melancholymegs's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Violence and War
cassie_04's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Slavery, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcohol and Classism
issyd23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Virginia Woolf really said ‘trans rights’. Endlessly quotable. Orlando’s just a gal who really loves nature and her dogs 3🐕
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Dysphoria, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, and Suicidal thoughts
murrderdith's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Listen, it's Virginia Woolf. It's good and this is groundbreaking work in its narrative use of gender fluidity. Orlando is an amazing character, even if they* are also an absolute aristocratic snob (I mean, so was Woolf.)
...it's also the book of hers I enjoyed the least. It turns out, my favorite thing about Woolf is her ability to shift perspective within the stream-of-consciousness style she pioneered. The interiority is still here but without that other element, this text felt more linear and rigid than Mrs. Dalloway or To The Lighthouse (my personal favorite.) I missed the writer's ability to embody so many people (and occasionally buildings) within a narrative.
*The character shifts from masculine to feminine pronouns in the text, I'm using the singular they here for expediency's sake.
...it's also the book of hers I enjoyed the least. It turns out, my favorite thing about Woolf is her ability to shift perspective within the stream-of-consciousness style she pioneered. The interiority is still here but without that other element, this text felt more linear and rigid than Mrs. Dalloway or To The Lighthouse (my personal favorite.) I missed the writer's ability to embody so many people (and occasionally buildings) within a narrative.
*The character shifts from masculine to feminine pronouns in the text, I'm using the singular they here for expediency's sake.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Classism
avocadotoastbee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
"I am sick to death of this particular self. I want another."
Orlando, who was born as a man in the 16th century, lives 400 years and dies as a woman in 1928, when Virginia Woolf finished writing the book Orlando.
Virginia Woolf wrote this novel essentially as a love letter to her lover, Vita Sackville-West, who resembles Orlando. But Orlando is not just an homage, it is so much more. It is miles ahead of its time: exploring gender identity, addressing queer love, and questioning gender roles including men’s position of power in the 18th and 19th centuries - Orlando shows the fluidity and flexibility of time and gender. Orlando depicts love and loss and beauty in both. In addition, Virginia Woolf paints beautiful pictures with her detailed descriptions of nature and landscapes.
I loved reading about Woolf’s ideas and hypotheses about gender, time, love, and evolving and growing as a person. The only thing that interfered with the reading experience was the racially offensive language that was ever present.
I also want to note that it can be difficult at times to follow Woolf's stream of consciousness if you are not familiar with her writing style.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
sylvainxweber's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the longest and best love letter ever written.
Though the story behind this book is already so rich in lore, the plot still manages to deliver the same amount of substance. This is definitely not a light read by any means as Virginia Woolf fills the book with her usual poetic prose and her often dwelling greatly on specific concepts, but this is a highly entertaining novel which does not fail to deliver.
Woolf wrote and dedicated this novel to Vita Sackville-West, a long-time "friend" (lover) of hers who often corresponded to each other in letters for many years over the course of their lifetimes. 'Orlando' is framed as a biography, and that is because it is a recounting of West's actual life, alongside her beliefs that she had once been a man alive for hundreds of years, which is what this novel covers in great detail.
Not only is it a major part of the sapphic relationship between Woolf and West, but it perfectly encapsulates the mindsets that both men and women experienced during the late 1500's and the 1920's (when this novel was written). Woolf is able to compare and contrast both experiences within Orlando's point of view, both framed slightly differently during her experiences as both a man and a woman. There are many ironic and humorous quotes within the text that essentially equivalate to Woolf making fun of how men viewed women in this time, such as the following:
" ' . . . must I then begin to respect the opinion of the other sex, however monstrous I think it? If I wear skirts, if I can swim, if I have to be rescued by a blue jacket, by God . . . I must!' . . . [s]he was horrified to perceive how low an opinion she was forming of the other sex, the manly, to which it had once been her pride to belong " (p. 156-158).
It also has much to do with sexuality for certain as Orlando often ponders on whether she is still attracted to women or should be attracted to men now that she is a woman. Many characters also seem to comment on this, alongside as to if she should be perceived as man, woman, or something else. However, I think that this book has more to do with gender than it does sexuality, but I think that this depends on each individual's different interpretations of the text and Orlando's life experiences.
While the overall feel during the last chapter of the book is certainly much different and more serious from the rest, I still had a great time reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Being transgender myself, this was a book that I certainly could relate to at many points during the plot, and it makes me happy to see more classic queer literature by queer authors being recommended and pointed to. Many historians have tried to erase the important impact our community has had on the world of literature, so it was refreshing to hear people discussing this book again.
Though the story behind this book is already so rich in lore, the plot still manages to deliver the same amount of substance. This is definitely not a light read by any means as Virginia Woolf fills the book with her usual poetic prose and her often dwelling greatly on specific concepts, but this is a highly entertaining novel which does not fail to deliver.
Woolf wrote and dedicated this novel to Vita Sackville-West, a long-time "friend" (lover) of hers who often corresponded to each other in letters for many years over the course of their lifetimes. 'Orlando' is framed as a biography, and that is because it is a recounting of West's actual life, alongside her beliefs that she had once been a man alive for hundreds of years, which is what this novel covers in great detail.
Not only is it a major part of the sapphic relationship between Woolf and West, but it perfectly encapsulates the mindsets that both men and women experienced during the late 1500's and the 1920's (when this novel was written). Woolf is able to compare and contrast both experiences within Orlando's point of view, both framed slightly differently during her experiences as both a man and a woman. There are many ironic and humorous quotes within the text that essentially equivalate to Woolf making fun of how men viewed women in this time, such as the following:
" ' . . . must I then begin to respect the opinion of the other sex, however monstrous I think it? If I wear skirts, if I can swim, if I have to be rescued by a blue jacket, by God . . . I must!' . . . [s]he was horrified to perceive how low an opinion she was forming of the other sex, the manly, to which it had once been her pride to belong " (p. 156-158).
It also has much to do with sexuality for certain as Orlando often ponders on whether she is still attracted to women or should be attracted to men now that she is a woman. Many characters also seem to comment on this, alongside as to if she should be perceived as man, woman, or something else. However, I think that this book has more to do with gender than it does sexuality, but I think that this depends on each individual's different interpretations of the text and Orlando's life experiences.
While the overall feel during the last chapter of the book is certainly much different and more serious from the rest, I still had a great time reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Being transgender myself, this was a book that I certainly could relate to at many points during the plot, and it makes me happy to see more classic queer literature by queer authors being recommended and pointed to. Many historians have tried to erase the important impact our community has had on the world of literature, so it was refreshing to hear people discussing this book again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
junothan's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Trudged through this book to try to see what other people saw in it and never found it. Going into the book as a nonbinary person I was really looking forward to the gender commentary it receives praise for but I found it very lackluster. I feel like its major themes are of writing, nature, and aristocracy more so than gender. It was all in all very boring as well and I found myself thinking "okay, let's wrap up this thought now" over and over, but that probably just means the stream of consciousness style just isn't for me. Ultimately it was a miss 🤷
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol
sioned_warren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
There is a moderate use of derogatory language and views to minorities in this book and the use of slurs of which include the n-word. I wasn’t warned or told about this before buying or reading so I would like to warn especially black people that use of those slurs are in there. This knowledge is then up to you if you wish to read the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Classism, Racial slurs, and Racism
amarrymeinbostonacademic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Classism
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