fusing of past and present

The theme of the inexorable passage of time, as well as the theme of timelessness, is woven through the tapestry of this incomparable novel like threads of shimmering silver woven through gold. Woolf’s incandescent prose constantly blurs past and present, fantasy and reality, memories and hopes, as it transports the reader into the world of 1923 London. Woolf’s extremely sophisticated prose is pure stream-of-consciousness, purposely lacking transitions from the thoughts of one character to the next, something many readers may find difficult or off-putting, while others, though not finding it difficult, may find it not to their taste. There are no chapter breaks and memories of the past suffuse and overlap the tragedy and exuberance of the present.