MY PENGUIN BOOKS BY THE GREATS, COVERS BY YOU. Tracing the lives of a group of six friends, The Waves follows their development from childhood to youth and middle age. While their individual achievements and disappointments form its narrative, this novel is most remarkable for the rich poetic language that conveys the inner lives of its characters: their aspirations, their triumphs and regrets, their awareness of unity and isolation. Separately and together, they query the relationship of past to present and the meaning of life itself, in a haunting, atmospheric and sensuous exploration of the complexities of human experience.