Stephanie Jane reviewed The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Hmmm!
I first started listening to my Audible UK download of The Waves by Virginia Woolf in April and, although it is only a fraction over nine hours, it took me two months to get around to finishing. The Waves is a very different book to any I think I have read or heard before. Essentially prose poetry, it is told in the first person in turn by each of six protagonists, three male and three female. All are pretty much the same age and from the same privileged background. They met as children and we follow them through their lives.
I had great difficulty initially getting into the flow of The Waves (Woolf makes many watery puns, so shall I!) and it wasn't until about 1/3 down that I could really concentrate on what was being said. The early chapters, as children, consist of brief overlapping sentences which I found …
I first started listening to my Audible UK download of The Waves by Virginia Woolf in April and, although it is only a fraction over nine hours, it took me two months to get around to finishing. The Waves is a very different book to any I think I have read or heard before. Essentially prose poetry, it is told in the first person in turn by each of six protagonists, three male and three female. All are pretty much the same age and from the same privileged background. They met as children and we follow them through their lives.
I had great difficulty initially getting into the flow of The Waves (Woolf makes many watery puns, so shall I!) and it wasn't until about 1/3 down that I could really concentrate on what was being said. The early chapters, as children, consist of brief overlapping sentences which I found incredibly soporific. I just couldn't stay awake! Once the characters get older and indulge in longer, detailed monologues, this problem faded. Woolf has created strong individuals which are generally easy to identify whether the narrator has introduced them each time or not. I liked learning how they all saw each other as well as how they saw themselves. Plus the observations of time passing in the natural world and of social etiquette and customs are fascinating - Louis trying to hide his Australian-ness in the tea shop being a prime example
Woolf's snobbery is frequently apparent with maids in particular being only dismissively mentioned. I was also irritated by the patronising descriptions of 'little shopkeepers' and how idyllic it must be to only just make ends meet each week. One character, Bernard I think, even declares he would love to give up all his money for such a life. Tellingly, he doesn't!
I did enjoy the sheer joy in language of The Waves. Beautifully poetic writing is wonderful to hear and Julia Franklin is the perfect narrator. For me though, the lack of early accessibility and later overwhelming intensity meant I had to keep putting the book aside and my three star rating reflects this.