/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2173238]

/lit/'s opinion on Virginia Woolf (infinitely prettier viewed from the side)?

I personally find her prose absolutely beautiful and I'm not sure why. It has a sort of elegance to it. Would have to say my favorite is Mrs. Dalloway (particularly the portions with Septimus), with To the Lighthouse as a distant second (part 2 and on being highlights). I've started Orlando but it doesn't grab me the same way, any opinions?

[Anonymous No.2173244]

To the Lighthouse is perhaps my favorite book ever, and the only book I regularly re-read.

[Anonymous No.2173246]

>(infinitely prettier viewed from the side)
Truer words have never been spoken.
I haven't read anything of hers yet, but she's on my to-read list, placed unfortunately behind Pynchon, Tolstoy, and the more challenging Joyce books.

[Anonymous No.2173263]

>>2173244
Why do you enjoy it so much? Everyone I've met IRL always questions why I love her novels. I would be fascinated to hear what you enjoy.

>>2173246
I love Pynchon and Joyce (who can love one but not both despite differing genres?). Have not read much Tolstoy, but both Woolf and Joyce thought very highly of him, so I feel I should check him out. Any starting point you'd recommend?

[ϟ EDELKIND ϟ !Ry9.HRD23k No.2173268]

"THE WAVES" IS MY FAVORITE WORK BY VIRGINIA WOOLF.

[Anonymous No.2173272]

only really liked the septimus bits when i read mrs dalloway, is to the lighthouse worth it?

[Anonymous No.2173276]

I've only read the first section of Waves, but I still think about it every month or so and remind myself I need to read it. I was very taken with the prose and the format. Maybe this month will be the month I finally read it.

[Anonymous No.2173277]

>>2173272
Not quite sure how to answer that man. I, personally, enjoyed the Septimus bits because there was so much abstract meaning packed into the sentences. To the Lighthouse feels more... "traditional" when compared to Mrs. Dalloway. But it's still Virginia Woolf and her fluid descriptions remain (embodied beautifully by the character Lily).

>>2173268
This is the only piece by Virginia Woolf I have NEVER seen in stores. I heard it's very experimental. What did you enjoy about it?

[Anonymous No.2173296]

>>2173263
I think her use of a "roaming" 3rd person POV is exquisite. She stops time and examines a moment from multiple angles, creating an entire world within that moment. There are passages that leave me breathless, both for the prose and the insight and the way the two are inseparable.

[ϟ EDELKIND ϟ !Ry9.HRD23k No.2173299]

>>2173277

THE "UNORTHODOX STUCTURE" AND THE "PROSEPOETRY STYLE". I LIKE THE IMAGERY TOO.

[Anonymous No.2173306]

>>2173299
seems like you should switch 'expected' and 'got' imo

[ϟ EDELKIND ϟ !Ry9.HRD23k No.2173309]

>>2173306

NO. EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE.

[Anonymous No.2173394]

>>2173296
I will be stealing this description from now on. Very well put.

>>2173299
Why did you enjoy it better than her other novels though? Because it was different or do you think she was really getting at something with it?

[ϟ EDELKIND ϟ !Ry9.HRD23k No.2173416]

>>2173394

"THE WAVES" IS MY FAVORITE WORK BY VIRGINIA WOOLF BECAUSE OF AFOREMENTIONED REASONS. I THINK IT IS HER MOST "TRANSCENDENTAL" WORK; IT IS NOT MERE RETHORIC. THE PERVADING THEME IN "THE WAVES" IS "DIFFRACTION" AND INDIVIDUALIZATION IN GENERAL, IN FRACTALIC LAYERING.