Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)

One of Virginia Woolf's most creative and lighthearted books is Orlando, a stunning fusion of historical fiction, fantasy, and biography. The novel, which spans more than three centuries, centers on Orlando, a young aristocrat in Elizabethan England who, midway through the narrative, mysteriously changes into a woman and survives into the 20th century with little sign of aging. Woolf uses wit and poetic genius to explore themes of gender, identity, time, and the nature of art through this show more premise.

Orlando is a 16-year-old poet and courtier in Queen Elizabeth I's court at the start of the book. His travels, romantic relationships, and literary endeavors lead him to, in a fantastical turn of events, awaken as a woman in the eighteenth century. From there, Orlando struggles with the limitations placed on women, negotiates changing social roles, and develops as a writer. The story is presented as a parody of a biography, complete with a lighthearted narrator who offers commentary on both the story and the writing process. The fluidity of Orlando's identity and the passage of time are reflected in the book's structure.

Woolf explores the performative nature of gender roles and the fluidity of identity through Orlando's gender transformation. Orlando enjoys freedom and privilege as a man; as a woman, she encounters limitations but also learns new things. Woolf's examination of gender feels remarkably contemporary, questioning social norms and binary ideas. The novel also explores the elasticity of time, as Woolf uses Orlando's long life to make observations about historical shifts from Victorian repression to the modern era to Renaissance exuberance. show less

I read this as part of a college course with open discussions in the community. Adding in weekly forums with prompts and multiple lectures gave the experience an unexpected weight.

This wasn't my first Woolf novel, but I had no idea this one was so autobiographical for her. Knowing that we both lost our mothers at a similar age, the stark before and after in the novel made sense to me. All that happens in your life before and after a major loss are forever categorized that way in your own show more head. I'm sure Woolf felt that seismic shift in her world after he mother died.

Seeing the death and grief through the eyes of Mr. Ramsay, Lily, the children, gave a weight to how unique the grieving process is. Even when processing the same death, each person deals with it so differently. We can often let it shape who we become, even if it's unintentional.

"All of this danced up and down, like a company of gnats, each separate, but all marvelously controlled in an invisible elastic net—danced up and down in Lily’s mind, in and about the branches of the pear tree, where still hung in effigy the scrubbed kitchen table, symbol of her profound respect for Mr. Ramsay’s mind, until her thought which had spun quicker and quicker exploded of its own intensity; she felt released; a shot went off close at hand, and there came, flying from its fragments, frightened, effusive, tumultuous, a flock of starlings." show less

Virginia Woolf can do anything she wants, and she does. This book breaks rules, and the fourth and fifth wall, and dances between forms and genres. Woolf reinvents the novel. Along the way, she writes more clearly and directly about feminism and identity than anyone else has, before or since--a remarkable feat for 1928. This book gobsmacked me, over and over. It hold brilliant secrets for any reader of any era. Everyone should read this.

Such a delightfully whimsical tale of a dog's life! Virginia Woolf, a dog owner herself, relates the biography of Flush, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel. Through the dog's eyes, we experience Browning's life of confinement in a genteel Victorian household, a confinement that, though luxurious, threatens to enervate her. While there is no denying the claustrophobic atmosphere, Woolf wisely contrasts Browning's suffering with that of the Whitechapel poor who kidnap Flush and hold him for show more ransom. From Flush's viewpoint, we experience the searing difference between drinking water from a purple glass jar and drinking water from a slime coated bucket. We then experience the sudden freedom he is granted when the Browning's escape to Florence. He rejoices in running free in the streets and sunning himself on the warm tile floor and a ready parallel can be drawn between Flush's experiences and those of his mistress. show less