The Waves published in 1931 is considered to be Virginia's most experimental work, for good reason. It consists of soliloquies spoken by six characters named Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis. It starts with coastal scene at sunrise spoken in the third-person, and then, in stages until sunset, serves as interludes to all the life stages of the six characters' soliloquies. Thus, the characters' lives, in stages from childhood to adulthood, are mirrored by the changing facets of the coast, from sunrise to sunset.
Each of the voices we hear are distinct, showcasing Woolf's exploration of the concepts of individuality and self, but since they also all come together as one silent central consciousness of growth, the concepts of community is explored. Their common life experiences, in turn, also shape who they are as individuals, with their aspirations, friendships and jealousies, even amongst themselves when they meet on occasions. On the other hand, the ending portion of the book is a soliloquy of only one of them, Bernard, and through his old-age reflections of ageing, losses in life, in faculties and sense of self, we go back to the individuality lost in the multitude, as well as adding a layer of possibly only one character had been actually speaking throughout the novel, but in different voices, sharing different experiences and moments of life... Thus, this novel opens up either a metaphysical level of reading, or showcases the loss of self in old age, after having given us 6 difference voices ; I think it's brilliant and requires more than one reading.
Indeed, at times, the 6 individual soliloquies seem to continue one another's reflections on (possibly) a shared experience/scene, but at other times, they seem totally disconnected, only to culminate with that sole ending with Bernard. So, over and over, these characters' experiences with identity or impressions of its lack are explored. I'll give here a quote I loved to illustrate this, and is, again, taken from Bernard :
"To be myself (I note) I need the illumination of other people's eyes, and therefore cannot be entirely sure what is my self" (page 68).
This really adds to the possible assumption that Bernard is the only person here, and the others are mere fragments, or other aspects of the self that Bernard is...
I like the prose and some philosophical metaphors used throughout the novel ; I like the portions of life seen through the portions of the day. I like the reciprocity between these portions- for example, how at midday, when the sun is described at its highest point, a 7th character whose thoughts are never shared, but is a mutual of the other 6 characters, dies in the zenith of life.
There are also elements of decay and death in the story ; sometimes this is metaphorical, but other times repeats many meals and imagery about meat, which I didn't like so much... or rather, found too much to read over and over.
But, the biggest difficulty in reading The Waves consists in the fact that, much like Mrs Dalloway, this novel is barely divided into units, separated only by the changing landscape and sun's position in the sky, and also a *, but no chapters.
These * divisions appear on pages 20, 24, 28, 32, 34, 37, 39, 57, whereas the life stages in the sun's course, affecting the landscapes can be seen on pages 7 (start of novel), 18, 43, 63, 86, 96, 105, 119, 136, and these are the better divisions to read this novel with, because they define the different stages of the day, and of the characters' lives - from childhood, to about age 20-25, than 25-35, followed by middle-age, and old age.
Interestingly, in a 2015 poll conducted by BBC, The Waves was voted the 16th greatest British novel ever written ; if you want to know more, here's the list of 25 best they decided upon.
The waves is experimental, existential, sometimes abstract ; often poetic in its prose, mostly serious but sometimes also funny. Sadly, it also contains a few racially derogatory terms, including the N-word used in one of the imagined scenes the children see in the waves, but most of the issues on these derogatory terms come from experiences later in their lives.
I still recommend the novel for its originality and multi-layered reading, but with the pinch of wincing at those particular issues.
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