I just finished reading Virginia Woolf's Orlando. And yes, every time I say Orlando, it makes me want to start singing made up versions of Abba songs.
Highbrow taste in literature. Questionable taste in music?
I actually thought this wasn't so bad for a Woolf novel. I understood what was going on most of the time. There was some decent action and a few funnies scattered among the internal monologue bits (although of course, there were tons of internal monologue bits). And I didn't fall asleep every time I tried to finish it the way that I did with Mrs. Dalloway. Seriously, I don't even think I can tell you how Mrs. Dalloway ends, despite reading it all the way through. Perhaps best of all, it was later made into a movie with Billy Zane (this may only best if you've seen Zoolander).
The story centers on the life of a young Elizabethan nobleman named Orlando. Midway through the book, Orlando magically becomes a woman. Oh, and the book doesn't end until the 1920s, when Orlando is said to be 36. As an examination of gender roles and sexual identities, this all works fine. Of course, part of me wondered why Orlando's servants kept dying, while Orlando remains in her mid-thirties and occasionally runs into old comrades from Elizabethan days. Like a good Millennial, I'll just assume that maybe they are all vampires.
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| The good kind. No sparkles here. |
And just for the gossipy juiciness of it, I'll go ahead and add that this novel was dedicated to Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West. Vita pursued an alternative lifestyle back before it was the cool thing to do, and you can read more about her here.
Overall, the novel was fine. It held my interest mostly, and I would definitely recommend it as a starting point for anyone who wants to read Woolf. Oh, and it wasn't depressing, which is a HUGE WIN for me when it comes to this little project.
And now, off to catch some Abba on my Pandora station.
My, my, how can I resist you?
Buffy image found here.
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