The Years (Vintage Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
As the Pargiters, a middle-class London family, move from the oppressive confines of the Victorian home of the 1880s to the 'present day' of the 1930s, they are weighed down by the pressures of war, the social strictures of patriarchy, capitalism and Empire, and the rise of Fascism. Engaging with a painful struggle between utopian hopefulness and crippled with despair, the novel is a powerful indictment of 'Victorianism' and its values. "The Years", written in 1937, was the most popular of Virginia Woolf's novels during her lifetime.
Book Description
This first scholarly edition of The Years provides a fully collated and annotated text. It includes a substantial introduction, explanatory notes and detailed textual apparatus tracking Woolf's extensive revisions.
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First Sentence
It was an uncertain spring. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was an uncertain spring. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The novel is about the Pargiter family, and it covers the passage of time from the 1880's until the "present-day" which is in the 1930's. However, it is not a continuous account; so do not expect a long drawn out family story, tracking the characters from start to finish. Instead there are 11 chapters each titled by the year it is set in. Therefore, there are gaps in between the years, as not each year is documented.
Furthermore, each chapter is quite specific, dealing with a day of that particular year, and describing events occuring for a few of the characters. The events tend to be "every-day" occurences.
If you are looking for an easy read, then maybe move on to something else, as you do need to recall the various character names and how they are related.
HOWEVER, in my opinion this is one of the easier Virginia Woolf novels I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it very very highly. I particularly liked the way each chapter started of with a brief description of the weather at that time, so you get a seasonal pattern almost, with variation in weather between chapters.
This book deals with the passage of time, and the way that experiences are unique for the individual; so even if two people are looking at the same thing, they will be seeing it in a different way and if asked to describe it, will give different accounts. To make things more difficult, imagine trying to give a description of someone else, how difficult it is to encompass their whole character, their experiences, what makes them a person; the book gave me a lot to think about and it really was mind-blowing in a subtle way (!)
I hope you decide to go ahead and read it, especially if you are a Woolf fan!
Furthermore, each chapter is quite specific, dealing with a day of that particular year, and describing events occuring for a few of the characters. The events tend to be "every-day" occurences.
If you are looking for an easy read, then maybe move on to something else, as you do need to recall the various character names and how they are related.
HOWEVER, in my opinion this is one of the easier Virginia Woolf novels I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it very very highly. I particularly liked the way each chapter started of with a brief description of the weather at that time, so you get a seasonal pattern almost, with variation in weather between chapters.
This book deals with the passage of time, and the way that experiences are unique for the individual; so even if two people are looking at the same thing, they will be seeing it in a different way and if asked to describe it, will give different accounts. To make things more difficult, imagine trying to give a description of someone else, how difficult it is to encompass their whole character, their experiences, what makes them a person; the book gave me a lot to think about and it really was mind-blowing in a subtle way (!)
I hope you decide to go ahead and read it, especially if you are a Woolf fan!
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was prepared not to enjoy this, as I had read a certain amount of negative criticism. However, I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of this sprawling family saga, a saga which addresses directly both political and social issues in Britain and Europe, from the late C19th to the years immediately before the Second World War. It isn't quite in the same league as 'Mrs Dalloway', but it still has that Virginia Woolf way of pulling you in by such precise and well-observed description of character and place .
But at some point near the end, I found I was getting a bit bored. I wasn't interested any more. Eleanor's internal maunderings were slightly tedious; I was forgetting who was related to who; and I had to make an effort to finish the book.
For me, it was a sprawl too many. But it's still worth a read - it's Woolf, after all.
But at some point near the end, I found I was getting a bit bored. I wasn't interested any more. Eleanor's internal maunderings were slightly tedious; I was forgetting who was related to who; and I had to make an effort to finish the book.
For me, it was a sprawl too many. But it's still worth a read - it's Woolf, after all.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
An under-appreciated gem from Woolf
8 Oct 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
_The Years_ is the story of three generations of the Pargiter family. Stretching from 1880 to the 1920s, it follows the Pargiters through the tumultuous historical events and social changes of that era. Abel Pargiter is a retired civil servant; his daughter Eleanor is interested in social work; his son Edward becomes an academic; his grandson North is a veteran of the Great War. Their interactions and reflections comment upon their experiences in their always changing world.
In my opinion, _The Years_ ranks with as one of Woolf's greatest novels. It shows that Woolf was more than a feminist and more than a stylist--she was also a perceptive critic and observer of her society. She shows the plight of "the daughter of educated men" in a world that denies them education and careers; she shows the effect of the Great War on its survivors. And all the while, she writes her typical lyrical prose she writes about the passage of time: "Slowly wheeling, like the rays of a searchlight, the days, the weeks, the years passed one after another across the sky."
It is interesting to note that Woolf originally planned to write _The Years_ (with _Three Guineas) as a novel-essay called _The Pargiters_. The writing of this novel was extremely difficult, and it is much longer than most of her novels. In some ways it is much less experimental in form than _The Waves_, yet Woolf herself worried that the monologues of _The Waves_ left too much of the external world out--_The Years_ is, in part, an answer to that sentiment.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading Woolf or modern fiction. It probably isn't the best starter novel for Woolf (_Mrs Dalloway_ or _To the Lighthouse_ are better introductions to her style), but it's a beautiful piece of work. _Three Guineas_, Woolf's feminist pamphlet about "how to prevent war", is also worth reading after _The Years_. They complement each other very well, which is not surprising in light of their common origins.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
A True Masterpiece for all Time.
8 Aug 2001
Format:Paperback
If an immortal were to ask me what is is like to be mortal, and live with a family and with time and with age, I would hand him this book, and feel confident that he would get a grasp of our experience. Mrs. Woolf has gathered the dimension of time in this novel through simple passages of conversation that left my heart sinking and rising. What an achievement!
I read this after reading Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, A Room of One's Own, and The Waves. In this novel she was trying to cut her style back, making it more concise, and moving away from experimentation. Yet, she produced a most unique novel.
I read this after reading Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, A Room of One's Own, and The Waves. In this novel she was trying to cut her style back, making it more concise, and moving away from experimentation. Yet, she produced a most unique novel.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Excellent!
27 Aug 2003
Format:Paperback
This is one of Woolf's best, if not THE best. It follows a family through decades, showing the changes in them and the changes in the world around them. That stream-of-consciousness style that she is so famous for runs smoothly in The Years, and just flows over the reader. It was hard for me to tear myself away from this book. . . I had to simply shut the book, often in mid-sentance, to make myself stop reading. This comes highly recommended.
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