The Waves - February Group Read

[Irene]

Do you think "Percival" is a metaphor of the expectation of the life she hoped to have? Then the hope dies because reality settles in.

[Roberta]

Irene wrote: "Do you think "Percival" is a metaphor of the expectation of the life she hoped to have? Then the hope dies because reality settles in."

I think so. He's everything lost - father, mother, brother, life expectations, mental stability, normalcy . . .

[Jennifer W]

I'm a bit behind, but I just read this that made me think Woolf is telling us to slow down and stop being so antsy at the way she chose to write her book.

Neville: "But then Rhoda, or it may be Louis, some fasting and anguished spirit, passes through and out again. They want a plot, do they? They want a reason? It is not enough for them, this ordinary scene. It is not enough to wait for the thing to be said as if it were written; to see the sentence lay its dab of clay precisely on the right place, making character; to perceive, suddenly, some group in outline against the sky."

[Irene]

Sometimes we do things in life that we think we have to do, then one day we realize it is not as fulfilling as we thought it would be. Then again what is?

[Jennifer W]

I finished last night. I don't think I got out of it hardly as much as several of you seemed to have gotten out of it, in a literal sense (I missed the masturbation scene, I missed that Rhoda drowns, I missed that Neville is taking lovers, etc). So on the plus side, I've gotten far more out of the discussion than I did out of the book!

[Roberta]

Jennifer W wrote: "I finished last night. I don't think I got out of it hardly as much as several of you seemed to have gotten out of it, in a literal sense (I missed the masturbation scene, I missed that Rhoda drown..."

Haha! I hear that! If it weren't for Irene and Petra, et al, I wouldn't have been inspired to dig around in the novel so much.

What I didn't notice while reading the book was Neville's quote you cited @153. That's excellent . . . Woolf's simultaneous apologia slash screw you! to fans and critics?

[Petra]

That's what I like about our book discussions: so many things are picked up by other readers that we all get a better insight into a book. Many things were picked up here that I missed or just barely picked up on.

I love that quote, Jennifer. I completely missed it.

[Irene]

How much, let me note, depends upon trousers; the intelligent head is entirely handicapped by shabby trousers.
Many writers use their novels to express their views on certain issues of the times.
What do you think this quote meant?

[Petra]

I remember that line. I thought it reflected the time that the novel was written. My step-dad likes watching movies from the 30s & 40s. The thing I always notice in these movies is that the people are always very neatly dressed; everything is tidy, ironed, fitted. The men wear ties and creased trousers; the women dresses and hats.
When I read this line, I remembered these movies and thought the line perfectly reflected the 30s (or in this case, the late 20s). If someone in those days were to be seen in "shabby trousers", no one would take them seriously. They would be unemployed, disregarded and ostracized in many ways; "entirely handicapped" was a good way of saying all this.

There could be more to it than that. VW is deep....much deeper than a Hollywood movie but this is what it reminded me of.

[Irene]

Earlier in the novel there is another statement made by Bernard that one should dress for success,"but,being flimsy, being floppy,wearing get trousers,they will only succeed in making themselves ridiculous"
This is a strong statement that still stands today. In the work place, people's first impression of your knowledge in the area of your position is determined by what you wear. So,if you want to make a good impression dress like the part you want to be acknowledged for. Right?

[Irene]

As we come to the end of the book discussion,I was thinking, if we could make this into a screen play who would play each character? The screenplay setting would be in the restaurant and they would take turns talking about their life like catching up and reminiscing about everything from the moment they met to date. Percival and Rhoda wouldn't be at the table, they would be memories. As each character speaks of their past you would see a young character acting it out. That would be interesting to do.

[Roberta]

@Petra, re: 159
I remember someone in my family referring to my great grandfather - of that generation to which you refer - about how he [though poor] wouldn't leave his home without his trousers pressed, his hat steamed, his coat brushed, hair combed. And recently, a friend of mine, upon seeing a group of teenaged boys, remarked: "They need what all boys need: a belt and a haircut!" LOL. Though the statement made my friend sound a good deal older and prissier than she is, I think we hit that point in our young adulthood about appropriate ways to present ourselves. Which leads into:

@Irene, re: 160
Agreed! Though times are more relaxed and some business sectors don't require the suit-and-tie [a high-level, successful game tester at Xbox is still more likely to wear jeans and a tee, right?], I think that generally is true. I'm a freelancer who frequently works at home in my sweats - but I'm not likely to show up for a client meeting in them!

re: 161
That's a great idea . . . I think you should write it! I'll have to think about casting.