Goodreads | Mrs. Dalloway

Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

04/28/08

Read in April, 2008

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not I think they deserve the label

Book #15: Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf (1925)

The story in a nutshell:
For those who don't know, most arti...more

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Martine rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

04/04/08

bookshelves: british, early-twentieth-century, film, modern-fiction, modernism, psychological-drama

Read in March, 2003

recommends it for: people to whom the words 'death in life' actually mean anything

I feel odd reviewing Mrs Dalloway just days after writing a lecture-length review of The Hours, which touches upon much the same themes. Yet I think I'll give it a try.

Mrs Dalloway portrays a day in the lives of various people living in London in 1923. At the heart of the novel is Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran who is suffering from shell shock and schizophrenia. Septimus' descent into madness (clearly modelled on Virginia Woolf's own) and relationship with his sp...more I feel odd reviewing Mrs Dalloway just days after writing a lecture-length review of The Hours, which touches upon much the same themes. Yet I think I'll give it a try.

Mrs Dalloway portrays a day in the lives of various people living in London in 1923. At the heart of the novel is Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran who is suffering from shell shock and schizophrenia. Septimus' descent into madness (clearly modelled on Virginia Woolf's own) and relationship with his spouse are juxtaposed with those of Clarissa Dalloway, a 52-year-old upper-class lady who is about to throw a large party for her MP husband and other more or less illustrious personages. An unexpected encounter with her former suitor Peter Walsh, whom she hasn't seen for many years, leaves Clarissa musing about the past -- about the people she used to know, the people she used to love, and the decisions she has taken over the years. At various points Septimus' and Clarissa's stories intersect, as do several other characters' stories. In exemplary stream-of-consciousness style, Woolf takes us inside the heads of all these characters, sharing with us their thoughts, emotions and impressions of each other. What ensues is less a plot-driven story than a barrage of memories, associations and epiphanies, often tinged with regret and nostalgia. The emphasis is on individual persons' responses to the passage of time and other sources of unhappiness, but in depicting these, Woolf shows the mores and manners of society at large, thus presenting the reader with a microcosm of life, all wrapped up in a single day in the lives of some fairly self-absorbed but reasonably likeable people.

I can see why young and callous readers might dislike Mrs Dalloway, as I've been told many do. The book contains very little dialogue and even fewer exciting plotlines. Yet it would be woefully wrong to state that nothing happens in it, as the internal drama that goes on is ferocious. Take Septimus, for instance, who goes from feeling completely numb to being completely overwhelmed by both society and his own demons. Septimus is a startling character -- the kind of character who very seriously says 'Now we will kill ourselves' in the middle of what his wife thinks is a perfectly happy picnic. For her part, Clarissa Dalloway is hardly less conflicted. She may not be insane (quite the contrary -- to the other characters in the book she seems perfectly in charge of her own life and at ease in society), but she feels like she is suffocating and is torn between various aspects of herself, which prevents her from really making her mark in any significant way. If her day pans out less dramatically than Septimus', it is not for lack of internal fireworks. Like Septimus, Clarissa has to take some major decisions -- decisions that go considerably farther than what kind of flowers to buy for her party.

Woolf's prose is wonderfully fluid. She effortlessly links her characters' stories by means of symbols and metaphors, drawing her strands ever tighter until all the characters meet at Clarissa's party. Moreover, her prose has a marvellously cinematic quality. Her descriptions of people, places and the 'exquisite moments' that brighten up her characters' lives are so vivid that you can easily picture them in your mind's eye, including the cuts that a film director adapting this story to the screen would use. I can think of few more vivid fictional portrayals of London than Mrs Dalloway. As for the characters, they're not all as instantly likeable as mad Septimus and his poor, suffering wife, but in their own quiet, snobbish, understated ways, they're just as real. Woolf knows exactly when to draw them in bold, satirical strokes and when to go for the finer detail. The result is a wonderfully varied slice of life that may not have much action but does touch upon some pretty major themes. The death of the soul, anyone?

I could say more about Mrs Dalloway, but I think Woolf herself said it best when she wrote in her journal before getting started on the book: 'I want to give life & death, sanity & insanity; I want to criticise the social system & show it at work, at its most intense.' In her own inimitable way, she did just that, and then some.
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Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

05/08/08

bookshelves: modernism

Read in May, 2008

It's not often that a sentence or two from a book will tell you very much, but I think the following passage should tell you right away whether you will like this book.

Like a woman who had slipped off her print dress and white apron to array herself in blue and pearls, the day changed, put off stuff, took gauze, changed to evening, and with the same sigh of exhilaration that a woman breathes, tumbling petticoats on the floor, it too shed dust, heat, colour; the traffic thinned; motor cars, tinkling, darting, succeeded the lumber of vans; and here and there among the thick foliage of the squares an intense light hung. I resign, the evening seemed to say, as it paled and faded above the battlements and prominences, moulded, pointed, of hotel, flat, and block of shops, I fade, she was beginning, I disappear, but London would have none of it, and rushed her bayonets into the sky, pinioned her, constrained her to partnership in her revelry. ...more It's not often that a sentence or two from a book will tell you very much, but I think the following passage should tell you right away whether you will like this book.

Like a woman who had slipped off her print dress and white apron to array herself in blue and pearls, the day changed, put off stuff, took gauze, changed to evening, and with the same sigh of exhilaration that a woman breathes, tumbling petticoats on the floor, it too shed dust, heat, colour; the traffic thinned; motor cars, tinkling, darting, succeeded the lumber of vans; and here and there among the thick foliage of the squares an intense light hung. I resign, the evening seemed to say, as it paled and faded above the battlements and prominences, moulded, pointed, of hotel, flat, and block of shops, I fade, she was beginning, I disappear, but London would have none of it, and rushed her bayonets into the sky, pinioned her, constrained her to partnership in her revelry.

Most of Mrs. Dalloway reads like this section. It’s more poetry than prose, and it’s not for everybody. If you enjoyed this idiosyncratic description of a summer sunset, then you will love Mrs. Dalloway. If you’d rather read a book that just gets to the point, then it’s probably not the book for you. For those who love language and enjoy finding new, unorthodox manners of expression, Mrs. Dalloway is a great introduction to Virgina Woolf’s unique voice.

Mrs. Dalloway does not have much in the way of a plot. You would never read it for that. On its face, the book is just about an upper-class turn-of-the-century woman preparing for an uppity dinner party for London’s elite. But in this one seemingly blasé day, Woolf takes the reader into the minds and lives of some half dozen characters and gives full expression to their memories and fantasies.

In a way, the unusual form is more realistic than the traditional novel. The average day of a person’s life is far more than the sum of its extrinsic events. The human mind lives a lifetime in each day, and somehow Woolf manages to portray the relationship between time and human consciousness far better than a simple chronological story-telling ever could. At one point, one of the characters says/thinks something like “We make up the better part of our lives,” and that thought captures the essence of Mrs. Dalloway main idea quite well.

The main problem with Mrs. Dalloway, and perhaps it’s really a strength, is that Clarissa Dalloway is simply not very likable. I know there is a realism here that I should appreciate, but I just wanted to love her more. She seemed so petty compared to the lesser characters and at times even clueless. I found the characters in To the Lighthouse much more compelling, but that’s a tougher read. If you’re interested in Virginia Woolf, I suggest starting with Mrs. Dalloway to get a sense of what she’s all about. Then read To the Lighthouse for her best.
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Melissa rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

08/04/08

bookshelves: master-s-exam

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Leah

With its innovative and personal style, privileging of mundane occurrences, fragmented structure, and characters that teeter on the margins of the social and psychological norm, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway epitomizes the Modernist movement of the early twentieth century. But I don't hate it. I don't even grudgingly acknowledge its worth while carefully avoiding having to lift its cover again. I absolutely love it.

The narrative of Mrs. Dalloway, which is often described as...more With its innovative and personal style, privileging of mundane occurrences, fragmented structure, and characters that teeter on the margins of the social and psychological norm, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway epitomizes the Modernist movement of the early twentieth century. But I don't hate it. I don't even grudgingly acknowledge its worth while carefully avoiding having to lift its cover again. I absolutely love it.

The narrative of Mrs. Dalloway, which is often described as wave-like, flows throughout London, seamlessly traveling between different characters' subjective realities and the outside world. Unlike the "Wandering Rocks" chapter of Ulysses, which also follows various characters' outings in a busy city, Mrs. Dalloway did not leave me feeling like an overstimulated and disjointed marathon runner. It was dazzling not only to watch Woolf's expert portrayals of the interplay between the shared, observable world and individual subjectivity (I love the car and plane episodes!), but also to watch her spread her web of interconnected characters across London. As a reader who very very rarely appreciates setting, I could not help but admire the way that Woolf's flawless narration made London come alive for me, with a heartbeat that sounded like Big Ben and a breath that swept characters to Clarissa Dalloway's door and inspired reflections on the past.

Clarissa Dalloway is a dynamic and complex heroine. Unlike most heroines I admire (like Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice, or Clarisse from Fahrenheit 415), who intellectually dwell on the sidelines of their society, keeping an ironic or critical distance, Clarissa hungers for society. But she isn't just an immature party-planner and social plotter (*cough* Emma Woodhouse *cough*) either. Sceptical about society and empathetic to the core, Clarissa does not simply have parties for her own gratification. They are, as she says, an offering. Cynical, self-critical, and aware of the pain around her, Clarissa plunges into the world seeking and spreading joy. And I love that.

There's so much more to say about this novel. It is a meaningful and moving post World War I novel. The character of Septimus Smith, a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as well as his society's failure to understand his condition, is as moving as Wilfred Owen or Siegfried Sassoon's poetry. It is also a novel about middle-age, after the expectations of youth are baffled by the pressures of the world. It is a novel about friendship, communication, death, life, marriage, and, perhaps most of all, those fleeting but all-important moments of being that make everything else worthwhile.

Quotes:

"Life itself, every moment of it, every drop of it, here, this instant, now, in the son, in Regent's Park, was enough."

"It is a thousand pities never to say what one feels."

"For she had come to feel that it was the only thing worth saying--what one felt. Cleverness was silly. One must say simply what one felt."...less

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Yolanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

12/08/07

bookshelves: 2007

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: lovers of semi-colons and minutia

My reasoning for reading this book are three-fold:
- I'd tried once and gotten about 3/4 of the way through, but never finished
- It is by Virginia Woolf, who was discussed in Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft, a book about writing, as an example of great use of sentence length and complex sy...more My reasoning for reading this book are three-fold:
- I'd tried once and gotten about 3/4 of the way through, but never finished
- It is by Virginia Woolf, who was discussed in Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft, a book about writing, as an example of great use of sentence length and complex syntax
- Woolf's A Room of One's Own was discussed in my literary theory class as one of the seminal books of Feminist theory, and <i> Mrs. Dalloway is very much a women's novel focusing in on a singular day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway

What I've that it contains all of the above, and more. It's actually one long continuous piece with only a few section breaks. There are no chapters and nothing to separate one passage from another, save the occasional double line break and corresponding half-inch of blank space between two paragraphs. In such a way all the different narratives, all the different points of view, all the different characters, are brought together as a seemingly endless thought--punctuated by momentary breaths of air. In the introduction Maureen Howard mentions a metaphor employed at the beginning of the book: the metaphor of water, of swimming, of "taking a plunge."

That is precisely what the reader does: you plunge into one June day in the lives of all these characters, the day Clarissa Dalloway is to give her party, and follow them through their thoughts and actions, both the mundane and extraordinary. Woolf's epic sentences, containing semi-colon sandwiched fragments, force you to take a big breath before plunging in, because often times you forget what she's said at the beginning far before the period is within sight. We're swimmers not quite prepared for the strength her literary tide. Those half-inches serve as helpful intermissions for us to gather our thoughts and catch our breaths before continuing.

That being said, at the end of this marathon I find myself both connected to and disconnected from the story of these characters. I will have to read it again to better understand, but from what I've gleaned first read-through her fame is not undeserved. There is a brilliant understated passion to her descriptions and word choices. Woolf is absolutely deliberate in her gestures, forcing us, as readers, to be more perceptive of subtle nuances and to consider each critically. This isn't a casual stroll, or shouldn't if you really want to experience the complete story....less

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Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

09/29/07

bookshelves: happyendings-

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2005

recommends it for: broke, book-loving teenagers and anyone else looking for a cheap high

Okay, so this is very fabulous novel and in my opinion one of the Greatest, despite the fact that for me it was not exactly a breeze to get through. I mean, it wasn't painful or anything, but nor was it one I just sat down and plowed through like a maniac until I was through. I carried the thing around with me for awhile and poked at it in fits and starts over a period of time. I think Virginia Woolf is a genius, but there's something kind of inaccessible about her to me, maybe because I'm not a...more Okay, so this is very fabulous novel and in my opinion one of the Greatest, despite the fact that for me it was not exactly a breeze to get through. I mean, it wasn't painful or anything, but nor was it one I just sat down and plowed through like a maniac until I was through. I carried the thing around with me for awhile and poked at it in fits and starts over a period of time. I think Virginia Woolf is a genius, but there's something kind of inaccessible about her to me, maybe because I'm not a genius, or because I'm not British, or severely mentally-ill.

Anyway, the last page of this novel is among the most brilliant passages ever written in the English language. I still remember where I was when I read it: on the One train, headed downtown, somewhere in the seventies, I think. When I read the very end of this novel, I got an incredible head rush which raced down my spine and spread a glorious, speedy, tingling sensation throughout my central nervous system. YES! Finishing this book actually got me HIGH! It really, really DID!

I don't want to talk it up too much, and I can't promise *Mrs. Dalloway* will have the same effect on you. However, it is a Great book, and everybody should read it. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's a special loophole in the Important Book rules that says people who read *Mrs. Dalloway* don't have to finish *Ulysses,* *especially* if you are a girl (hey, I know that's not fair, but I don't make the rules). If time is an issue for you, this is a great deal to take advantage of, as *Mrs. Dalloway* is not only a great deal shorter, but also more accessible. Plus you will be spared the image of Leopold Bloom's penis floating in his bath water, which, let's face it, is pretty gross and will indelibly mark your fragile psyche.

And for the rest of your life, whenever you are having a party, bustling about your neighborhood obtaining flowers, beer, etc., thinking about your life, you can pretend to be Mrs. Dalloway. And this is a fun thing to do, for me, anyway....less

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Santh rated it:

(review of isbn 0156628708)

01/23/08

bookshelves: my-collections, world_fiction

Read in August, 2007

Salah satu novel avant-garde dengan ciri khas teknik stream of consciousness – arus kesadaran atau dialog batin – dimana sangat sedikit dialog langsung antar tokoh yang terjadi, dan juga ketidakjelasan waktu sangat mencolok, dimana perbedaan waktu tidaklah penting, waktu sekarang dan masa lalu menjadi campur aduk, tidak ada beda.
Sebenarnya hanya berupa cerita satu hari tetapi dikarenakan ketidakjelasan waktu tadi – dimana para tokohnya berdialog dengan batin mereka sendiri, mengingat mem...more Salah satu novel avant-garde dengan ciri khas teknik stream of consciousness – arus kesadaran atau dialog batin – dimana sangat sedikit dialog langsung antar tokoh yang terjadi, dan juga ketidakjelasan waktu sangat mencolok, dimana perbedaan waktu tidaklah penting, waktu sekarang dan masa lalu menjadi campur aduk, tidak ada beda.
Sebenarnya hanya berupa cerita satu hari tetapi dikarenakan ketidakjelasan waktu tadi – dimana para tokohnya berdialog dengan batin mereka sendiri, mengingat memori-memori lama mereka, dan melihat serta menjalani keseharian mereka sekarang – membuat ceritanya terlukiskan secara penuh dan kompleks, dengan kata-kata dalam bahasa indah, metafora, personifikasi, dll.
Dimulai pada pagi hari oleh Mrs. Dalloway – Clarissa Dalloway – seorang istri anggota parlemen Inggris, yang akan mengadakan pesta besar nanti malam di rumah mereka di kota London. Diawali dengan Mrs. Dalloway yang berkata ingin membeli bunga sendiri, sambil membuka lebar jendela rumahnya – mendengar kesibukan para pelayannya untuk persiapan pesta nanti, melihat cuaca, rumah-rumah, gedung-gedung, gereja, jalanan, dan orang-orangnya.
Selama perjalanannnya menuju toko bunga – melewati toko-toko, taman, gelandangan, menyeberang jalanan, dll – pikirannya beralih maju mundur tentang Peter Walsh, mantan kekasihnya dulu yang masih dicintai dan mencintainya (yang baru saja memberi kabar bahwa dia akan kembali ke Inggris setelah 5 tahun di India), meloncat pada pikiran tentang putrinya Elizabeth, tentang kehidupan perkawinannya, tentang kehidupan dirinya sendiri sebagai seorang wanita, di usia 52 tahun.
Juga diceritakan tentang Septimus Warren Smith, seorang lelaki beristri, dengan pekerjaan baik tetapi memiliki trauma terhadap perang setelah dia pulang dari perang apalagi setelah melihat salah seorang temannya tewas. Membuat dunia menjadi berbeda dalam pandangannya, dan akhirnya secara tragis dia memutuskan untuk bunuh diri.
Rantai cerita para tokohnya yang secara tidak langsung berhubungan satu dengan lainnya – baik secara personal maupun hanya bertemu tak sengaja di tempat-tempat public – terjalin sangat kompleks dengan pikiran-pikiran batin mereka masing-masing. Tak lupa kondisi sosial masyarakat Inggris pada masa itu, dimana aura sang Ratu, kebangsawanan, dan snobisme golongan-golongan kelas masyarakat yang terasa kental di Inggris. Suatu novel yang diawali dari kegelisahan – keberanian untuk mengungkapkan realita (terutama keruwetan yang meliputi kaum perempuan) pada masa itu – tentang kematian dan mencintai kehidupan....less

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Susan rated it:

(review of isbn 0156628708)

12/13/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: people who enjoy omnicient POV

The book predominantly takes place in post World War 1 London. There are some flashbacks to an English country home 30 years before as well as to Italy during the war. The setting was OK.

The main character is Clarissa Dalloway. She really doesn't have any motivations, she just is. My favorite character was Elizabeth, Clarissa's 17 year old daughter. She is so sweet and innocent. She just wants to enjoy life in the country. My least favorite is Peter Walsh, Clarissa's old suitor. He just can...more The book predominantly takes place in post World War 1 London. There are some flashbacks to an English country home 30 years before as well as to Italy during the war. The setting was OK.

The main character is Clarissa Dalloway. She really doesn't have any motivations, she just is. My favorite character was Elizabeth, Clarissa's 17 year old daughter. She is so sweet and innocent. She just wants to enjoy life in the country. My least favorite is Peter Walsh, Clarissa's old suitor. He just cannot seem to move on in his life. Even though he's been gone for years to India, he's still hooked on her. And yet he argues with himself that she isn't that wonderful, he doesn't love her.

This story is told by every darn person! It is the ultimate in omnicient POV. As people in the book pass and notice each other, the writer goes from one character's mind into the next.

I have to say, I never felt drawn into the book. I honestly had to read aloud to myself just to keep myself interested! Because Woolf was in everyone's head so much, there was really very little action.

There was one line that I just loved in this book: "Her life was a tissue of vanity and deceit." It described nearly every character in the book. It should have been stitched onto couch pillows! I also just think it's a beautiful line.
It's so descriptive, you can imagine everything in the character's life being ripped apart by reality.

I've heard so much about Woolf, that I feel like I should read more by her. But honestly, I will probably dread the next one. Mrs. Dalloway was easy to read, but dull, dull, dull!!!

If you are a person who likes being inside the characters' heads, this book is for you. If you like more action, like me, it may be a struggle. I think that modern novels have spoiled me for wanting more action in my books. I hope I can
learn to refine myself to more 'thought-provoking' reading.

I guess this book would be a classic because it is a model in omnicient POV. It's so unusual that a book focuses mainly on thoughts and that it all occurs in only 1 day. It took me longer to read the book than it did for the characters to get through it!

I really don't feel changed by the book, no. My views are the same as they were before, though I may be more reticent in trying more of Woolf's works.

The ending was much like the beginning of the book. Just another thought. Since the last thought was Peter's, I could have done without it!

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Saman rated it:

(review of isbn 9643513847)

08/27/08

Read in August, 2008

خانم دالوي گفت خودش گلها را مي‌خرد
براي اين كه لوسي ترتيب بقيه‌ي كارها را مي‌داد. درها را از چارچوب‌ها بيرون مي‌آوردند؛ قرار بود كارگرهاي رامپلبري بيايند. كلاريسا دالاوي فكر كرد از اين گذشته عجب صبحي است - آنقدر تر و تازه است كه انگار آن را در ساحل براي بچه‌ها نقاشي كرده‌ا�...more خانم دالوي گفت خودش گلها را مي‌خرد
براي اين كه لوسي ترتيب بقيه‌ي كارها را مي‌داد. درها را از چارچوب‌ها بيرون مي‌آوردند؛ قرار بود كارگرهاي رامپلبري بيايند. كلاريسا دالاوي فكر كرد از اين گذشته عجب صبحي است - آنقدر تر و تازه است كه انگار آن را در ساحل براي بچه‌ها نقاشي كرده‌اند

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بين خوانندگان پر و پاقرص و علاقه‌مند به آثار ويرجينياوولف و منتقدان بر سر اين كه در بين سه كتاب: به سوي فانوس دريايي، خانم دالوي و موج‌ها كدام يك اثر برتر اين نويسنده است اختلاف نظر فراواني است. آناني كه نثر شاعرانه او را مي‌پسندند كتاب موج‌ها را برمي‌گزينند. آن‌هايي كه نثر رئال او را مي‌پسندد خانم دالاوي را و به سوي فانوس دريايي نيز در بين اين دو كتاب جاي دارد

به هر حال اين كتاب خانم دالاوي جزو آثار برتر و بسيار مطرح اين نويسنده است و الهام‌بخش مايكل كانينگهام براي كتاب ساعت‌ها
البته فيلمي نيز بر همين اساس ساخته شد با بازي نيكول كيدمن، مريل استريپ، جوليان مور و اد هريس و نيكول كيدمن اسكار خود را براي بازي در اين فيلم كسب كرد

در حاشيه اين كه، مدير دوبله‌ي فارسي اين فيلم، مرحوم خانم ژاله كاظمي بودند كه مدير دوبلاژي اين فيلم، جزو كارهاي آخر عمر ايشان بود و به جاي صداي "نيكول كيدمن" صحبت كردند و جزو آثار ماندگار ايشان شد
مثل صداي "اليزابت تيلور" در فيلم "گربه روي شيرواني داغ" و يا صداي اين بازيگر در فيلم " چه كسي از ويرجينيا وولف مي‌ترسد" . بله
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Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0156030357)

01/24/08

bookshelves: for-class

Read in January, 2008

Although I only gave Mrs. Dalloway two stars, I should clarify that that represents quite a gain, because I have long despised this book. When I read it as an undergraduate, my 19 year-old-self found it self-indulgent, overly emotional, and extremely tedious. My 36 year-old-self, I was pleased to discover, is slightly more tolerant and more patient than its younger version. So while I will never truly be a fan of Virginia Woolf--or, for that matter, Modernist Novels in general (excepting...more Although I only gave Mrs. Dalloway two stars, I should clarify that that represents quite a gain, because I have long despised this book. When I read it as an undergraduate, my 19 year-old-self found it self-indulgent, overly emotional, and extremely tedious. My 36 year-old-self, I was pleased to discover, is slightly more tolerant and more patient than its younger version. So while I will never truly be a fan of Virginia Woolf--or, for that matter, Modernist Novels in general (excepting Proust) because I still find their experiments in form and self-obsession self-indulgent, over-intellectualized, and bleak, I am happy to report that I also found more to be interested in this go-around.
The things that interested me were the quieter moments of coherent reflection. There's a lot of stream-of-consciousness in this book, in which the perspective lists feelings and impressions of cars and flowers and passers-by that don't do all that much for me; the strongest moments, I feel (and I say in my best curmudgeonly growl), come less from the showier techniques and more from good, old-fashioned moments of plot juxtaposed with sustained scenes of coherent reflection, and I rather wonder if part of my preference isn't generational in that the postmodern films, television, and literature I have grown up with have mastered a variety of techniques that signal to the audience when and where they are supposed to be more purposefully oriented--or disoriented--as the occasion and thematic constraints demand. The more fragmented moments, fragments that function sometimes to break up phrases and sentences, not just paragraphs or sections, seem more formal and self-conscious than they convey a mimetic impression of the unconscious at work, as I believe is the intention.
Or perhaps I am a philistine, which is a possibility I've long entertained. But there it is. If I learned one thing from this book, it's that one is happier embracing who one is than resisting it.

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Evan rated it:

(review of isbn 0156628708)

02/04/08

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who chose not to marry the wild one

At its best, this novel somehow both occupies the most intimate moments of quotidian consciousness and a kind of cosmic awareness encompassing distant pasts and futures, in the life of a specific character and of London itself. (In two separate early moments, VW imagines an encampment of Roman London and a sort of neo-primeval future London-- once again remembering Richard Jefferies' "After London" as she does in the opening imagery of "The Voyage Out."

I personally fou...more At its best, this novel somehow both occupies the most intimate moments of quotidian consciousness and a kind of cosmic awareness encompassing distant pasts and futures, in the life of a specific character and of London itself. (In two separate early moments, VW imagines an encampment of Roman London and a sort of neo-primeval future London-- once again remembering Richard Jefferies' "After London" as she does in the opening imagery of "The Voyage Out."

I personally found some of the middle of the book, as she picks over the consciousnesses of some secondary characters, a little tedious. The eponymous Clarissa Dalloway, who dominates the opening sections and whose party orders the narrative as a whole, is surprisingly absent from much of the middle third.

That quibble aside, there is some stunning craft in this book. The extraordinary temporal middle ground mentioned above hints at her greater accomplishment: infusing painstaking realism with mystery and greater scope. "Dalloway" appeared in 1925, as Andre Breton and his surrealist circle began to deride the boring pieties of teacup realism. Indeed, "Mrs. Dalloway" suggests a similar impulse to surrealism, i.e. to find the wonder and existential terror underneath these quotidian details. However, whereas the surrealists would use the stream of consciousness to fill their compositions with jarring non-sequitors, VW's stream remains within the tightly conceived preoccupations of her familiar genteel londoners. As a result, she avoids the heroic universalism of many of her contemporary modernists, rooting her experiments instead in the cultural particularity she knew best.

One last obvious remark. For the first time in this novel, VW no longer focuses on the moment of choosing to marry. Rather, Clarissa Dalloway and Peter Walsh declined to marry many years ago, and unlike in Austen's Persuasion, it is far too late and impossible for them to reconsider. In this work about mature adults who made their choices many years ago, there is only one "eligible" young person: Clarissa's daughter, who, in what brief access we have to her, carries the flame of the earlier novels by viewing courtship as a calamitous bore.

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grant rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

05/07/07

I just finished the Hours after reading Ms. Dalloway, and while both are excellent books, I can't help but feel that there is something seriously wrong with the conclusions of the books.

The protagonist females in both books focus on singular events as the locus for happiness in life, a secret kiss and a moment by the sea, and the unimpeachable quality of those moment in youth, leads to self doubt and pining for what might have been; As the hours drip by, one at a time.
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I just finished the Hours after reading Ms. Dalloway, and while both are excellent books, I can't help but feel that there is something seriously wrong with the conclusions of the books.

The protagonist females in both books focus on singular events as the locus for happiness in life, a secret kiss and a moment by the sea, and the unimpeachable quality of those moment in youth, leads to self doubt and pining for what might have been; As the hours drip by, one at a time.

There is a quite obvious tint of mental illness to most of the main characters in both books, a sense of dread and foreboding of the horrors each passing hour might bring, of the steadying drum of moment upon moment upon moment eating away at some fundamental sense of self, to the extent that death, the cessation of the present, begins to sound like sweet relief. This is an intriguing but terrible perspective. Life often offers up obstacles that appear insurmountable, yet these obstacles are only ever truly insurmountable if we choose not to climb them, if we turn away from the promise of the future, our prior experiences or neuroses filling us with bilious dread of what could pass, allowing the siren song of death's quiet to lull into the dreariest of complicacy.

Life is a vivid array of opportunities, each hour of each day could offer a wonderful moment, or it could just be enjoyed for what it is. 5pm on a Tuesday in October may not offer a moment in which everything will make sense and be good, but it may offer a phone call from a friend you haven't seen in a while, or a red tailed hawk swooping down in the brush by the road as you drive home to grab a vole, or anything small but meaningful that tells you, that your life, all life, has purpose.

The quality of the book is unimpeachable, but the quality of the message can be called into question.

"...fear no more the heat of the sun. She must go back to them. But what an extrodinary night! She felt somehow very like him-- the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away while they went on living. The clock was striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air"
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Christina rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

07/27/07

bookshelves: classics, favorites

Read in January, 2007

Although Mrs. Dalloway was my first foray into Woolf's fiction (I had only read her essay collections A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas), it did not take long for me to become utterly enthralled in this novel. The experience of reading Mrs. Dalloway is similar to viewing an impressionistic painting—just as the eye flits over images, shadows, and suggestions of objects in a Monet or a Degas piece, a reader engrossed in Mrs. Dalloway will find that the language carries you along as Woolf dep...more

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Jess rated it:

(review of isbn 0151009988)

03/20/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone

Mrs. Dalloway is not by title alone enough to intrigue me - it was the movie The Hours that even made me want to look at anything by Virginia Woolf. I had seen the movie, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' but that didn't really do it for me either. After the Hours, I picked up the book, and it promptly sat on my shelf after a half-baked attempt to read it ended within the first few pages.

Its flow, the rhythm, threw me off at first. My brain is easily distracted, and the book's prose requires...more

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Ajeya rated it:

(review of isbn 0156628708)

10/08/07

Read in April, 2004

May Favorite book by my Favorite author Virginia Woolf.

Mrs. Dalloway is a story of one woman in a single day of her life. The novel opens with the first sentence - "Mrs. Dalloway said she shall buy the flowers herself." - Shows, so much of brightness, so much of hope, so much of possibility.

And then the lady walks past the Bond Street, London, and as she observes every thing that happens there, slowly the author shapes her character and her state of mind.

As said earlier VW ...more

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Patrick rated it:

(review of isbn 0156628635)

01/15/08

bookshelves: virginia-woolf

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Diana

Great book! I have read a lot about Virginia Woolf's life and I am a fan of her business accomplishments (she started Hogarth Press with her husband Leonard and helped him manage it to profitability). But this is the first novel of Virginia's that I have read.

The prose and the phrasing are just delightful. It really flows, with much alliteration, and this makes the book a very quick read. Given what I have read of Virgina's need for absolute perfection in her writing, I can almost feel h...more

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Karschtl rated it:

(review of isbn 1853261912)

09/11/07

bookshelves: bc, classic, drama, movie

Read in July, 2005

The story takes place on only one day in June in London, at the beginning of the 1920s. On this day Clarissa Dalloway want to give a party and is doing last arrangements, like picking out flowers in the morning.
Later that day her old lover Peter calls on her, just back from a long stay in India. This takes her memory back to happy times with Peter and she is asking herself if it was right not to marry him but Richard instead.

Several other people are introduced and accompanied through the ...more

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