angelaonmars's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
vickyg's review against another edition
2.0
I appreciate the Woolf's inventiveness but this book just wasn't for me. I found it challenging to read as I wasn't particularly invested in the characters. It may have been due to the lack of action, the book is more of a character study than anything else, and whilst it is an interesting perspective to take, it just didn't hold my interest!
healnotslay's review against another edition
it's been a long time coming wowowowowowwoowwowowoowow
for obvious reasons (I can't even understand like 40% of the novel) I won't rate it
edit (180520): i keep coming back to this book when im a certain kind of mood and now i'm convinced it's one of the best books ever written? like technically astounding, and i mean that in the literal way in terms of craft.
anyways not to be fake deep but sometimes reading books that take work and effort and struggle are worth it, and even if you don't understand 100% (or in this case, even 50%) a book doesn't mean you can't still take something away from it
i'm so glad i had the foresight to underline sentences and parts i liked & that resonated with me when i read it
for obvious reasons (I can't even understand like 40% of the novel) I won't rate it
edit (180520): i keep coming back to this book when im a certain kind of mood and now i'm convinced it's one of the best books ever written? like technically astounding, and i mean that in the literal way in terms of craft.
anyways not to be fake deep but sometimes reading books that take work and effort and struggle are worth it, and even if you don't understand 100% (or in this case, even 50%) a book doesn't mean you can't still take something away from it
i'm so glad i had the foresight to underline sentences and parts i liked & that resonated with me when i read it
joanabrookfernandes's review against another edition
5.0
O mar tem um efeito hipnotizante, quiçá sedativo, em mim. Poderia passar horas a contar as ondas, a inalar os seus aromas, a afogar-me nessas sensações a cada vaga. E é precisamente esse embalar que Virginia Woolf conseguiu captar e traduzir com tanta destreza nestas 224 páginas. Simplesmente sublime.
A pena de Woolf traz-nos as vidas de seis amigos de infância, até ao finar das suas vidas. Algo que só seria feito com tanta maestria por alguém com capacidades de observação extremamente afinadas. “As Ondas” são os fios que os unem, que os indissociam e que, ao mesmo tempo e indelevelmente, os afastam em caminhos tão diferentes. Esta escrita tão criativa torna difícil discernir a personagem por detrás da fala, inicialmente, mas à medida que as ondas os afastam e cada um ganha protagonismo, as indicações tornam-se desnecessárias. Observamos uma caracterização tão precisa e distinta das personagens que nos interrogamos como acabam irrevogavelmente por convergir as suas existências numa só, numa partilha de medos, angústias e solidões.
Uma narrativa quase etérea que se debate sobre a passagem do tempo, o sentido da existência humana, e, claro, a morte. Consegue ouvir as ondas?
A pena de Woolf traz-nos as vidas de seis amigos de infância, até ao finar das suas vidas. Algo que só seria feito com tanta maestria por alguém com capacidades de observação extremamente afinadas. “As Ondas” são os fios que os unem, que os indissociam e que, ao mesmo tempo e indelevelmente, os afastam em caminhos tão diferentes. Esta escrita tão criativa torna difícil discernir a personagem por detrás da fala, inicialmente, mas à medida que as ondas os afastam e cada um ganha protagonismo, as indicações tornam-se desnecessárias. Observamos uma caracterização tão precisa e distinta das personagens que nos interrogamos como acabam irrevogavelmente por convergir as suas existências numa só, numa partilha de medos, angústias e solidões.
Uma narrativa quase etérea que se debate sobre a passagem do tempo, o sentido da existência humana, e, claro, a morte. Consegue ouvir as ondas?
milanameow's review against another edition
2.0
I love Virginia Woolf and her writing, I think she’s one of the most talented writers of all time but this book was just not for me… It was so hard to get through and I was left confused 99% of the time. I feel like it took me forever to finish this book even if it’s just 170 pages long because it was so unbearable.
holyren's review against another edition
2.0
Tamamen sosyal mesaj ve kişinin hayat görüşleri üzerine kurulmuş oldukça ilginç bir yazım tarzıyla yazılmış. Kitap boyu kişiden kişiye atlayarak eylemlerden çok kişinin yaşanan eylemlere olan düşünceleri üzerinden gitmesi oldukça takip etmesi zor olup okuyucunun dikkatini hızlı kaybetmesine neden oluyor.
Yakalayabildiğim sosyal mesajları ve felsefi düşünceleri işaretledim. Ama kitabın geri kalan kısmında cümleden cümleye geçişleri olay örgüsünü ne anlatılmak istendiğini asla anlamadım. Muhtemelen okuyabilme seviyemin çok üstüne olmasından kaynaklı kitabı gerçekten her cümlesini analiz ederek okunmayacaksa kimseye önermiyorum.
Yakalayabildiğim sosyal mesajları ve felsefi düşünceleri işaretledim. Ama kitabın geri kalan kısmında cümleden cümleye geçişleri olay örgüsünü ne anlatılmak istendiğini asla anlamadım. Muhtemelen okuyabilme seviyemin çok üstüne olmasından kaynaklı kitabı gerçekten her cümlesini analiz ederek okunmayacaksa kimseye önermiyorum.
artisticauthor's review against another edition
5.0
I take back my previous aggressive dislike of Woolf (although I still hate To the Lighthouse) as this was a genuine joy to read. I have always loved stream of consciousness works and it was invigorating to read what is arguably the first in this style.
I was confused at times but in the best way possible; being stuck inside the thoughts and mindscape of someone without understanding them fully, revealing so much about their innermost workings.
It's difficult to review this book, it was intimate and insightful, yet I feel like I sped through so many people's lives without really getting to know them. I have so many questions about them but I guess that's part of the charm and the stream aspect of their consciousness.
I'm always in my own head so it was nice to see how other people talk to themselves, how they're constantly occupied, judging every moment, every movement of those around them. It made me feel much less alone.
All in all, not necessarily something I will reread but definitely enjoyable and has made me interested in reading more of Woolf's work.
---
"Among the tortures and devastations of life is this then - our friends are not able to finish their stories."
"To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?"
"A leaf falls, from joy. Oh, I am in love with life!"
"What did I write last night if it was not poetry? Am I too fast, too facile? I do not know. I do not know myself sometimes, or how to measure and name and count out the grains that make me what I am."
"We insist, it seems, on living. Then again, indifference descends."
"
Let us hold it for one moment… love, hatred, by whatever name we call it… Forests and far countries on the other side of the world, are in it; seas and jungles; the howlings of jackals and moonlight falling upon some high peak where the eagle soars. Happiness is in it… and the quiet of ordinary things."
"But I pine in solitude. Solitude is my undoing."
"The mind grows rings; the identity becomes robust; pain is absorbed in growth."
"It is strange that we, who are capable of so much suffering, should inflict so much suffering."
"How much better is silence; the coffee-cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings…"
I was confused at times but in the best way possible; being stuck inside the thoughts and mindscape of someone without understanding them fully, revealing so much about their innermost workings.
It's difficult to review this book, it was intimate and insightful, yet I feel like I sped through so many people's lives without really getting to know them. I have so many questions about them but I guess that's part of the charm and the stream aspect of their consciousness.
I'm always in my own head so it was nice to see how other people talk to themselves, how they're constantly occupied, judging every moment, every movement of those around them. It made me feel much less alone.
All in all, not necessarily something I will reread but definitely enjoyable and has made me interested in reading more of Woolf's work.
---
"Among the tortures and devastations of life is this then - our friends are not able to finish their stories."
"To whom can I expose the urgency of my own passion?"
"A leaf falls, from joy. Oh, I am in love with life!"
"What did I write last night if it was not poetry? Am I too fast, too facile? I do not know. I do not know myself sometimes, or how to measure and name and count out the grains that make me what I am."
"We insist, it seems, on living. Then again, indifference descends."
"
Let us hold it for one moment… love, hatred, by whatever name we call it… Forests and far countries on the other side of the world, are in it; seas and jungles; the howlings of jackals and moonlight falling upon some high peak where the eagle soars. Happiness is in it… and the quiet of ordinary things."
"But I pine in solitude. Solitude is my undoing."
"The mind grows rings; the identity becomes robust; pain is absorbed in growth."
"It is strange that we, who are capable of so much suffering, should inflict so much suffering."
"How much better is silence; the coffee-cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings…"
jadeprestidge's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
5.0
Beautiful and heartbreaking. Absolutely brilliant.