Just listened to you review of The Waves, by Virginia Woolf also very good review.👍 Have you ever read any of Sylvia Plath ? American poet who was married to Ted Hughes She did write one novel The Bell Jar She also committed suicide and suffered with depression. Just food for thought.
Fantastic review!! Just finished reading the book a few days ago and loved it. “Time Passes” is one of the most extraordinary and vivid reading experiences I've ever read.
Modernist writers such as Woolf are often criticised for the lack of plot and coherence in their work. As you state in the video, Woolf was interested in the inner workings of the mind which accounts for the apparent randomness of descriptions in modernist writing such as hers, where thoughts come tumbling out, sometimes with no obvious connection. If you think about it, isn't this just what happens to each of us in our daily lives? Whilst we carry out our daily activities, unconnected thoughts come to us in complete randomness, often without us even being aware of them. Any writer who can convey this experience in written form, in a convincing way, deserves nothing but praise.
Excellent video. To the Lighthouse was recommended to me by a bookseller. I enjoyed it very much, reading it as if it all made sense, or just uncritically, I guess. And I really DID want to go to the lighthouse!
Hi Joshua. I'm currently reading To the Lighthouse and find this overview helpful. I had the same reaction to Mrs. Dalloway that you did---I hated it. I may pick it up at a later date.
Hi Joshua. I just finished To The Lighthouse and enjoyed it, although I had some trouble following the various characters' thoughts and had to go back and reread passages; as you mentioned the writing style of Virginia Woolf, the thoughts are fluid and they jump around throughout the book. I have to say, now that I watched your video review, I understand the story better overall, so thanks. I also read Mrs. Dalloway; that was my first time reading Virginia Woolf; I was taken aback at first by her style of writing. With that one, I listened to an audiobook version while reading it, and I enjoyed the book and finished it quickly. I wanted to know, although you mentioned you read Mrs. Dalloway when you were younger, do you like it now re-reading it? And have you seen the movie version of Mrs. Dalloway? I watched it after I read the book, and I really liked it. It helped me understand the book better and I thought it was well-acted. I recommend it if you haven't yet seen it. Again, thanks for your review.
I'm glad you found the video helpful! I've still not re-read Mrs Dalloway, although I definitely need to. I've not seen the film version either, but it would be interesting to see how they do it.
Thanks for ur review I couldn’t understand this book in my novel class and things were so complicated while my teacher was explaining it but now i got the general idea ! Many Thanks !!❤️
Good review. My reservation with Virginia Woolf is that, good as her books undoubtedly are, her style of writing definitely takes some getting used to. It sometimes lacks fluidity (or could be more mellifluous in the way it "sounds"). Reading Woolf is a bit like driving down a cobbled street in a car with no tires. The scenery is there but it's a bumpy ride and makes progress rather sluggish. I say that having read Mrs. Dalloway (once), and To The Lighthouse (1 and half times).
I would definitely agree with you there when it comes to Mrs Dalloway (from what I can remember, that was a long time ago), though I think To The Lighthouse gets things a bit better. But I know what you mean though, she can be kind of austere sometimes or restrained, and maybe a little overintellectual in her approach. Still love it though! :)
@@JoshuaJClarkeKelsall Thank you for your reply! For sure, writing for a select group. Good writing - at least nowadays - should be liked whipped cream. Hardly touches the sides :) That's one of the reasons I like American writers like Steinbeck, Auster. They get their message across using de-intellectualised (democratised) language, which creates stronger a emotional connection. I'm waffling. Must be the Guinness. Good on you, Joshua, keep up the good work!
Seems quite ironic that you didn't like Wolfe and then years later you found you did as the whole premise of To The Lighthouse is loss and the inability to regain things later. No amount of doing English again will replace the wonder of what it might have been the first time around. I am reading it for the second time, and very slowly, its a great book but complex to follow.
My first ever DNF. Found it infuriating. The grammar is atrocious and the characters are just catapulted into the chapters without any explanation as to who they are 🤷🏻♂️
Fair enough, it is hard to read, although the breaking of grammatical rules is deliberate. It's a stream of consciousness story, so it's meant to reflect the disjointed way that we think. Hence the non-standard grammar, shifting perspectives, and genuine confusion.
Thanks for this review. I really like "Mrs. Dalloway". I enjoy the stream of consciousness style, the fact that it's set in London where I have lived, and the unvarnished inner thoughts of the characters. It's the only book by Woolf that I have read so far. I think "To the Lighthouse" will be next.
I would say go with To the Lighthouse, just because it's the book that got me to like Virginia Woolf. That being said, Mrs Dalloway is her more famous book, so it's likely that that may be slightly more accessible. I would say, if you prefer a more intimate and personal story that centres on relationships, go with Lighthouse, but if you prefer something that's a bit more of a social critique, then Mrs Dalloway. :)
