Sometimes
you read a book you expect you will probably like. A book that is written
beautifully and has parts you enjoy enormously, but a book that also has a
problem. I had this strange experience with Between the acts by Virginia
Woolf.
Published in 1941
It is a
beautiful summer day in 1939. At the estate of Pointz Hall the villagers gather
to rehearse and perform their annual play. The family who owns the estate is
waiting until everything is ready and they can fulfill their part as the
audience.
The family
consists of old Bartholomew Oliver, who once played a part in the colonial
government of India. There is also his son Giles, who works in the city, but
does not like that and his wife Isabella who is dissatisfied with her marriage.
To compensate that she writes poems she hides and often thinks herself to be in
love with one of the farmers in the village. Other people who visit the estate
are Bartholomew’s sister who is religious and irritates her brother and the
worldly Mrs. Manresa and William Dodge.
During the preparations
for the play and the pauses between the acts the different members of the
family ponder about the changes in the world, and Giles for example thinks he
is the only one who knows that is going on in Europe and how serious the
situation is.
People talk
about the view and how little it has changed over the years, they talk about
the king who has abdicated and what is happening in the country.
You read
parts of the conversations and pieces of contemplations while the preparations
for the play are in full blaze. It is a bit like you are walking around hearing
bit and pieces everywhere. You can see this is a technique Virginia Woolf used before, it is done so very well here.
Beautiful
descriptions of the surrounding gardens take you away and let you float in the
atmosphere of a very English afternoon.
If the
whole book was filled with these kind of descriptions, I would have been a very
happy woman. But unfortunately there was also a part I did not like at all, and
that was the play itself. Virginia Woolf
put the entire script of the play in the book and I was completely bored by
it. I even admit I skipped some pages here.
In short,
beautiful descriptions and fragments done like nobody can do so well as Virginia Woolf, but I personally
thought the parts between the acts were better than the acts. J
Published in 1941
This is my least favorite Virginia Woolf novel and it's because of the play; I didn't like any of the parts that had to do with the play. Which made it hard for me to appreciate the rest of the novel. I liked her idea, but not her execution with this particular novel.
ReplyDeleteThat was exactly my feeling about this book!
DeleteI really enjoyed the inbetween parts, but certainly not the play. I am so glad I am not the only one who thinks this!
Kind regards,
I haven't read any of Virginia Woolf's work but I am hoping to rectify that - I'm signing up to The Classics Club this year and have a title or two on my list of 50 books to read over the next few years.
ReplyDelete:-)
Bits & Bobs
I am looking forward to the reviews of the books you read. I find Virginia Woolf as a person fascinating (although not a very kind woman, I think), but I must confess I do not think she is a very easy or accesible writer. For me, it takes some hard work to read and understand her work.
DeleteBut some parts are absolutely beautiful.
Kind regards,