MJ's Challenge ~ The Voyage Out

[Ribh]

@MaryJanet ;@Aussie-Chookmum; @drstratton; @RoyalChick ...
Please post here when you have your copy of the book so we know when we are all ready to start.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I know the word holiday was used, but by the end of chapter four, there's no mention of ultimate destination that I recall. Hmmm now I'm thinking about it, maybe there was something said about where Willoughby's ships go?

Yes, in Chap 3
" ... she was primarily a cargo boat... her business being to carry dry goods to the Amazons, and rubber home again."

Rather a broad area, not a specific port.

 

[MaryJanet]

I was just thinking that I'm going to take stock of the year in which it was published, 1915, and acknowledge that Austen and the Brontes pre-date her. So did many other women writers of fiction but they are not as well-remembered so were perhaps not as creative?

 

[Ribh]

Let me try Kindle. I hate not having a real book but will try. Will let you know if I succeed in getting it.

Don't stress RC. I know you like a real book & that is my preference too but MJ has rightly pointed out we need to orientate in time so I need to do some extra reading. This is not my favourite historical period so I need a bit of a refresher course.

 

[RoyalChick]

I am going to enjoy this. Everyone else seems to have gone for something really solid & I get fixated on *light*

Oh I saw the light too (if you see what I mean), but it felt a bit ‘forced’ like she was doing a writing exercise. It did create the atmosphere very well.

 

[RoyalChick]

I haven't started chapter two yet.

How's are you going with chapter one @RoyalChick ?

I am part way through chapter two. I liked the atmosphere created in the opening. I am not sure I like any of the characters yet but that might be OK. As always with this period one has to get ones mind around the class thing. I am immersing myself slowly.

 

[MaryJanet]

@MaryJanet : you said you had further insights to share. I know it's a work morning for you but are you likely to share soon? nudge, nudge.

Basically a detailed rant about classism. I had a big one that I deleted and then RC opened it up and I jumped in.

My other comment is about vulnerability. They're safe on land, but a ship on an unimaginably deep ocean... The ribs of wrecked ships were visible at one point. Also, the characters are vulnerable to each other (as we all are vulnerable to each other) but VW has intensified it by placing them on a ship. Although they're not entwined in each other's minds yet, I get the feeling they will be once the first few days have passed. The pressure and tension can be built out of vulnerability on an intercharacter level and on the contextual level.

You're so right, Ribh. She writes tension, vulnerability and a sense of foreboding extremely truthfully.

 

[MaryJanet]

So terribly tragic to go through life like that! I hope she found some happiness somewhere along the way!

She did. From the few biographies I've skimmed through she had episodes of ill health and lived a happy life between the episodes. I believe she was in good health more often than not.

That said, there's no doubt her episodes gave her a unique perspective that played out in her work.

 

[Ribh]

I haven't read Plath. I read LOTF when I was too young I think.

The older I get the more I wonder why I studied literature, given how much I hate a lot of the classic writers. But then I was reading Shakespeare for pleasure as a child... I think if I had it to do over again I would opt for forensic archaeology. ~ which I'm probably not qualified to study, lacking an essentially scientific brain.

 

[drstratton]

The older I get the more I wonder why I studied literature, given how much I hate a lot of the classic writers. But then I was reading Shakespeare for pleasure as a child... I think if I had it to do over again I would opt for forensic archaeology. ~ which I'm probably not qualified to study, lacking an essentially scientific brain.

I don't think you would have a problem with anything you decided to tackle!!!

I've always loved to read, but it was for my pleasure and enjoyment! Like I always tell my husband..."girls just want to have fun"! Yep, that's me in a nutshell...