2013 Reprint of 1931 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The Waves," first published in 1931, is Virginia Woolf's most experimental novel. It consists of soliloquies spoken by the book's six characters: Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis. Also important is Percival, the seventh character, though readers never hear him speak through his own voice. The soliloquies that span the characters' lives are broken up by nine brief third-person interludes ...
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2013 Reprint of 1931 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The Waves," first published in 1931, is Virginia Woolf's most experimental novel. It consists of soliloquies spoken by the book's six characters: Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis. Also important is Percival, the seventh character, though readers never hear him speak through his own voice. The soliloquies that span the characters' lives are broken up by nine brief third-person interludes detailing a coastal scene at varying stages in a day from sunrise to sunset. As the six characters or "voices" alternately speak, Woolf explores concepts of individuality, self, and community. Each character is distinct, yet together they compose a gestalt about a silent central consciousness. The novel follows its six narrators from childhood through adulthood. Woolf's novel is concerned with the individual consciousness and the ways in which multiple consciousnesses can weave together. The difficulty of assigning genre to this novel is complicated by the fact that "The Waves" blurs distinctions between prose and poetry, allowing the novel to flow between six not dissimilar interior monologues. The book similarly breaks down boundaries between people, and Woolf herself wrote in her Diary that the six were not meant to be separate "characters" at all, but rather facets of consciousness illuminating a sense of continuity.
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Add this copy of The Waves to cart. $4.99, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Carrollton, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Martino Fine Books.
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Add this copy of The Waves to cart. $39.29, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Martino Fine Books.
This was the second novel that I read by Virginia Woolf, and I was not disappointed. Woolf's superior ability to delve into the human mind and show us a character's thoughts is showcased in The Waves as she uses the interior soliloquy to lead us into the minds of six characters. Soon enough, one can identify the character without even reading who is speaking. Woolf's central idea is the constancy of life, how we carry the same thoughts and misgivings with us throughout time. I was engrossed by this novel and plan to read it a second time, because there is something on each page that catches your attention and speaks to you. If you are looking for a novel that will speak to you and that you can become involved in, The Waves is for you.
