia synopsis of "The Symposium." Virginia Woolf was haunted by the Greek classical writers throughout her life. You first see those references in "Mrs Dalloway" (through Septimus). "The Waves" was Virginia Woolf's response to "Symposium." Whereas Plato limited his symposium to meaning of love, Woolf expanded the discussion to the meaning of life. Rating: - A glorious bookIf I were allowed to recommend only one book to other readers for the rest of my life, it would be The Waves. This exquisite novel showcases Woolf at the height of her genius (it's often considered her masterpiece); in it, she's taken the English language in all its messy, adjective-laden glory and used it to its full potential, producing a uniquely structured book of grace, beauty, and powerful compassion. When I first picked up The Waves, I had no idea what I was in for - believing that To the Lighthouse was Woolf's best book, I was prepared to enjoy myself but didn't expect anything spectacular. The Waves proceeded to make my jaw drop in shock at its beauty, and by the time I finished, my life felt altered. Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse may be Woolf's most famous novels, but The Waves is her greatest achievement. The Waves has a reputation as a difficult and sometimes frustrating book, but don't let that turn you away! Its sentences are some of the most grammatically comprehensible in all Woolf's fiction, and she sticks to traditional paragraphs. If you drop kick your preconceived notions of what narratives and characters should do out the window before starting The Waves, it's not that bad. Trust Woolf's decisions, even if they seem odd - she knows what she's doing. Rating:  - less expensive editionsThe one star rating refers not to Woolf's novel--which receives a five-star rating--but to this particular edition. There are less expensive editions of this novel. The "annotations" of this edition are not new--and the editor makes no secret that the annotations are available elsewhere. The "introduction" is interesting, but it also offers nothing particularly new for Woolf scholars and nothing particularly enlightening for non-academic readers that they could not easily find on any number of online sources. Rating:  - A toughie. Considered by many who should know (e.g., E. M. Forester)to be Woolf's most brilliant work of genius, The Waves is a challenging book to read for many reasons, not the least of which is the style she has adopted. More like an extended Greek chorus than anything else, the six characters, whose "voices" sound identical to one another, speak their life stories in short, alternating monologues. Although the writing is very poetic, it is also very dense and very distancing. We never really warm up to any of the characters or get involved in their stories. I had to read this book for a class and, though I'm glad I made it through to the end, it was difficult going and I know I never would have finished it (or even gotten through ten pages of it) if I hadn't had the carrot of a grade hanging over it. We had to read the whole thing in a week which is really not a good way to tackle this book. Best read in small segments, leisurely, absorbing each moment Woolf choses to highlight. Definitely not a plane or beach book! If you haven't read Woolf before, this is not the book to start with. Mrs. Dalloway is, in my opinion, the best and most accessible of Woolf's experimental fictions and a good starting place for access into this great 20th century author's works. Then, if your brave, move onto "To the Lighthouse" and then, shudder, "The Waves." Rating: - Pam "Book Club Sin Nombre"Our book club in Cancun read it for April. We can be a critical group, but this one received nothing but praise from those of us who actually FINISHED it. Through the night the message was "It's well worth it! Stick with it!" It is confusing at the beginning for those of us who've been reading best sellers awhile, and it was hard to learn to pace your reading. (Some advice: don't tackle it for less than 30 minutes at a time, and do some biographical research on Woolf before or while you read it). I'd love to give some of our group's analyses, but that might ruin it for some of you. I'll limit that to just saying that we had a very fine conversation that night, full of thoughtful speculation. And many of us have been commenting that meeting for days afterward. We're a very small community here, and culture is hard to come by. Woolf brought it to us on the waves (sorry). The Waves is prose; it's a work of art. What a pleasure! You can expect conversation about this novel to be of a higher literary level. It's a great book club read because it creates lots of thoughts to share. In association with Amazon.com | |