Between the Acts

Well, I did it. I read all of Woolf's novels in publication order this year, in spite of the pandemic. This final book is a melancholy way to end. As usual, there's some gorgeous writing and a lot of interiority (is that a word? Guess so, Grammarly's not flagging it). I feel like this is in some ways a return to a more traditional novel format, but with touches of the stream of consciousness of The Waves. 

The plot, what there is of it, centers on an English country estate where the creme de la creme of the village arrive to attend a pageant put on by the locals, focused on British history, ancient and modern. Among those watching: Giles and Isa, who are having marital difficulties. The book is told as one long story, no chapters, with scenes of the pageant alternating with the breaks between the acts, as Giles and Isa circle each other and ponder their marriage and lives.

Woolf did not actually finish this book. She had a complete draft, but committed suicide before doing final revisions. It's hard not to wonder what she could have done. I felt the book was somewhat uneven, the pageant scenes way too long. Yet the ending was beautiful and heartfelt, as was much of the writing:

"How am I burdened with what they drew from the earth; memories; possessions. This is the burden that the past laid on me, last little donkey in the long caravanserai crossing the desert. ... That was the burden, she mused, laid on me in the cradle; murmured by waves; breathed by restless elm trees; crooned by singing women; what we must remember; what we would forget."

The book is set in 1939, but Woolf worked on it up until her death in 1941. There are traces of hopelessness, and hints to the worsening political situation in Europe. That gives the book its melancholy, especially knowing Woolf's personal history. Yet it ends--slightest of spoilers--with a trace of hope, which itself is sad, given that Woolf lost all her hope. 

Uneven though it is, I found myself moved, and want to get an annotated edition. I'm sure I missed a lot of subtext that foot/endnotes would help with.