In class yesterday, we were discussing the presence of time in the novel. I personally have a hard time understanding Woolf's use of time in this text. There are a lot of things in novel that I have difficulty discerning, especially when the characters are talking. In the beginning of the text it is almost as if the children's experience. Is collective. I say this because many things are repeated and it is hard to know whose eyes we are seeing through. As I am reading, I am constantly trying to interpret what is happening. This distortion is interesting to me because I associate that type of engagement to the concept of " experimental". I'm not sure exactly what experimental fiction really is because I am not finished with this course. However my first reaction to the word experimental is the notion that it will be something different. My immediate response to this novel was that it was very different from novels I generally read. I also think that it is written differently because it is from the perspective of a child that becomes an adult.
I am interested to see how the perception of the experimental novel changes over the course and how this particular novel fits into that category.
I agree with you about the concept of "experimental" and this book. In fact, Jessica and I were talking about this at the end of class on Thursday. It is rather difficult to follow sometimes and I would get a headache if I read for a prolong period of time.
ReplyDeleteI did notice a direct relationship with spaces between paragraphs and time passing. Sometimes it just signifies a setting change, but pages 22 and 23 have a time difference of a few months.