The Collected Works of Virginia Woolf — The Waves

Author: (English) Virginia Woolf, translated by Cao Yuanyong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-12-01
Features: The Waves is a work by the renowned British female writer Virginia Woolf, created during the peak of her creative period, published in 1931. This highly poetic, abstract, and formulaic experimental work lacks a strict narrative, resembling more a musical composition constructed from nine movements. Each prelude is a brilliant prose poem, corresponding to the rise and fall of life through the cycles of the sun and the sea. Following each prelude are six nameless, highly formalized characters whose inner monologues at respective life stages—from childhood, studenthood, youth, middle age to old age—are captured in fleeting moments. The preludes and the main text reflect each other, opening unprecedentedly detailed channels for readers' senses, bringing them as close as possible to the essence of life, time, consciousness, and sensation. It is a work of great significance in the hall of modern literature, and to this day, it continues to stir our souls with its exquisite textual structure and poetic style.