Publisher's Synopsis
The text of this edition of "The Waves" is that of the first English edition, its authority having been established by comparisons with the first American edition, which retains the unrevised reading of the novel, and with the uncorrected proofs recently made available at the William Allan Neilson Library of Smith College.;Published in 1931, "The Waves" is Virginia Woolf's most experimental novel. Her attempt to render the mutuality of experience results in a series of monologues, all in direct quotation, and bridged by italicized introductions to each section. The alternating monologues of the six speakers present an almost musical harmony in which the theme is cast not in a crescendo of narrative development, but in a chorus of voices.;Events are not described; the word is the event. Personality is not defined by accent or activity, but by a conscious interrelation with the other speakers. Thus all speak with, essentially, one voice. It is, perhaps, Woolf's most eloquent and most successful attempt to display the mystery of human consciousness as the greatest affront to the impersonal order of the cosmos.;The editors' introduction discusses the genesis of "The Waves" , its autobiographical and biographical elements, the process of composition and revision, and the history of its early critical reception. An extensive series of notes aids the reader in identifying allusions and motifs, many of which are fundamental to the structure of the novel. Of particular interest are the influence of English poetry and drama, Woolf's speculations on the proper form of fiction, and the importance of her understanding of everything from the art of Titian to theories of quantum mechanics.
