between prose and poetry, allowing the novel to flow between six not dissimilar interior monologues. The book similarly breaks down boundaries between people, and Woolf herself wrote in her Diary that the six were not meant to be separate "characters" at all, but rather facets of consciousness illuminating a sense of continuity. Even the term "novel" may not accurately describe the complex form of The Waves as is described in the literary biography of Woolf by Julia Briggs (An Inner Life, Allen Lane 2005). Woolf called it not a novel but a "playpoem". The book explores the role of the "ethos of male education" in shaping public life, and includes scenes of some of the characters experiencing bullying during their first days at school. Reception Marguerite Yourcenar translated The Waves into French over a period of ten months in 1937. She met Virginia Woolf during this period and wrote: "I do not believe I am committing an error ... when I put Virginia Woolf among the four or five great virtuosos of the English language and among the rare contemporary novelists whose work stands some chance of lasting more than ten years." Although The Waves is not one of Virginia Woolf's most famous works, it is highly regarded. Literary scholar Frank N. Magill ranked it one of the 200 best books of all time in his reference book, Masterpieces of World Literature. In The Independent, British author Amy Sackville wrote that "as a reader, as a writer, I constantly return, for the lyricism of it, the melancholy, the humanity." Theatre director Katie Mitchell, who adapted The Waves for the stage, called the work "entrancing […] Woolf's point is that the lasting and significant events in our lives are small and insignificant in the eyes of the outside world." In popular culture 1970s Glam Rock singer Steve Harley, the lead singer of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, wrote a song titled 'Riding The Waves (For Virginia Woolf)' as track five on his 1978 debut solo album 'Hobo with a Grin'. Woolf had long been an influence on Harley's music, and much of the lyrics of the song are taken from 'The Waves'. Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi composed his first piano album, Le Onde, based on the novel. Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard has referenced the novel in several of his films, including his video project Hisotire(s) du Cinema References External links Francesco Mulas