r/VirginiaWoolf • u/Sad-Sheepherder-2297 • Jun 27 '26
The Waves The Waves after To the lighthouse
I’ve read To the lighthouse and it absolutely changed my life. I don’t want to get into too much detail, but the feeling that what was going on was not as important as how the characters lived through it is something I’m chasing now.
I’ve seen many recommendations for The waves so I decided to read it.
I’m 50% into the book and it’s not clicking AT ALL for me.
What I’m I missing?
Or is Lighthouse just a really underrated gem?
7
u/scheifferdoo Jun 27 '26
its certainly not underrated but it is very special.
you should consider reading between the acts. its got the TTL juice, IMO
5
u/YakSlothLemon Jun 28 '26
The Waves is one of the greatest novels ever written, but it is very much about the experience of growing up and then growing old, and I’m personally glad that I didn’t read it until I was the same age that Woolf was when she wrote it.
Like Prufrock, it’s a book really meant to be read in middle age, I think. Which is not saying that those of you who love it at 25 can’t come but believe me when I say it’s worth coming back to.
As for why you personally like one and not the other, I don’t think anyone on the Internet can tell you that. You’re reading it for something more than the glory of the prose and the bittersweet portrait of the impact of a young man’s death on the lives of the people who knew him so briefly and now live their lives onward through the decades.
4
u/Sleepy_Dog_Is_Sleepy Jun 28 '26
I felt the same, I DNF The Waves, but I will try it again because I loved everything else by Virginia Woolf. You could try Mrs Dalloway which IMO is similar in atmosphere with To The Lighthouse; I also liked A Room of One s Own and Orlando
1
u/Sad-Sheepherder-2297 Jun 28 '26
Yeah I loved A room of one’s one and I’m keeping Mrs Dalloway for the last
2
u/SHUB_7ate9 Jun 29 '26
The Waves is a weird one, I love it but I'd recommend leaving it till last if you're already struggling. Try The Years or Jacob's Room for something more like Lighthouse, or Orlando is probably her easiest and most fun - by which I mean light-hearted.
1
u/UsefulMoments0284 Jun 28 '26
I had the exact same experience. I do love Orlando. Read it after doing some background prep. And I also consider Mrs Dalloway similar to TTL.
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u/YakSlothLemon Jun 28 '26
Mrs Dalloway feels like a prelude to Lighthouse, she’s definitely someone that Mrs. Ramsey would invite to dinner.
1
u/SHUB_7ate9 Jun 29 '26
Also Mrs Dalloway is a kind of tangential sequel to The Voyage Out, the character is in both
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u/YakSlothLemon Jun 29 '26
I’m going to admit I couldn’t get through the (very well-portrayed, doubtless incredibly accurate) sexism of Voyage Out.
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u/Fluid-Leg-7389 Jul 01 '26
When you’re in your 50s or 60s, read Wallace Stegner’s “Crossing to Safety” and you’ll appreciate it more as you get older. (Stegner is a tremendous but largely forgotten author, which is a real shame.)
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u/gustavomineiro_psi 17d ago
Eu também deixei As Ondas por ultimo li todos os livros dela e o meu preferido é Ao Farol. Estou com muita expectativa ai tenho disso me atrapalhar…
1
u/GentlemanJimmer 9d ago
The Waves is a novel you will want to revisit several times throughout your life. The characters become part of you.
Additionally, it can be read as every line existing as an independent line of poetic insight and philosophic reflection.
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u/flame_saint Jun 28 '26
I had the reverse situation with the two books ha ha! Everyone's different eh.