The Waves

The Waves by Virginia Woolf, published in 1931, is an experimental modernist novel that traces the inner lives of six friends—Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny, and Louis—from childhood to old age through poetic soliloquies. Interspersed with lyrical descriptions of the sea at different times of day, the narrative eschews traditional plot for a stream-of-consciousness exploration of themes like individuality, time, consciousness, and human interconnectedness. Woolf’s innovative structure, with its rhythmic, wave-like repetitions and distinct voices for each character, captures the flux of existence against nature’s indifferent cycles, marking it as a pinnacle of her oeuvre.