I’ll open with a confession: I don’t really care for stream-of-consciousness style of writing, and this book was a lot of that.

This book is about a particular group of people (centrally the Ramsay family) at a particular point in time, and then the family again, a few years later on another day.  Woolf primarily goes from person to person as the day progresses, detailing their inner monologue.

In fairness, there are moments when I think Woolf really captures how one’s thoughts can jump so quickly between being happy with another person and then feeling so distant the next. We are all paradoxes, and there are some lovely passages in this book that feel really true.

However, I didn’t really enjoy reading this book. I enjoy stories and books with a bit more plot. I’m fine reading about the thoughts of characters as a part of a story, but I don’t want a book almost wholly composed of those thoughts.

It was exhausting to me to keep jumping from person to person, hearing their sometimes self-indulgent thoughts, and I wanted to know more about what happened in the time between the two days. The first day is before World War II, and the second day after. In between these times, several characters die in asides in the brief middle passage, with not much notice taken, which is interesting in one sense, and maddening in another.

I’d love to hear from someone who enjoys Woolf, and this book in particular, to see what I’m missing, or what appealed to them.

★ ★

 I’ve started my “50 Classic books in 5 years” challenge with Shakespeare’s Othello (chosen by the Classics Club Spin for August). Since it’s nice and short, I’ve finished it already, so it’s good to start with something quick to get started.

I’m familiar with the plot of Othello, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen it performed, so I’ll have to add it to my list.

The downside of reading a Shakespeare play is wading through the dense and often unfamiliar language and risking missing some of what’s going on. The upside is recognizing some Shakespeare-coined phrases (“O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”).

I enjoyed reading about the adventures and misadventures of the characters and rolled my eyes at everyone calling Iago “honest” and “trustworthy.” I forgot how he played everyone the whole time. That guy really held a grudge!

Also, the story wrapped up quickly there at the end with lots of stabbing and a little strangling. Those people really just took Iago’s word for it that they needed to kill with no other proof and got to the killing.

Two great comedy takes (fair warning: there’s some not-safe-for-work language here): Key & Peele on Othello and If Desdemona Had a Sassy Gay Friend

A brief review can’t do this great play justice, but I definitely recommend re-reading Othello, and I hope I can get to a production sometime soon!

“I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.”

★ ★ ★ ★

Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash