Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
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Book Reviews of Mrs. Dalloway
Book Review: Tough, but worth the effort
Summary: 5 Stars
It's not really fair to judge this book or its author by today's standards, but damn, this is a hard read. I'd read it about 20 years ago and recall struggling with the endless sentences and the rambling explorations of Mrs. Dalloway's interior thoughts, her every little fleeting idea, and the tiny events of the day in her life which this book chronicles.Then of course when The Hours was published, I rummaged around in the bookshelf, found it, and read it again.
And then the movie came out with that wonderful cast of characters, and, well, I had to read it a third time. And I'll say this: it takes more than a single reading to harvest all the gems from this dense prose. Mrs. Dalloway grew on me with the passage of time and with three careful readings. The studied explorations into past and present, men and women, women and other women, society and the family, love and regret...it's a lot to take on in what is really a pretty small book - and only someone of Woolf's talents and brilliance could have made so much of so little.
Highly recommended, but I'm sorry - you'll probably have to read it more than once to extract every single little diamond chip.
Book Review: Mrs. Dalloway
Summary: 5 Stars
Probably her best, and most known book, Mrs. Dalloway is by far the richest reading experience you will ever have if you choose to do yourself a favour and read it.Virginia Woolf excels in her imagery, language, rich vocabulary, allusions, the weaving of plot - or lack of it of thereof for that matter in a manner and style that are unsurpassed. She is certainly a pioneer, a precursor for whatever she has begun with her insane sentences, and fragments and questions.
Stream of consciousness...? I don't think so, most people like to call it so, but she pops in and out of the text every now and then and she just keeps surprising you with her comments on the characters at the right time, when you are wondering, where did she go? What does it all mean?
If you are looking for a meaningful plot, and action, forget it! Nothing happens in this book, but if you are a fan of refined prose, poetic imagery, exquisite language, read it, and you won't regret it.
"The world has raised its whip; where will it descend"?
Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway)
Book Review: Is it overrated?
Summary: 5 Stars
It is a great novel but I have some sympathy with those reviewers who thought they were seeing the emperor's clothes. Some of its greatness lies in its originality. It was brilliantly original in 1922. At that time the typical Anglo-American novel was a baggy monster full of long-winded digressions, unlikely coincidences, stilted speech, arch facetiousness, and melodramatic adventures. (There were exceptions, and the French and Russians were doing better). Woolf was experimenting with a new way of structuring a novel, using multiple points of view (she was inexpert at this and the shifts are often confusing) and letting the action of the plot take place in the minds of her characters. The sexual relationship between Clarissa and Sally is delicately but unmistakably hinted at.
I suppose in a way I'm saying that a classic is entitled to be difficult to read. Michael Cunningham's "Hours" is easier going for a modern American reader, but the genius of Michael Cunningham lies partly in his ability to see and illuminate for us the genius of Vitginia Woolf.
Book Review: Poetic lyricism in Virginia Woolf
Summary: 5 Stars
Any young aspiring writer should compare Woolf's early work, such as Night and Day to something like Mrs. Dalloway. The transformation in narrative strength is incredible. I think Woolf found her voice when she gave up on traditional technique and focused on vivid imagery, poetic language, and really getting into the souuls of her characters.Her views on love in this boook are heartbreaking. Love serves as mere convenience, romance is just an illusion. 9 times out of 10 people choose safety. Pretty cynical viewpoint, but she lived during the days of a crumbling Empire and wrote about it beautifully. She really achieved her greatest literary power later on in life.
Also, this book studies insanity and the doctors who are impotent to help. I'm sure woolf would have the same view in today's heavily medicated society.
This book is not for the faint of heart. She does not hide characters emotions, but tends to dwelon their weaknesses. The final party scene is brilliant. If you like this book, read To The Lighthouse, which is equally brilliant.
Book Review: Clarissa is you
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read Mrs. Dalloway in 1961. Over the years I have re-read this classic novel more than a dozen times, always with intense pleasure. After her first two less successful attempts at fiction writing, Virginia Woolf surpises us here with a masterful display of her genius. There is barely a story, or a plot here. Even characterization is minimal. Yet the powerful description of the tumult in a human soul during the course of a single day leaves the reader begging for more. Woolf unlike Marcel Proust did not attempt to resurrect the past. Unlike Joyce, she did not try to push tbe use of the stream of consciousnes technique to its limits. Her technique is her own. It allows her to give her readers insightful glimpses into Clarisa's joys and fears, her constant expectation of ecstasy and awareness of the abysses that surround her.
It is a masterpiece that should be enjoyed at the right time and when you are in the right mood.