Reviews with content warning for War - Orlando

I want to start this review by saying that I feel like didn't fully understand this book. There were many lines that felt like a reference that I didn't get despite the many annotations that came with my edition. Be it because I'm not British, didn't live in the 1920's, wasn't part of the Bloomsbury group, am not Vita, or just because I'm dumb. Some of these may not even have been a real reference to anything and just randomness that comes with the "stream of consciousness" method. The "stream of consciousness" sections were amazing and interesting at first but did get tiring very fast. The author's writing is very funny though, in that way where it takes you a few seconds to realise there was a joke there but when you do it lights all parts of your brain. The book is full of reflections and commentaries, some interesting some not so much, many involving Orlando's legs. So many, I stopped reading to google Vita Sackville's to know what the author was talking about. The entirety of the text felt, just like Vita's son said, like a very long love letter to her. And I mean all kinds of love, be it friendship, be it romantic, be it admiration. All together in 200 or so pages.

Content Warnings

librarymouse's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Orlando's fully unquestioned physical and social gender transition is somehow the least absurd part of this book. Not only is she unhesitatingly referred to with the correct pronouns upon the switch by the narrator, but by her fellow characters as well. The book was fine overall, though the extended timeline across a small number of pages is deeply strange when compared to Mrs. Dalloway's one day explored in detail as the only other Woolf book I've read. I really enjoyed Orlando's juggling of attraction with the gendered expectations of personality and aesthetics, and how they differed between the traditional clothes of other countries. Orlando isn't particularly likeable but I don't know that liking her was the intention behind with a novel.n her introduction to the reader, in the first pages of the novel puts her at an immediate disadvantage when it comes to likeability.

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melancholymegs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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ireadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book caught me from the very first page, the language was beautiful and it brought me to worlds I had not visited before - but would love to see again. Woolf is controversial and has a lot of strange opinions, but the fact that somebody so long ago can adress gender in such a complicated way was a positive surprise to me.

turns out this is a lesbian love story and that filled my heart with joy

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cassie_04's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

DEAR GOD. AN INFURIATING READ. TOOK ME 5 MONTHS TO FINISH. Great book though. Interesting takes on gender throughout. I also enjoyed the surreal passage of time and place throughout the book. Unfortunately, like much of Woolf's work it is incredibly racist. I enjoy her experimental style but this one was a little bit too loosey goosey and descriptive in places, as well as the frequent racism made this book difficult to read. Has historical and literary interest though, so in those regards, was worth a read.

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emilo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

mmirjamm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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