last time I was at the bookstore (B&N), I saw that quite a few Woolf novels remain unread by me. I say that because I was thinking Orlando seems unusual in her oeuvre, but maybe I aint got a clear visual of that oeuvre. the narrative voice is light and nearly frothy, which aint no way how her other novels that I've read strike me. it's a more pop or mainstream voice. I don't mean that pejoratively. her it is consistent, politically. it's just not handled excellently. narrative tone is quite precise. I read a trilogy by Robertson Davies, I can't recall the name, which had a surreal quality reminiscent of O. I didn't like that trilogy a lot, there's a type of novelistic surrealism that is just plangent to my ear. O isn't really surreal, just of a slightly unusual reality. which she carries well enough. tho after O's sex change, I hear a more forceful note: VW making her point. certainly the dramatic situation is ripe for exploring sexual differences, but hearing V chirp into the narrative is a bit disappointing. tho I am glad she does so chirp. I think the problem is that she didn't let the book write itself. she had this pregnant conceit and wanted it to live brightly, but she forced the speaking. I still have a ways to go, but when I started hearing VW's intentions push thru, I got leery. it interests me that in novels, the mainstram can be quite varied and risky. whereas in poetry, the term mainstream is synonymous with stiff, regulated poetry. it seems to me there was a movie version of Mrs Dalloway, which there had ought, since the novel is so cinematic. I am also reading Man in the High Castle, which is a surprisingly thoughtful novel, from what I can see. Dick's an interesting writer, I'm glad I'm giving him an explore.