A novel about the short life of Jacob Flanders, told not from within him but through the impressions of the people who knew him, glimpsed and half understood. It follows him from a childhood by the sea in Cornwall through Cambridge, London and travels in Greece. Woolf breaks with the older, solid style of the novel, leaving gaps and shifts that mirror how little we truly know of another person. It was her first fully experimental novel and looks ahead to her later masterpieces.
Quotes
It is no use trying to sum people up. One must follow hints, not exactly what is said, nor yet entirely what is done.
Chapter THREE · Project Gutenberg #5670 (opens in a new tab)
The strange thing about life is that though the nature of it must have been apparent to every one for hundreds of years, no one has left any adequate account of it. The streets of London have their map; but our passions are uncharted. What are you going to meet if you turn this corner?
Chapter EIGHT · Project Gutenberg #5670 (opens in a new tab)