'the waves' is an extremely complex experimental novel, primarily about friendship. the story itself consists of vignette-like glimpses into 6 characters lives, we follow them from childhood up until old age, witnessing their anxieties, insecurities, struggles and growth. at its core, it's simply a story about living. the narration follows the course of their life, with brief poetic interludes following the course of the day. both times are mirrored (e.g. the sunrise is linked to the characters childhood, sunset with old age etc.) it's very cleverly written, in my opinion.

but, it's an extremely difficult novel for me to rate. as a literature student, i think it's a masterpiece. as a reader, it was a pain in the arse. the writing is absolutely gorgeous. poetic, mesmerising, dreamy. but the content is so difficult to grasp. in accordance with the modernist literary movement (a movement that's all about deviating from traditional literary norms and reinventing literature. basically, abstract art), virginia woolf adopts a stream of consciousness narrative style that, while being beautifully intricate and complex, is exhausting to read. simply because you have to spend so much time trying to extract the basic meaning of what is being said.

while i appreciate woolf showing the beauty and value in relaying "quieter" stories like this, where we're merely following character's every day lives, i don't think her work is entirely for me?? i'm definitely down to try another one of her novels. but not any time soon, i don't think.

[ read for university ]