Voyage Out (Modern Library Classics (Prebound))

Rating:
Summary: Indications of Genius
Review: "The Voyage Out" was Virginia Woolf's first novel. This work is much more even and mature than many writer's first books, however. True, "Voyage Out" is a much more typical novel of the time (it was published in 1915). Her later works would be much more experimental, and "Voyage Out" indicates some of this - the multiple viewpoints and emphasis placed on character's inner lives are both key aspects of this work. And Woolf's mastery of the English language; her ability to write of both the "big events" and the "everydays" of life in a new and exciting way that skirts the melodrama of some of the earlier Victorian novelists is in full flower. Michael Cunningham's introduction, while pretty basic as far as biography and literary criticism go, is a good introduction to Woolf that doesn't put too much of an emphasis on her life over the merits of her work, a tendency that is all too frequently indulged in. Most people nowadays have heard of Virginia Woolf, and may know that she was mad and committed suicide; most people are, however, not aware of the key place she plays in the development of the English novel, and of the power her works still have. Cunningham has some interesting things to say about the place her writing and particularly her fiction play in our view of literature. (Michael Cunningham's most recent novel, "The Hours", is a sort of improvisation which plays off of and comments on Woolf's novel "Mrs Dalloway"; "The Hours" also features Virginia as a character. One more interesting note about "The Voyage Out" is that it introduces us to Richard and Clarissa Dalloway who will go on, of course, to be key players in "Mrs Dalloway"). Just as Cunningham's essay is a good introduction to Woolf Scholarship and Biography, "The Voyage Out" is a good place to start. Not only is it the first of her works, but perhaps more immediately accessible than some of the later works. However, this accessibility is not at the expense of greatness - "The Voyage Out" is not a "lesser Woolf novel" by any means. On the contrary, it deserves to stand with "Mrs Dalloway", "To the Lighthouse" and "The Waves" as a key part of her work.

Rating:
Summary: Indications of Genius
Review: "The Voyage Out" was Virginia Woolf's first novel. This work is much more even and mature than many writer's first books, however. True, "Voyage Out" is a much more typical novel of the time (it was published in 1915). Her later works would be much more experimental, and "Voyage Out" indicates some of this - the multiple viewpoints and emphasis placed on character's inner lives are both key aspects of this work. And Woolf's mastery of the English language; her ability to write of both the "big events" and the "everydays" of life in a new and exciting way that skirts the melodrama of some of the earlier Victorian novelists is in full flower. Michael Cunningham's introduction, while pretty basic as far as biography and literary criticism go, is a good introduction to Woolf that doesn't put too much of an emphasis on her life over the merits of her work, a tendency that is all too frequently indulged in. Most people nowadays have heard of Virginia Woolf, and may know that she was mad and committed suicide; most people are, however, not aware of the key place she plays in the development of the English novel, and of the power her works still have. Cunningham has some interesting things to say about the place her writing and particularly her fiction play in our view of literature. (Michael Cunningham's most recent novel, "The Hours", is a sort of improvisation which plays off of and comments on Woolf's novel "Mrs Dalloway"; "The Hours" also features Virginia as a character. One more interesting note about "The Voyage Out" is that it introduces us to Richard and Clarissa Dalloway who will go on, of course, to be key players in "Mrs Dalloway"). Just as Cunningham's essay is a good introduction to Woolf Scholarship and Biography, "The Voyage Out" is a good place to start. Not only is it the first of her works, but perhaps more immediately accessible than some of the later works. However, this accessibility is not at the expense of greatness - "The Voyage Out" is not a "lesser Woolf novel" by any means. On the contrary, it deserves to stand with "Mrs Dalloway", "To the Lighthouse" and "The Waves" as a key part of her work.

Rating:
Summary: Opening to love and humanity
Review: Rachel Vinrace, a young woman not quite acquainted with the ways of the world, accompanies her aunt and uncle (the Ambroses) to South America, where she eventually falls in love with a young aspiring writer. Swirling around this tale of doomed love are the many other characters who all influence each other and are themselves influenced. Most of the novel is about Rachel, but Helen Ambrose is equally central to the story, as a comparison to her niece and in her own internal voyage. Chronicling the inner lives of her characters, Woolf, in her first novel, explores the awakening of first love, the influences of men (and the culture they have control over) upon women, the confusions we as human beings have in our daily communications with others. Originally entitled "Melymbrosia", "The Voyage Out" went through many revisions as Woolf claimed language for her own uses and effectively began a new literature (for her time), where the internal life and the interconnectedness of humanity are the central themes.

Rating:
Summary: Woolf's first leap toward notoriety
Review: Woolf's first novel, THE VOYAGE OUT, undoubtedly takes its plot from proto-Victorian satirical literature, most notably Jane Austen to whom Woolf alludes directly in the novel several times. This allusion is usually specifically referenced to Austen's last novel, PERSUASION, which follows Anne Elliot's second-chance at love despite the fact that she has reached the age of thirty and is therefore virtually unmanageable. Woolf obviously draws a parallel between Austen's Anne and her own heroine Rachel; both are old enough to know the ways of the world, Anne much more so than the naive Rachel. These ways of the world include both the machinations of society and the expected union between man and woman. Yet both Austen's and Woolf's heroines cannot seem to properly fit into their respective milieus. While Anne's intelligence and wit set her apart from the others in her social circle, it is Rachel's passivity and refusal to view the world except in terms of her own musical and idealistic notions that ostracize her from the start in Woolf's novel.

Following a typical bildungsroman structure, Woolf sets her novel in South America, where a group of English tourists have taken up rooms at a hotel for a vacation in the hopes of becoming more 'cultured.' The result, under Woolf's pen, is an absurdly wicked satire touching upon colonization, the snobbery of the British upper-middle class, the link between the political and the sexual (as depicted in the character of Evelyn Murgatroyd), and the state of socially-acceptable gender roles. Whereas Austen's satiric wit was more subdued and controlled due to the time period in which she wrote, Woolf's runs rampant on every page. Though rather than appear authoritative, despite the third-person narration, Woolf allows each character to show their own flaws and misgivings through their actions, speech, and thoughts.

As Rachel 'matures' in this environment, she slowly begins to see the corruption that lies in the world at large; her only moments of peace seem to come when she is either playing the piano or else considering the union of land and sea and sky, a union that symbolizes the idealistic collective solidarity necessary for a nation (and an individual within society) to function. Her engagement to Terence Hewet seems to arise suddenly (though, with reference to the plot, not unexpectedly) as though Rachel, having witnessed other men and women pairing off, felt she too must follow suit. Ironically enough, Hewet and Rachel seem to make an ideal couple: Rachel's musicality is nicely juxtaposed against Hewet's leanings toward literature and novel writing.

Some critics have argued that Woolf was playing with plot, character and stylization in THE VOYAGE OUT, and thus conclude that the rather abrupt ending (which finds Rachel succumbing to an almost psychotic/hallucinatory, and quite deadly, illness) was Woolf's way of 'modernizing' the proto-Victorian plot. Instead, it seems clear that, since Woolf satirizes without cease throughout the novel, her satire also extends to the very tradition, structure, and plot from which she was borrowing. She seems to be asserting that the uneducated and unworldly woman is unprepared for society and its harsh realities and, due to the absence of proper upbringing, education, and discussion (for so much of the novel invokes a sense of silence, of what is not said), it is society itself which is to blame for this. Also, on the other hand, Woolf seems to imply that this same uneducated, unworldly woman might possess the imaginative and speculative qualities necessary to bridge the gap between the 'Victorian world' and the 'modern world.' Rachel's 'sacrifice' in the novel proves that if the world does not change then the individual cannot change; therefore, most importantly, the two entities (the aware individual and the slowly-blossoming society) cannot exist simultaneously.

THE VOYAGE OUT is an essential book in the Woolf canon and, with the recent appearance of the first version of the novel, the unexpurgated manuscript MELYMBROSIA, should be read alongside Woolf's other works with the same degree of seriousness. Though a first novel, this work sets the stage for Woolf's satiric, feminist, and experimental voice. Following a fairly linear narrative, THE VOYAGE OUT does indeed show some of the stylizations and subjective characterizations that would eventually transform into the stream of consciousness style that we associate with Woolf's work. A challenging and provocative read, THE VOYAGE OUT set the stage for Woolf's literary career and began immediately to address and challenge the societal norms which Woolf herself felt had been left too long in the dark, unexamined.

--Reviewed by kris t kahn, author of ARGUING WITH THE TROUBADOUR: POEMS

Rating:
Summary: Woolf's first leap toward notoriety
Review: Woolf's first novel, THE VOYAGE OUT, undoubtedly takes its plot from proto-Victorian satirical literature, most notably Jane Austen to whom Woolf alludes directly in the novel several times. This allusion is usually specifically referenced to Austen's last novel, PERSUASION, which follows Anne Elliot's second-chance at love despite the fact that she has reached the age of thirty and is therefore virtually unmanageable. Woolf obviously draws a parallel between Austen's Anne and her own heroine Rachel; both are old enough to know the ways of the world, Anne much more so than the naive Rachel. These ways of the world include both the machinations of society and the expected union between man and woman. Yet both Austen's and Woolf's heroines cannot seem to properly fit into their respective milieus. While Anne's intelligence and wit set her apart from the others in her social circle, it is Rachel's passivity and refusal to view the world except in terms of her own musical and idealistic notions that ostracize her from the start in Woolf's novel.

Following a typical bildungsroman structure, Woolf sets her novel in South America, where a group of English tourists have taken up rooms at a hotel for a vacation in the hopes of becoming more 'cultured.' The result, under Woolf's pen, is an absurdly wicked satire touching upon colonization, the snobbery of the British upper-middle class, the link between the political and the sexual (as depicted in the character of Evelyn Murgatroyd), and the state of socially-acceptable gender roles. Whereas Austen's satiric wit was more subdued and controlled due to the time period in which she wrote, Woolf's runs rampant on every page. Though rather than appear authoritative, despite the third-person narration, Woolf allows each character to show their own flaws and misgivings through their actions, speech, and thoughts.

As Rachel 'matures' in this environment, she slowly begins to see the corruption that lies in the world at large; her only moments of peace seem to come when she is either playing the piano or else considering the union of land and sea and sky, a union that symbolizes the idealistic collective solidarity necessary for a nation (and an individual within society) to function. Her engagement to Terence Hewet seems to arise suddenly (though, with reference to the plot, not unexpectedly) as though Rachel, having witnessed other men and women pairing off, felt she too must follow suit. Ironically enough, Hewet and Rachel seem to make an ideal couple: Rachel's musicality is nicely juxtaposed against Hewet's leanings toward literature and novel writing.

Some critics have argued that Woolf was playing with plot, character and stylization in THE VOYAGE OUT, and thus conclude that the rather abrupt ending (which finds Rachel succumbing to an almost psychotic/hallucinatory, and quite deadly, illness) was Woolf's way of 'modernizing' the proto-Victorian plot. Instead, it seems clear that, since Woolf satirizes without cease throughout the novel, her satire also extends to the very tradition, structure, and plot from which she was borrowing. She seems to be asserting that the uneducated and unworldly woman is unprepared for society and its harsh realities and, due to the absence of proper upbringing, education, and discussion (for so much of the novel invokes a sense of silence, of what is not said), it is society itself which is to blame for this. Also, on the other hand, Woolf seems to imply that this same uneducated, unworldly woman might possess the imaginative and speculative qualities necessary to bridge the gap between the 'Victorian world' and the 'modern world.' Rachel's 'sacrifice' in the novel proves that if the world does not change then the individual cannot change; therefore, most importantly, the two entities (the aware individual and the slowly-blossoming society) cannot exist simultaneously.

THE VOYAGE OUT is an essential book in the Woolf canon and, with the recent appearance of the first version of the novel, the unexpurgated manuscript MELYMBROSIA, should be read alongside Woolf's other works with the same degree of seriousness. Though a first novel, this work sets the stage for Woolf's satiric, feminist, and experimental voice. Following a fairly linear narrative, THE VOYAGE OUT does indeed show some of the stylizations and subjective characterizations that would eventually transform into the stream of consciousness style that we associate with Woolf's work. A challenging and provocative read, THE VOYAGE OUT set the stage for Woolf's literary career and began immediately to address and challenge the societal norms which Woolf herself felt had been left too long in the dark, unexamined.

--Reviewed by kris t kahn, author of ARGUING WITH THE TROUBADOUR: POEMS