Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Orlando: New special edition

An incredible disappointment which has put me off the possibility of reading any more Woolf. When reading Mrs Dalloway, there were plenty of moments when the writing got away from itself and I completely lost what Woolf was actually talking about, but the plot and characters made up for that by being decently interesting. Orlando severely lacked those redeeming factors for me, and so when the writing got away, it got away. By the end of it I was heavily skim-reading and it would've been a DNF, but my frustration powered me through, I guess.

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cassie_04's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

DEAR GOD. AN INFURIATING READ. TOOK ME 5 MONTHS TO FINISH. Great book though. Interesting takes on gender throughout. I also enjoyed the surreal passage of time and place throughout the book. Unfortunately, like much of Woolf's work it is incredibly racist. I enjoy her experimental style but this one was a little bit too loosey goosey and descriptive in places, as well as the frequent racism made this book difficult to read. Has historical and literary interest though, so in those regards, was worth a read.

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

My second time reading this book, and it was a better experience because this time I didn't try to rush through it. Woolf's writing gives you so much to think, and I don't think you're even supposed to understand every single thing — nonetheless, Orlando was a nice ride through time. Woolf's way of writing feminist commentary is witty and original, though her feminism is very white (like everything else in her time). There were also some colonial and even poc-fetishizing scenes in this book, which weren't really necessary to the plot and due to them and the rather confusing plot I can't rate this book higher (it still wasn't bad, just not the best either).

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murrderdith's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Listen, it's Virginia Woolf. It's good and this is groundbreaking work in its narrative use of gender fluidity. Orlando is an amazing character, even if they* are also an absolute aristocratic snob (I mean, so was Woolf.)

...it's also the book of hers I enjoyed the least. It turns out, my favorite thing about Woolf is her ability to shift perspective within the stream-of-consciousness style she pioneered. The interiority is still here but without that other element, this text felt more linear and rigid than Mrs. Dalloway or To The Lighthouse (my personal favorite.) I missed the writer's ability to embody so many people (and occasionally buildings) within a narrative.

*The character shifts from masculine to feminine pronouns in the text, I'm using the singular they here for expediency's sake.

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emilo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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avocadotoastbee's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

"I am sick to death of this particular self. I want another."

Orlando, who was born as a man in the 16th century, lives 400 years and dies as a woman in 1928, when Virginia Woolf finished writing the book Orlando.

Virginia Woolf wrote this novel essentially as a love letter to her lover, Vita Sackville-West, who resembles Orlando. But Orlando is not just an homage, it is so much more. It is miles ahead of its time: exploring gender identity, addressing queer love, and questioning gender roles including men’s position of power in the 18th and 19th centuries - Orlando shows the fluidity and flexibility of time and gender. Orlando depicts love and loss and beauty in both. In addition, Virginia Woolf paints beautiful pictures with her detailed descriptions of nature and landscapes.

I loved reading about Woolf’s ideas and hypotheses about gender, time, love, and evolving and growing as a person. The only thing that interfered with the reading experience was the racially offensive language that was ever present.

I also want to note that it can be difficult at times to follow Woolf's stream of consciousness if you are not familiar with her writing style.

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aardwyrm's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Just gonna start with the fact that like many things labeled as subversive and full of subtext *for its time*, it's just frantically racist. Spare yourself that if you want. And most of the transgressive queerness is vanilla and silly if you're not living in a pretty repressed portion of 1928.

Like many things occupied with being literature and saying things of importance, the book doesn't have much in the way of characters or plot, but it's not really about either of those things, it's about wry social commentary from a position that doesn't recognize itself as privileged and blinkered, and it's pretty good at being that? I'd never noticed that Douglas Adams had some very Virginia Woolf rhythms before, anyway. And a rewrite that dealt with the fact that this is in fact a sci-fi novel would be fascinating.

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