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3.5 stars
For me, Orlando was one of those classics where for quite a bit of it I’m reading it like ‘I’m not sure I know what’s going on but I think I’m enjoying it?’ I didn’t like this one as much as I did Mrs Dalloway, but I greatly appreciated her beautiful style and the commentary on gender norms!
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Orlando is the slightly bizarre tale of a young man in Elizabethan England, who, on a diplomatic trip to Constantinople, wakes up to discover he is now a woman, and then subsequently lives through two centuries as a woman, allowing Woolf to tear apart and make fun of the gender roles expected of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s meant as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, Woolf’s lover, so I recommend doing some research into that as you read, as it will help you understand more what on earth is going on.
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There were more than a few stunning passages, but also more than a few passages where, I’ll be honest, she completely lost me. I always clawed my way back to understanding though, and would continue to enjoy the narrative again!
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Most people are in agreement that Woolf was way ahead of her time, and I’d 100% agree. The critiques she makes of gender as a performative construct were both spot on and hilarious, and I very much enjoyed the narrator’s sass and heavily ironic remarks. It’s a book with a lot of meaning, and I’m not sure I grasped it all on a first read, but I’m glad I read it and would happily read it again in ten years to see what more I could get from it!
For me, Orlando was one of those classics where for quite a bit of it I’m reading it like ‘I’m not sure I know what’s going on but I think I’m enjoying it?’ I didn’t like this one as much as I did Mrs Dalloway, but I greatly appreciated her beautiful style and the commentary on gender norms!
.
Orlando is the slightly bizarre tale of a young man in Elizabethan England, who, on a diplomatic trip to Constantinople, wakes up to discover he is now a woman, and then subsequently lives through two centuries as a woman, allowing Woolf to tear apart and make fun of the gender roles expected of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s meant as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, Woolf’s lover, so I recommend doing some research into that as you read, as it will help you understand more what on earth is going on.
.
There were more than a few stunning passages, but also more than a few passages where, I’ll be honest, she completely lost me. I always clawed my way back to understanding though, and would continue to enjoy the narrative again!
.
Most people are in agreement that Woolf was way ahead of her time, and I’d 100% agree. The critiques she makes of gender as a performative construct were both spot on and hilarious, and I very much enjoyed the narrator’s sass and heavily ironic remarks. It’s a book with a lot of meaning, and I’m not sure I grasped it all on a first read, but I’m glad I read it and would happily read it again in ten years to see what more I could get from it!