CULTURE EDITION
VIRGINIA WOOLF ORLANDO
This is the sign you’ve been waiting for: either pick up a copy of Orlando or, if you’re already familiar with this time-slipping, country-hopping classic, devote some part of your summer to reconnecting with Virginia Woolf’s words. Dedicated to her long-term lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando was famously described as ‘the longest and most charming love letter in history’ by Vita’s son Nigel Nicolson. The plot follows the life of Orlando, an aristocratic gentleman born in the 16th century, whom we meet just before Queen Elizabeth I pays a visit to his family’s sprawling manor. He becomes a favourite of the elderly queen and thrives at court, pursuing many great loves and passions – some successful, some which leave him broken-hearted – yet upon meeting with disappointment he always turns back to nature, to his love of literature and a grand dream of completing his own great poem, The Oak Tree . After surviving a hilarious run-in with an unkind poet who lampoons Orlando, causing him to send for new puppies and declare that they are ‘done with men’, Orlando (in an attempt to outrun another suitor) moves to Constantinople as an ambassador, and it’s here he falls asleep for several days and awakens to a new life as a woman. After a few moments of curious scrutiny, Orlando gets on with it completely accepting of her reality, and begins moving through the world in her female form, continuing the same passions and interests while also adjusting to the expectations society now metes upon her. Part modernist poetry, part historical biography, part literary lampoon and part gossip column, this extraordinary genre- and gender-defying book is a must read – preferably in the shade of an English garden, surrounded by the nature this novel’s subject loved so much.
Less and Less Is Lost
ANDREW SEAN GREER This 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel introduces us to Arthur Less, a struggling middle-aged writer, who is – sadly for him – most famous for being the lover of a much more successful writer in his youth. Arthur has just received an invitation to the wedding of his own, younger, very-casual- is-it-even-a-relationship-really boyfriend. In his heartbroken desperation to be far too busy to attend the event and avoid the horror of his own upcoming 50th birthday, he accepts a wild slew of talks, workshops, retreats and literary festivals, stringing them together in a wheeling, globe-trotting adventure that will keep him away from home long enough to avoid events. But, as the saying goes: wherever you go, there you are. Can Arthur ever escape his past heartbreak and crippling insecurities, or will this quest result in him finally finding peace with his level of success and inevitably aging self? On the surface, this book is – as Arthur says of his own novel – ‘a white middle-aged American man walking around with his white middle-aged American sorrows’ – but don’t let that dissuade you: it’s brilliantly comedic, tender and an absolutely perfect summer read. As you’re joining this series late, there’s already a follow-up: don’t miss 2022’s Less Is Lost , which sees the hero take on yet another quest across the US. A perfect duo of novels for your sunbed table.
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK JUNE 2024 19
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