I absolutely adore this book. No matter how many times I read it, it never gets old. "Orlando" is hilarious: I laugh out loud when I read this book. It is also beautiful and heart-wrenching. I just love this book. ( )

This book was a joy to read. Exuberant, fanciful, exemplifying literature at its finest. This semi-biographical novel is partly based on the life of Vita Sackville-West, an intimate friend of Woolf. Orlando is a character who is liberated from the restraints of time and gender. He starts as a young nobleman in the Elizabethan era and ends as a modern woman three hundred years later. Woolf explores the theme of femininity and roles of men and women within certain cultural (English mainly and Oriental) and historical contexts through some bizarre and outrageous devices (e.g. Orlando is not the only androgynous character). The reader is taken on a wild and playful ride, from his days as a young steward of the queen and on the throes of passion for a Russian princess, his devastation on her desertion, to a period of ambassadorship in Constantinople where he awakes one day as a woman, to time spent with the gypsies, and eventually, to her return to modern-day England. The 2 constant things through all this was her passion for writing, and search for love -- the fulfillment of which she finally found towards the end of her 300-year journey (signifying the drastic difference of the social milieu and implications for women in general). The novel is full of wit, and where Orlando has moments of ambiguity and confusion (owing mostly to social restraints of the era) -- which she would after a round of internal debate, invariably junk, i found hilarious.

This publication of this book in 1928, was a hallmark in literature, especially in regard to women's writing and gender studies, for obvious reasons. ( )

This is a great book, extremely well written and the storyline is interesting. Orlando, who is Elizabeth I's favourite pet companion, lives an adventurous life through the following ages and centuries, in different nations. His/her change of gender in Turkey sends her into a confusion of the genres, whilst reflecting the ages' preoccupations. Whilst elevated, the language is lyrical, sometimes poetical and practical, with a focus on Orlando's own narrative inner voice, her reflections on life, society and her role within a seemingly linear chronology.

Orlando's life is a reflection of Vita Sackville West's familiar grounds and life. Some readers may interpret the book as a declaration of love or as a philosophical discussion about gender and a nation's historical changes through Orlando's life. It is open to interpretation and it is well worth reading the book for the multitude of questions it opens. A highly recommended classic. ( )

A favourite from first year University that left me with a lingering (and sadly unfulfilled) desire to have a tumultuous affair with a Russian ice skater. ( )

amazon PD: Virginia Woolf's Orlando 'The longest and most charming love letter in literature', playfully constructs the figure of Orlando as the fictional embodiment of Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Costantinople, awakes to find that he is a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women.

Virginia W. said this was her throwaway book, not to be taken seriously and not to trouble herself too much over. Sort of her "beach" read. I loved it almost more than her serious works of art. Woolfe isn't known much for the fantastical or the humourous, but Orlando has these things. A fascinating experiment in time and gender. ( )

Such a strange biography of Orlando who appears to be a legend among the people. Orlando was a very strange character and became even more so to me after the transformation halfway through the book, but seeing the struggle of change over the years and the difference between how men and women act is prevalent throughout the entire story. Also the desire to change back or be someone you no longer are plays a key role throughout the biography.

Virginia Woolf's most sustained work of narrative fiction is in fact a spoof biography of the Elizabethan lord Orlando who travels the years to the Twentieth Century while turning into a woman. A hymn of praise to the character of Vita Sackville-West. ( )

What an amazing book this was. It was like a wild ride in an amusement park--so much fun but I always felt a little off balance. However, I just loved the humor throughout the entire story.
The book begins with Orlando’s birth and childhood and how he grows to be a “beautiful” young man and a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I near the end of her reign. Later King Charles sends him as Ambassador to Turkey and the descriptions of his ambassadorial duties are the stuff of Grouch Marx--hilarious.
While in Turkey Orlando falls into a prolonged trance like sleep and when Orlando awakes she is now a woman. VW’s thoughts on how people conform to society's ideas of gender roles, and how important clothing is, freeing the male and restricting the female are thought provoking but, again, I was more entranced with the humor as she describes the society of the time—a much later time than when Orlando was a man. I'm a huge Georgette Heyer fan and the descriptions of the society functions Orlando attends reminded me of the time Heyer writes about. VW had me practically rolling on the floor--the "assemblies," the "tea parties," and the "witty, intellectual gatherings" were a hoot. Part of this book seems to be a great "send up" of so many British customs and mores--her acerbic wit is delightful.
This last section was the most difficult for me to keep track of what was going on--I think because it moved so quickly through so many different moods. The novel ends on October 11th 1928—Orlando is over 400 years old. In many of her novels Virginia Woolf seems to love “playing with time!”
I enjoyed it but feel I need to read it again because I'm sure I missed a lot the first time through. Her style seems to change with each new novel of hers I read and I always get more from her books when I reread the--which I will be doing with this one also. ( )

While the scope and idea of this novel was and is exciting, I felt it lacked something. Orlando's adventures felt more like aimless (and not-quite-interesting) wanderings than an exciting odyssey. After finishing the book and feeling a little like I had wasted my time, I read some background on it that explained that the biography was a kind of tribute to Woolf's androgynous lover, Vita Sackville-West. Knowing that gives the novel a little more meaning, but doesn't make it all that much more interesting. As other reviewers have noted, the story up to the point where Orlando leaves London for Constantinople is much more exciting than the rest and is what most of my three stars are owed to. ( )

Orlando is a story I wouldn’t have expected from Virginia Woolf. It’s so different then what I’ve experienced from her other works, because it’s such an unusual story. But it’s unusual in a good way, and even if the story isn’t as strong as I’d like it to have been, the elegant, poetic and flowing words that came off the pages made up for it. The story was a “biography” of the character Orlando, who half way through the story, turns from male to female. The narrator addresses the reader a lot, which added something different to the book, and there was a bit of humour through out the novel, as the narrator adds a bit of their own opinion in. And at times, it seemed like Woolf, was adding a bit of satire or her own strong opinions on the way society acted and presented it’s self throughout the centuries, Orlando lived through (16th - 20th), but that could have been just me.

The poetic writing, is what really made the story, it is just a beautiful poetic story, where paragraph after paragraph is filled with an elegant style of writing, which has made Woolf famous. She truly has an ability to write with exceptional, poetic style, that traps you into her novels.

Review can also be found at my book review blog
http://juliebooks.blogspot.com/2009/0... ( )

. . character liberated from the restraints of time and sex. Born in the Elizabethan agte to wealth and position, Orlando is a lusty young nobleman at the beginning of the story and three centuries later a modern woman. the hero-heroine sees monarchs come and go, hobnobs with the great literary figures of every age, and slips in and out of each new fashion. In the Vicorian Age she dutifully puts on layers of petticoats, marries, and bears a child. In the twentieth century she drives a motor car and publishes a poem she has been writing since youth. The author leaves her at "the present moment." She is 36.- ( )

Have read this before, but another on my 'must read again!' list. The blending of the characters and times is so smooth you won't even notice it changing! A relatively easy read. ( )

British modern classics, 1001

If the thought of Virginia Woolf intimidates you -- or if you're more familiar with Edward Albee's ubiquitous play than you are with any of Woolf's work -- then Orlando is the novel for you. It's bizarre and unusual, but also, unlike much of Woolf's later work, remarkably accessible and compulsively readable.

The novel purports to be the biography of a young nobleman named Orlando, born during the Elizabethan age and destined to become a great power in his time. Instead of settling into a typical noble life, however, Orlando undergoes an astonishing number of calamities -- not the least of which is his transformation from a man to a woman -- and traverses over three centuries of history while aging only thirty-odd years.

Despite the fantastical elements, Woolf's great attribute in the novel is her ability to tell the tale with a fairly objective eye, one that forgoes many of the modern techniques that mark her more famous and more difficult works. Her sentences do flow marvelously, and her paragraphs though long float effortlessly from page to page, but there is never a sense of psychological overload. Rather, her constant asides to the work of biographers both grounds her in a fact-based tradition and lampoons the style at the same time.

Orlando's romps through the centuries are each tinged with unique moments, some of which are incredibly fascinating and some which do, admittedly, tend to drag. (One particular sequence involving Alexander Pope, for instance, lacks the zest of Orlando's interactions with, say, Nick Greene.) The absurdity of Woolf's world, however, drives the action forward, and the casualness with which Orlando becomes a woman and swims through time keeps the mood light even when the action threatens to take a serious tone.

Orlando is a unique work in that it showcases Virginia Woolf at perhaps the height of her imaginative powers, but remains genuinely charming and delightfully accessible. A fine first step for the budding Woolf enthusiast, Orlando is perhaps underrated but well worth considering among her very best work.

Among all the works by Woolf I think I enjoy this book the most! ( )

This was the first novel by Woolf that I read, and her masterful skill with words held my attention, which is impressive, considering that the plot of this story begins with Orlando, a young boy, and ends hundreds of years later with Orlando, a mature woman. Orlando, the same person. Woolf offers no apologies for the passage of years, and only a very funny "explanation" of how Orlando changes gender midlife. The book claims to be a biography, and this tongue-in-cheek premise sets the stage for the droll humor that permeates the rest of the novel. Yet the novel manages to be profound and dramatic within this construct.

Nevertheless, Woolf's language play is even more incredible than the storyline. She creates metaphors that are poetry in prose, and her creative use of lists is another strong technique. She also uses some very clever allusions. I love the characters Purity, Temperance, and Chastity, who physically make an appearance when Orlando changes gender and try to cover her, while cleverly providing a reason for Woolf not to describe how the miracle takes place. Her writing is lyrical.

I read this book twice. First, just because I wanted to, and the second time for a group read. I'm very glad that I read it a second time. The first time, I was captivated by her use of words, but the story lost me several times, and I put it down frequently. The second time, already knowing what to expect plot wise, I was able to appreciate the craft of the novel, and at the same time, understand the story and characters more deeply and stay focused.

This book has a lot to offer. Orlando's life spans several ages of London life, from Queen Elizabeth, through James and Victoria, and through the eyes of her main character, Woolf offers interesting criticism of each. Her perspective on gender is another central theme, which she can explore from two angles, thanks to her character's unique personality. Not content with those broad motifs, Woolf further ponders the themes of love and life. With her language, intriguing characters, and complex themes and metaphors, this story is well worth a read, and then another, to fully appreciate this work from Virginia Woolf. ( )

Virginia Woolf’s fictional biography, Orlando, devotes two pages out of 299 to an index listing characters, and titles of literary works. Woolf’s playfulness about Orlando‘s category met difficulties; booksellers, confused by its apparent status as biography, as indicated on the title page, and supported by its possession of an index, refused to sell it as fiction. Leon Edel, in Writing lives, principia biographica writes of Orlando: “In keeping with its nature the volume is endowed with an index. The pretence of scholarship and exactitude is maintained to the end”.
The entry for the main character, Orlando, who lives for 400 years and during this lifetime turns from man to woman, duly changes sex half-way through, thus, from:

Orlando, appearance as a boy, 15; writes his first play, 16; visits Queen at Whitehall, 24; made Treasurer and Steward, 25; ...

through to —

... confused with her cousin, 220; returns to her country house, 233; breaks her ankle, 248; declared a woman, 255; engagement, 250; marriage, 264; birth of her first son, 295

A fantastic novel in which a young courtier from the time of Elizabeth magically lives for four centuries without aging, even more magically changing sex from man to woman halfway through. This humorous book satirizes the politics of all the eras Orlando lives through, and more so challenges the gender roles across time. Very different from any other Woolf novel I've read. Sally Potter made an excellent film based on the novel staring Tilda Swinton as Orlando, but definitely read the book first. ( )

You know, this could have been a good book. I am definitely interested in the sort of premise of the last two-thirds. But my potential enjoyment of the book was ruined by the fact that this book purports to be a biography, or at least a straightforward narrative, for the first third or so -- and then, without warning or explanation, our hero abruptly becomes a transsexual time traveler. Though the book has to this point been fairly realistic, no one reacts as though Orlando's gender switch is odd, and no one thinks it's strange that s/he suddenly appears again over a century after his/her birth. Again, this would have been _fine_ if it was set up. But it wasn't. Woolf begins in a realistic mode, and there is absolutely no good excuse, save sheer perversity, for turning the reader topsy-turvy in this manner. After 130 pages of apparently realistic prose, an abrupt shift (which makes use of an extremely trite use of allegorical figures, I might add) to the realm of the fantastic is confusing and illogical. And the book just goes downhill from there. People from the sixteenth century appear in later centuries -- again, without any explanation and without any expression of surprise on anyone's part. Orlando's house staff from the 1500s is waiting for her when she returns in the early 1700s -- but then they all die by the 1800s, though she is still alive. She marries, and after her husband leaves on a trip we pretty much never find out what the hell happens to him. She gives birth (when she actually got pregnant is yet another question), and her child isn't mentioned after that moment. Jumps in time during the course of the narrative are profoundly unclear. And why doesn't anyone around Orlando seem to remark on the fact that she seems to be immortal?! And of course, woven through all of this at intervals is intolerable "philsophical" prattling which rarely has any depth.

As usual, Woolf is too busy trying to be unusual and shocking to bother writing something actually readable. It is so frustrating, because there are a few beautiful passages, and the idea behind the last two-thirds or so of the novel is really interesting and could have made a wonderful book on its own. But these sparks of something better are drowned in Woolf's usual overly-self-conscious, self-indulgent prose. If you really must read any of this (and I advise against it), go only as far as the point where Orlando falls into a trance in Constantinople. There is absolutely nothing worth your time and energy beyond that point. ( )

Seems like the very beginning of magical realism. I've never read anything like it from that time period. Extremely symbolic. The author is very interested in androgyny, but also, and mainly in coming to terms with oneself and the world. Balancing the yin and yang if you will. ( )

Orlando starts his life out in the age of Queen Elizabeth as the son of a wealthy family who lives in a large estate in the English countryside. He grows up, falls in and out of love with society, falls in and out of (but mostly in) love with poetry, never loses faith in nature, and eventually (when he is thirty) takes an ambassadorship to Turkey to escape the attentions of a woman. And while is is there a very strange thing happens: he falls asleep, sleeps for a long time (during which there is a violent revolution all around him) and when he wakes up, he is a woman. No one is too surprised about this, least of all Orlando. She continues to do much the same things she did before, although some things are changed -- and Woolf delights in exploring why some things should be different as a woman than as a man. Luckily there is plenty of time for that since the book ends in 1928 and Orlando is only 36, even though she has been alive for 400 years. As Woolf writes:

"And indeed, it cannot be denied that the most successful practitioners of the art of life, often unknown people by the way, somehow contrive to synchronize the sixty or seventy different times which beat simultaneously in every normal human system so that when eleven strikes, all the rest chime inn unison, and the present is neither a violent disruption nor completely forgotten in the past."

Orlando is not one of these people. In fact, her body and mind are so filled with times and personalities that it allows her to change gender and live for 400 years.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/04...] ( )

Magical realism saved Orlando from being targeted for obscenity. A delicious tale of a writer's growth into herself, and out of himself. The biographer's commentary is often hilarious, and do pay special attention to the cross-dressing section for hints of the "obscene" according to Lord Campbell's Act of 1857. It isn't there, but it is there. ( )

The story begins with Orlando as a passionate young nobleman in Queen Elizabeth's court. By the end, Orlando is a 36-year-old woman three centuries later. Orlando witnesses the making of history from its edge. A close examination of the nature of sexuality and the changing climate of the passing centuries. Very novel and engaging if a bit loose-ended at times. ( )

Favourite quote: "Altogether, the task of estimating the length of a human life is beyond our capacity, for directly we say that it is ages long, we are reminded that it is briefer than the fall of a rose leaf to the ground" (Orlando p.168)