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Orlando (Wordsworth Classics): A Biography
 
 
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Orlando (Wordsworth Classics): A Biography (Paperback)

by Virginia Woolf (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd; New edition edition (1 Feb 1995)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1853262390
  • ISBN-13: 978-1853262395
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12 x 1.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4,114 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #4 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Woolf, Virginia

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Product Description

Product Description
Virginia Woolf's Orlando 'The longest and most charming love letter in literature', playfully constructs the figure of Orlando as the fictional embodiment of Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Costantinople, awakes to find that he is a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women.
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87% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Woolf gets weird and wonderful...again!, 4 Jul 2001
This review is from: Orlando: A Biography (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Written as a gift to her close friend, Vita Sackville-West, this is a firm favourite amongst initiated Woolf fans. For those who know little about Woolf, it is also a good starting point. Whilst "Orlando" carries much of Woolf's trademark stream of conciousness style and dry feminist wit, it never seems over indulgent or inaccessible. The mock biographical format makes for an interesting and more structured read, but it is worth noting that there is little or no explanation for some of the more fantastic events. For instance (and if you don't want to know the spoilers, turn away now!) it is never made clear why Orlando lives for so long, nor are we enlightened as to the cause of his unexpected change in gender. Unbelievable though the plot is at times, it is quite good fun, and the freedom allowed to Woolf by the weird and wonderful nature of the protagonist is well tempered by the more sober and considered style. The prose is wonderful, as you would expect with Woolf, flowing easily and, at times, lyrically. As we follow the twists and turns of our hero's life, so we are compelled on not just by the absorbing plot, but also by the excellent narrative style. Woolf balances the factual, dry voice of a biographer with the omniscience of a third person viewpoint. This allows her to make many interesting points about historical figures and gender roles alike. Not just a novel about life and a lover, or a thinly concealed feminist tirade, Orlando is full of dry comments to raise a smile and is worth a read if only for the diversity of imagery and characters. It stands as one of the most enjoyable Woolf novels for old fans and new alike.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A writer's holiday, 6 Dec 2002
This review is from: Orlando: A Biography (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
A writer's holiday is what Virginia Woolf called this novel. It was more fun and less compulsive writing for her than her previous and later novels. Orlando is a fantastical novel which begins somewhere in 1500 and ends in 1928. The main character is Orlando who lives for this long period of time and also morphs from man into women. Woolf wrote this novel for her friend (lover) Vita Sackville-West and is one of the best love letters ever. it's written as a biography and the author often directs herself at the readers. There are also a lot of gender issues which are touched upon in the book and it's great to read the subtility with which she handels these things.
Although Orlando is one big fantasy I think it's the most accesible novel Woolf has written. It still has her distinct style. But the changes of scenery and times are very entertaining. It's such a nice idea to have a couple of centuries encapsulated in one book.

A must read (even if you think Woolf is to difficult.or boring!..she isn't!!)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A funny fictional biography, 23 Jun 2008
By Nat (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Orlando: A Biography (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
I had to study this book in the first year of my degree. I am very glad of this, as I might not have encountered this amusing and original work of Woolf's otherwise. The tone of 'Orlando' is quite different to that of her other well-known novels such as 'To The Lighthouse' and 'Mrs Dalloway' - I would say that it is more 'accessible'. Despite its somewhat surreal plot (a sixteenth-century nobleman ends up as a twentieth-century female writer), the historical periods are described with realistic detail, and the reader's perceptions are challenged throughout. The themes of gender, race, truth, art and freedom, which are prevalent in the book, are still as relevant today as they were in 1928.

The Oxford World's Classics edition is well worth buying over cheaper ones; not only is the cover pleasant to look at, but there is a wealth of extra material in the form of notes, a pictorial insert, a lengthy bibliography, and an interesting and useful introduction. Highly recommended!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Milord! Milady!
This `roman à clés' is very original. The hero continues to live in different historical periods and undergoes a sex change. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Luc REYNAERT

1.0 out of 5 stars Without doubt the very worst book I have ever had the displeasure of reading.
I MUST be missing something. I am widely read, am in the middle of a degree in literature, and all of a sudden as part of my studies I have to read this mindless drivel. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. A. Gale

2.0 out of 5 stars Messy and sprawling
'Orlando' is a sprawling fantasy, in which the title character survives for 400 years, during which time he is transformed from a man to a woman. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2005 by Depressaholic

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