The Waves (Collins Classics) Paperback – 20 Jan. 2022

What a tragic, true, glorious yet troubling depiction of brief human existence in an infinite world. Hard to take at times and not to be read in a fragile mood! Perhaps unduly long, though the detail builds and builds, so needs time to mature. A masterpiece, of course.

To describe Virginia Woolf's beguiling and intensely lyrical 'The Waves' as a novel, with all that the term novel usually implies, might be considered a little misleading - it is probably better described as a long prose poem or, perhaps, as a play for a chorus of six voices written in elliptical and richly poetical language. 'The Waves' has virtually no plot as such; Virginia Woolf commented herself that she was "writing to a rhythm, not a plot" and this book is full of rhythms and cadences where each sentence and paragraph flows and undulates in a manner comparable - as the author intended - to the waves of the ocean and the waves of the mind. The novel opens with a very atmospheric description of the sea at daybreak and introduces the reader to six young friends: Bernard, Neville, Louis, Susan, Rhoda and Jinny - who, when we first meet them, are children at pre-prep school; we then follow their lives as they move on to public school, where the boys meet Percival - whose "magnificence is that of some medieval commander" and with whom Neville falls in love. After school, Bernard and Neville go up to Cambridge; Louis goes into business; Susan is sent off to Switzerland to finish her education and to prepare her for a suitable marriage and Jinny returns to London. Percival sets off for India, where a tragedy occurs and one which has a significant and lasting impact on the six friends. As we read on, we learn - in fragments - how these six people live their lives separately, yet intertwined; how they go their own ways, but meet up as friends (and some of them as lovers) over the ensuing years; we read of how they experience the world around them; how they struggle to define who they are; how they attempt to cope with loss and how they ponder on what it means to be alive…This novel, where the quality of the prose almost defies description, is the most original and lyrical of all of Virginia Woolf's novels and is a complex, yet tantalising story which requires the reader to immerse themselves fully in Woolf's sensuous language. Using a stream of consciousness narrative and the use of multiple inner monologues, the author reveals the vulnerabilities and complexities of her characters' personalities and, in doing so, she allows her readers to gain an impression of what it is like to be inside her characters' minds and to experience their inchoate thoughts and emotions. This novel is an extraordinary reading experience - I've read all of Virginia Woolf's books and there is nothing (in Woolf's body of work - or, that I have found, in anyone else's) that is quite like 'The Waves' and it continues to impress, amaze and, in particular, to haunt me with each reading. A masterpiece.5 Stars.Please note: I have more than one copy of this book on my bookshelves, but for this most recent reading I opted for the Kindle/Audio version, which meant that for just a few pounds I could download this Kindle edition: The Waves and this audio version: The Waves - which is beautifully narrated by Frances Jeater. Ideal for commuting or for those times when you have to get on with something else but are still able to carry on listening.

A good read. The first of her books I’ve read and I’m hooked. Keen to try more of her books

I am really enjoying this book, however this copy is far too small. The print is too small and it’s smaller than an average paperback. In fact I may return it and buy a different version. It’s not clear on the description.

Woolf's stream-of-consciousness technique of writing, where the reader receives an ongoing narration of the characters emotional reactions to their lifetime experiences, doesn't pretend to be a story or novel as such in the sense of a structured plot.If from the start the style and form of The Waves can be accepted for what it is, a poetic expression of emotions recollected from childhood into old age, then to an extent therein has to lie the enjoyment.Not so if a plot is sought, along with a beginning a middle and an end, tension and suspense.