This first volume of its kind contains the complete text of and guide to Virginia Woolf's masterpiece, plus Mrs. Dalloway's Party and numerous jour...
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Jun 08, 2010
Grady
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A Brilliant Writer Negotiates the Works of a Brilliant Writer
Francine Prose is one of our more important writers (novels 'Blue Angel', 'After', 'A Changed Man', 'Primitive People'; probing biographies 'Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles'), a writer with a profound respect of the past, for the art of writing and the art of reading. Her most recent book is titled 'Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them' should give an idea of what is More...
Francine Prose is one of our more important writers (novels 'Blue Angel', 'After', 'A Changed Man', 'Primitive People'; probing biographies 'Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles'), a writer with a profound respect of the past, for the art of writing and the art of reading. Her most recent book is titled 'Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them' should give an idea of what is More...
Aug 03, 2011
Matthew
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Reading Mrs. Dalloway has changed my life. Being my first Virginia Woolf novel, I was tentative with it, afraid from what I had heard that it would be dreadful and hard to read. After Mrs. Dalloway, however, I find that there is not enough Virginia Woolf in the world to satisfy my cravings! It has been difficult to transition myself back to reading anything else because Woolf is just too good at her craft.
This particular edition contains textual analysis and even a series of shorts written by More...
This particular edition contains textual analysis and even a series of shorts written by More...
Apr 28, 2008
Couldn't finish it. What the heck is it about? I feel awful, being an English teacher, that I couldn't read this. I mean, I'm sure I COULD, but ug. I just could NOT push on.
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Jan 26, 2008
heartful
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I can see how her stream of consciousness style was innovative but I didn't like the characters enough to care about what happened to them.
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Jun 09, 2011
Gloria
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This not only contains the full text of "Mrs. Dalloway" but includes essays and critiques by other authors that help explain not only the novel, but the writer herself. These other writings are extremely helpful in preparing for a book discussion because this is not an easy book to discuss. Watching the movie, reading the novel, and reading lots of extra material helped it all come together. Now I understand why it is considered a great, classic novel; otherwise, you might think it is
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Jan 11, 2009
The disjointed writing, flowing from one character to the next without warning or even the start of a new paragraph was highly disconcerting for me. I found it nearly impossible to keep track of what character I was reading about at that moment, and trying to sort through the far too “poetic” and descriptive text was frustrating. I found the ending to be anti-climatic after such a tedious build up, and the thoughts of the crazy man especially annoying to muddle through. Not my favorite book ever
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Jun 20, 2008
Annette
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"...Clarissa had a theory in those days--they had heaps of theories, always theories, as young people have. It was to explain the feeling they had of dissatisfaction; not knowing people; not being known. For how could they know each other? You met every day; then not for six months, or years. It was unsatisfactory, they agreed, how little one knew people. But she said, sitting on the bus going up Shaftesbury Avenue, she felt herself everywhere; not 'here, here, here'; and she tapped the bac
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May 05, 2008
Sophia
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It would have been a different story had the inner monologues not been present.
The soldiers marching by, the passing car holding someone of high or noble status, the prime minister at Clarissa's party--all like figureheads. We never get inside their thoughts. They're present the way the chiming clock is present. As a disruption.
All the real action of the novel takes place in the space of one day, culminating in a party: the climax. But the real expression of lives and moments a More...
The soldiers marching by, the passing car holding someone of high or noble status, the prime minister at Clarissa's party--all like figureheads. We never get inside their thoughts. They're present the way the chiming clock is present. As a disruption.
All the real action of the novel takes place in the space of one day, culminating in a party: the climax. But the real expression of lives and moments a More...
Mar 27, 2008
Maggie
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Hands down, my favorite book in the entire universe. I have a copy at home, a copy in my apartment, and a copy at work. All are care-worn, dog-eared, highlighted, underlined, creased, and well-loved. A beloved professor once told me that I will appreciate this book at 20 and I will appreciate it for entirely different reasons at 40. Well, 2.5 years after my first reading, I already find that different elements strike me for different reasons. I like that: a book with which you can grow old.
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Feb 22, 2011
Lynne
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I've become a Mrs. Dalloway groupie, I guess. The commentaries were fascinating to me. It was interesting to read what Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, had to say. But my favorite piece was by Daniel Mendelsohn, "Not Afraid of Virginia Woolf"that first appeared in March 13, 2003 in The New York Review of Books. He explored the connections between both novels and the film which was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Feb 26, 2008
Jo``
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I watched "The Hours" again the other day and forgot what a great film it was. One of the film's character's is Virginia Woolf who is played by Nicole Kidman. Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" is referenced throughtout the film and so I decided to read the book as well.
This is the first book I have read by Virginia Woolf and I don't think I like her style of writing. I'm sure some people out there will gasp at hearing me say that about such a "classic" writer, bu More...
This is the first book I have read by Virginia Woolf and I don't think I like her style of writing. I'm sure some people out there will gasp at hearing me say that about such a "classic" writer, bu More...
Nov 18, 2008
Courtney
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May 01, 2009
Annette
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Mrs Dalloway is not my cup of tea. No plot, no character development... all stream of consciousness. BORING! I kept waiting for something to happen. I did like the letters provided in the Reader version. It helped me to gain some insights. BUT I am glad I finally read something by Virginia Woolf. Good to read the classics!
Jul 21, 2011
Paige
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Very interesting. Difficult to get through, even as an English student. Very descriptive, lots of very long sentences, but definitely meant to shake the reader out of any sense of "normalcy". Very cerebral, lots to be uncovered, many discussion points.
Jan 26, 2009
I have tried to read this so many times. SO many times. Haven't been able to get through it. But I will keep trying, every so often, until I do. Too many people that I thoroughly respect consider this too good. I need to have read it.
Sep 02, 2008
Chelsea
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Honestly, this may in fact be the best book I have ever read in my entire life. The best written, the most intriguing, the most thought-provoking, the most initially confusing novel I know. Reading it has changed my life, which may sound extreme but as a writer I don't exaggerate. Woolf's beautiful language deftly captures the facets of several people's everyday lives, so brilliantly that sometimes it's a bit much for one to comprehend. The language is different and never repeats itself, and the
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Sep 06, 2009
Jan
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Looking for some notes to help understand this one. Woolf was inventing a new way to write a novel; slice of life, all within one day. Her usual intense and complicated writing. Dense reading, but worth it. Classical Canon.
May 13, 2010
Haley
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I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved Septimus's story. I found it interesting that Virginia Woolf showed us her disease through Septimus, gave us an idea of how ridiculous the treatments were in those days. For example, Dr. Holmes prescribing him to eat more porridge, and that if Rezina didn't know how to make it, that she should learn. I don't know that I would have gotten the point of that, if I had not read The Hours by Michael Cunningham first.
However, the role of Peter More...
However, the role of Peter More...
Jan 02, 2009
Meghan
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reread this after having to read it for a class a few years ago--the experience was much better this go-around. i was interested in what Woolf was doing with time in conjunction with stream of consciousness.
Jan 16, 2008
April
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I realize why people gave this book more stars, there are some beautiful passages, and the writing style is excellent ... however it took me way longer than it should to get through. The reason is simply the storyline which flows ingeniously between different characters and point of view, conflicted with my mental attention span. Reading this book was like the same way I think, and being so I ended up having to reread paragraphs several times. I suppose reading this on a crowded subway didn't
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May 26, 2010
Pamela
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My review of the novel is under "Mrs. Dalloway". In addition to the novel, I'm giving The Reader 5 out of 5 stars. It's great to have so much information provided in one place.
Dec 18, 2010
Elise
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So excited to be reading this and discussing it in a class with a professor for whom I have a very profound respect. When I read Mrs. Dalloway before, I felt like I was in a boat looking into a murky lake, but would then suddenly hit patches where I could see clear to the bottom. I remember feeling like if I could read this book and really understand it, I would understand the entire world better than I do now(other than this book, only certain poetry has ever made me feel that way).
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Aug 07, 2009
Sarah
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Had to read this for school, it was a boring book. Felt pointless. I had to read it though. The woman who wrote it was defiantly crazy.
Jan 09, 2009
Meredith
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This is the best edition of the book in print and Ms. Prose does a very good job of selecting materials that enrich the story.
Jun 06, 2008
Alissa
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An interesting collection of work surrounding Mrs. Dalloway, this book contains selections of Woolf's diaries, the original “Mrs. Dalloway's Party” short story, Woolf's notes, essays and stories by other writers who were inspired by Mrs. Dalloway, along with the final novel. Mrs. Dalloway is a superbly crafted novel, with dual narratives, intense back stories, and a profound reach of content . . . reading this coupled with her diary entries, her first short story, her notes on writing Mrs. Dall
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Aug 28, 2011
Kristin
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This contains Woolf's early stories she based Mrs. Dalloway on, essays by famous authors on Mrs. Dalloway and Woolf, then the text of the novel. I'm glad I had the Oxford World's Classic edition of the novel, as it had notes and the one in this reader is unannotated, though that would be helpful when I re-read it. Like any book, though, if you haven't read it before recently, I say read the novel first, then the introduction stuff. I read Mrs. Dalloway, then the introduction to that edition, the
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Dec 22, 2008
Heather
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Virginia is a hard read, but it felt good to finish it. And, this is good background for The Hours.
Dec 14, 2008
Sarah
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i fall again and again for bits of her prose like
"And as she began to go with Miss Pym from jar to jar, choosing, nonsense, nonsense"
it makes me swoon in a way that convinces me that my love for phenomenal experience is too dependent on language! but c'est la vie. i am very happy the students came to see more in themselves through someone like her.
"And as she began to go with Miss Pym from jar to jar, choosing, nonsense, nonsense"
it makes me swoon in a way that convinces me that my love for phenomenal experience is too dependent on language! but c'est la vie. i am very happy the students came to see more in themselves through someone like her.
Jun 25, 2009
Kate
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Read this 30 years ago, taking it at face value of course. Nice little novel about A Day in the Life. Whoa! Just like Ulysses! (VW had no respect for JJ; thought him crass.) Read it this time as a gentle analysis of suicide and of Clarissa Dalloway's secular approach to The Meaning of Life (throwing parties to help humans connect.) And so deliciously crafted!
Feb 22, 2008
Gigi
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Though the actual writing is amazing the story itself was often hard to wade through. One of the reviewers, Sigrid Nunez, writes, "Every (character) is death-haunted, everyone is a poet, everyone is neurotic, everyone is a genius, everyone is Virginia Wolf." This is how I felt at the end. The lives of the characters were different, but the characters themselves all seemed the same.
I appreciated this edition because it included background notes, diary entries, and commentari More...
I appreciated this edition because it included background notes, diary entries, and commentari More...
