Mrs. Dalloway

By Virginia Woolf

Written in author Virginia Woolf’s trademark stream-of-consciousness style, Mrs. Dalloway intricately and vividly explores a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway—a woman of high-society London in the midst of preparations for a party. Moving through time, and from one character’s innermost thoughts to those of another, Woolf’s fourth novel is a moving portrait of privileged life inter-war England.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781443429429

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, short story writer, publisher, critic and member of the Bloomsbury group, as well as being regarded as both a hugely significant modernist and feminist figure. Her most famous works include Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and A Room of One’s Own.

Reviews for Mrs. Dalloway

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“Mrs. Dalloway” is a classic, considered by some to be the finest modern novel. That sort of recommendation is enough to make me approach carefully; I’m not educated enough to fully appreciate the great works and I find reading them a chore. But I’m happy to say that, although I found the first bit tedious, it didn’t take me long to get sucked into the story. It’s not that the plot is engaging; there is almost no plot. The book is merely a record of one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, and that of a few of her friends, and some people that she passes by. We are given access to their thoughts as they go about their day. Clarissa buys flowers, mends a dress, and gives a party. She hosts a visitor, just back from India. She thinks about a girl from her school days, with whom she had been in love. Septimus Smith, suffering from PTSD from WW I and the loss of a fellow soldier with whom he’d been in love, quietly sinks into a fatal madness. The stream of consciousness leads us seamlessly through the minds of these people; there are no chapters to provide breaking points. Wolff’s prose is simply beautiful; she describes the everyday moments that are usually forgotten or ignored as things of beauty. But the book is not just pretty prose; there is surprising depth to some of the characters. Clarissa and Septimus, in particular, although not directly connected, seem to be two sides of the questions of life and death. Five stars.

[oataker-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I reluctantly gave it a high mark because I was eventually won over. She has lots of good moments in the writing, starting with her appreciation of 'life', especially in the context of the recent war, and the wonderful description of a June day. There is a note of regret throughout, about her charmed, but naive youth, and turning down an interesting man's marriage proposal, although he turns out to be hopeless. There are no chapters and the mental meanderings are a bit purple and prolonged at times. But the knives come out for poor Miss Kilman, (interesting choice of name), the Christian who is clearly hated by Dalloway and I imagine by Virginia. Ugly sweaty and poor, though principled. Her influence on daughter Elizabeth seems unlikely. And finally what is it about the Love interest, Peter's pocket knife, which he is constantly fiddling with?

[chrystal_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

masterpiece by one of the greatest writers in English literary history, Mrs. Dalloway is both a moving and innovative novel that breaks new ground in the representation of inner experience. A day in the life of a London woman, Clarissa Dalloway, Woolf's novel is a meditation on time, perception, memory and experience. Informed by the great novelists of the previous century as well as contemporary trends in philosophy, art and literature, Mrs. Dalloway is a towering achievement by an extraordinary artist.

[xicanti_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MRS DALLOWAY is a stream-of-consciousness look at one day in the life of a society matron and the people she comes into contact with. While Clarissa Dalloway is at the centre, Woolf devotes equal care to those who surround her. The point of view flits from character to character with the speed of thought, and the result is a beautiful, unconventional novel in which plot takes a backseat to character development.I adore good characterization, and Woolf's is lovely. She gives us a real feel for who each of these people is as she invites us to ride around inside their heads and view the world through their eyes. Over a very short period of time, we learn a great deal about each and every one of them. And we don't just see how they view themselves; Woolf also shows us how those around them perceive them. I'll tell you up front, I'm an absolute sucker for anything that invites me to consider its characters in this way. The contrast between each character's view of herself and the way others see her is one of the novel's strongest qualities.The prose is equally good. Even though Woolf deals with the minutia of everyday life, I found the story strange and dreamlike. I think this is due, in large part, to the sudden shifts in POV. One moment, we're hard into Clarissa's perspective; the next, we're deep in Peter Walsh's mind. From him, we jump to someone else... and then to someone else again... and again... and again... Even though the story is grounded in reality, the storytelling makes it feel as though it isn't. It's nicely done.It does, however, make the book a bit difficult to sink into, especially if you've put it down for a while. I had some troubles in that area, and occasionally found that I just couldn't go back to it. I'd read a few lines and decide I needed another break. It's for this reason, more than anything else, that I've decided to pass it along to someone else. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll likely want to read it again, but I doubt I'll return to it any time soon. And when I do, I'm sure there'll be an obliging library or book market ready and waiting to provide me with another copy.(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).

[liivin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the most entertaining book but an interesting writing style. Needs good concentration to not miss a change in the storyline.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The first time I read this book it fell flat. Several years later I read The Hours, which is based on Mrs Dalloway, and thought it was wonderful, which made me think I should re-read the original someday. And this time I appreciated it so much more; in fact, I loved it. From the opening sentence, when Clarissa Dalloway leaves her house to buy flowers for a party she is hosting that evening, I was immediately immersed in the atmosphere of a beautiful London morning. Woolf moves seamlessly from Clarissa to other characters and other places, using events like a passing car to get the reader to “look” in another direction and observe other vignettes in the London scene. This flow continues throughout the novel, as Clarissa prepares for the party and others go about their days. Some characters will attend the party; others have more symbolic dramatic roles. By the end of the party, the characters have all been woven together into a tight and often moving narrative flow.

[amandrake_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Virginia Woolf, like lobster - understandably praised, but not to my taste. I understand it was a fundamental rethinking of the novel, and her writing can be lovely, but it is a bunch of characters in whom I am just not interested. On the plus side, it's easily readable.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story told in steam of consciousness takes place in one day. Clarissa Dallaway is having a party that day. The time period is interwar time period. The book addresses women and the restrictions of the milieu has on their activities. Women are restricted politically and must work through men. Ideas are judged on the basis of class and gender. We also have the shell-shocked veteran (PTSD) of WWI who disintegrates, thinks of suicide, and a very astute picture of how doctor's (males) of the time, made decisions without regard to what patient or family really needed. This is another hot issue of the time in which this book is written. There were opinions that it was nothing, malingerers or psychologically unfit. The one doctor is of the opinion that it is nothing and the other takes it seriously and says Septimus must go to home and learn to rest. There is the comparison of Mrs Dallaway to Ulysses (Joyce). Both stories take place in a day. I also would say, that The Garden Party which also occurs in one day and involves a young woman and a death that occurs during a party. For Clarissa, the "continuous present" (Gertrude Stein's phrase) of her charmed youth at Bourton keeps intruding into her thoughts on this day in London. For Septimus, the "continuous present" of his time as a soldier during the "Great War" keeps intruding, especially in the form of Evans, his fallen comrade.More on mental illness; The author is critical of the medical community and is critical of the treatment of depression and PTSD (shell shock). Clarissa and Septimus never meet each other. Their realities are different. It depicts how one person's mental illness never impacts others. And something I didn't know; There are similarities in Septimus' condition to Woolf's struggles with bipolar disorder. Both hallucinate that birds sing in Greek, and Woolf once attempted to throw herself out of a window as Septimus does. Woolf had also been treated for her condition at various asylums, from which her antipathy towards doctors developed. Woolf committed suicide by drowning, sixteen years after the publication of Mrs Dalloway. Septimus is Clarissa's double (according to Woolf).

[margaretfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

woman plans to kill herself or have a dinner party

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was quite leery of reading Mrs. Dalloway, my second Virginia Woolf as I wasn’t a fan of my first attempt, Jacob’s Room. Once again the dreaded words “stream of consciousness” arose and I approached the book with trepidation. I chose to listen to the book as read by Juliet Stevenson, and this was an excellence choice as she did a stellar job and made the book come alive.Mrs. Dalloway is a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a high society woman in post WW I England. Mrs. Dalloway’s main concerns revolve around relationships and connections. On this particular day she is preparing to host a party and as she goes through the day getting ready for the evening, she muses on her past relationships and how her life has turned out. One gets the sense that somewhere along the way, she has lost her inner self to the Mayfair hostess she shows to the outside world.We don’t spend the whole book locked in Mrs. Dalloways’ head. There is another storyline that runs parallel to that of Clarissa’s. This one involves a war veteran, Septimus Smith and his wife Lucrezia. Septimus is suffering from post traumatic stress and although he and Clarissa do not meet on this day, his actions are to affect her. We also meet and are given an insight into her past with encounters with her past suitor, Peter Walsh and her childhood best friend Sally Seton.Surprise, surprise! I loved this book. The author was able to place me inside this woman’s head and make me privy to her inner most thoughts. Although some would find her shallow and selfish, I found myself relating to her. I think most everyone thinks about their choices and wonder what life would be like if they had chosen a different path. This is a short book but is packed with unforgettable images and beautiful language and ultimately is a story about wasted potential.

[gabarito-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've never read anything quite like this. At first I found the long, complex sentences to be too much, but I got into the swing of it eventually. By the end I was really enjoying the way the stories almost came together, just glancing, never really involving each other. My friend really loves Woolf and described her writing as lyrical, washing over you like waves. I get what she was saying now.

[hopeevey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been thinking about this book, on and off, since I finished listening to it. It didn't so much end as just stopped... but I may be mistaken about that. It seems so transparent, like clear topical water, but has surprising depth once you step in. Definitely, definitely need to read/listen to this one again.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to love this book but had a really hard time with it. It honestly was a struggle to get through.

The positive: The imagery and the descriptive writing was beautiful. It was a unique story in the sense of being able to get into the minds and thoughts of so many diverse characters.

The negative: There was really no plot to speak of. The entire book was one day about a party being thrown at night. However, the party was simply the backdrop for Woolf being able to look through the thoughts and judgements of her characters.

I really don't know what else to say about this book. I enjoyed the early pages because of the interesting style. However, this wore me down after a while. Also, the idea that most people came across as cynical to me lessened the enjoyment of the story for me.

I will try Woolf again but my expectations will not be as high.

[melancholia-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

One word : boring.

[lydiasbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Finally finished, after nearly two years. I'm not sorry I made the effort to read this, despite it not being my sort of thing. Woolf's writing style is unlike anyone else's, and I have developed my intellect by reading an act nobody can follow. The stream of consciousness technique is intriguing but I found it tiring to read - because it's so different from the usual things-happen way of things, maybe. For me, deciding to read a book like this is a commitment. A decision is taken to read, and not taken lightly. There are all sorts of lighter books I might have spent this time on instead, and although I alternated this reading journey with hundreds of other books, I continued it to its end. Thank you, Ms. Woolf.

[jnwelch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mrs. Dalloway is easily my favorite Virginia Woolf I've read so far. It all takes place on one June day in 1923, starting with 50ish Clarissa Dalloway preparing to give a party that night. An old unconventional flame, Peter Walsh, appears in town, and she reminisces about her younger life and her thirty year marriage to staid, reliable Richard Dalloway. She also remembers her passionate friendship with rebellious Sally Seton, with whom she shared a kiss. The second major storyline involves a shell-shocked WWI veteran, Septimus Smith, who has lost the ability to feel emotion, and is becoming delusional. There are many other well-drawn characters. Clarissa's party brings most of the principal characters together, and illuminates various dissatisfactions and shortcomings they have, even as the party seems to be a cacophonous success. Beautifully written, with skillful weaving of different time elements, and a bevy of characters the reader understands and develops strong feelings about. Reminded me a bit of Joyce's famous short story, "The Dead", but I liked this much more.

[alisony-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was so looking forward to reading this book. I loved To the Lighthouse and Between the Acts when I read them earlier this year, I devoured The Hours by Michael Cunningham which was based on Mrs Dalloway, and I also really enjoyed the film version. So it pains me to say that I really didn't enjoy Mrs Dalloway at all.Like many of Woolf's books, the novel takes place in a very short period of time. Clarissa Dalloway is throwing a party, and the story takes us from her preparations in the morning up to the party itself in the evening. Throughout the day she is the linchpin of all the other characters, linking us with her own family, her old paramour, a young couple whose marriage is struggling due to the husband's depression after the War, and various other insincere society figures.In the other two Woolf books I've read I really connected with the characters, stepping into their soul through the stream of consciousness narrative. They struck a chord with me, and I took them to my heart. I tried but failed to feel the same about any of the characters in Mrs Dalloway. The narrative swapped and changed regularly between characters, and I struggled to feel anything more than ambivalence about them all. I enjoyed the alternating stream of thought between Clarissa and her old love Peter Walsh when they met for the first time in years. It was a clever portrayal of an interesting scenario: ex-lovers meet for the first time in years, both wondering what the other thinks of how they now look, both trying to put on a cool exterior whilst below the surface their emotions are all over the place, both wanting to say things they feel they can't. I wanted Woolf to tease the reader with much more of this, yet it was a fleeting moment that ultimately went no further, merely dangling a "what if" in front of the reader. There were definitely some interesting trains of thought here and there, but without an emotional connection to the characters (good or bad) the narrative fell very flat for me, and it became something of a chore to read.2.5 stars - flashes of genius, but a short book that felt very, very long.

[birdo82 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Though the ahead-of-its-time brilliance cannot be denied, Woolf's bewildering, exceedingly complicated narrative style may make the story inaccessible to all but the most dedicated of readers.

[sparkleandchico · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book has no chapters and is basically the stream of consciousness of Mrs Dalloway during one day. It was difficult to read without the natural chapter breaks. The style also didn't suit me--the author just lists random things that the character has seen without explaining why they are relevant or what they relate to. She does this in the middle of other trains of thought which can be confusing. There was nothing offensive about this book, I just didn't get on with it.

[nog_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I finally got around to reading this one. Over forty years ago I was taking this seminar from a renowned scholar of existentialism and this was on the reading list. Unfortunately, the week I was supposed to have discussed the book at his home with about a dozen other students I was being hammered with other course work (most notably in chemistry), and despite its short length I had to fake my way through the evening. Too bad, because this is a brilliantly written novel, deceivingly light in comparison to its obvious influences, the recent works by Joyce and Proust. But it is anything but light despite its readability. Highly recommended.

[catym_14 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In a corner of London, political wife Clarissa Dalloway plans and hosts a party. Meanwhile, her family, friends, acquaintances and neighbours are all going about their daily lives - some cheerfully, others in anguish.Although I only gave this book a rating of 3/5, I didn't think it was a bad book. I think it is a Marmite kind of book - you either love it or hate it. I pretty much hated it - on pure personal enjoyment, I'd probably give it a 1/5 - but I did think that it was very well written. The realism of the characters and the lyricism of the prose is wonderful, and it's fascinating to see into the characters' every thought - but I really didn't get on with the stream of consciousness style in which the book is written. I didn't dislike the writing - many of the sentences were beautiful - but I could put it down very easily, and regularly felt bored. I could read a page, and at the end have no memory of what was in it. So it gets a rating of three on the basis that it is a piece of great writing but, subjectively, not necessarily great reading.

[alynnk_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mrs. Dalloway is one of those novels that I've been meaning to read for ages but would usually get passed over in favor of something less intimidating. I dipped in and out of it for the better part of a month and a half, and finally steeled myself to finish off the last sixty pages one evening towards the end of last week. And then when I was done, I thought, 'that's it?'The entirety of Mrs. Dalloway takes place during the course of one day, with the story taking place as the reader follows the various characters around London. The story flows from one character to another as they interact -- and I use the word 'interact' loosely here, maybe 'encounter' is better for some of them -- with each other, culminating with Clarissa Dalloway's party at the end of the evening, where everything all kind of ties together.I wasn't an English major, so I can't begin to understand the complexities and subtleties that are most likely hiding in this work. I've never read Ulysses by James Joyce, either, a novel to which Mrs. Dalloway is (apparently) often paralleled, so there goes more that I might be missing. While I did enjoy reading about each of the characters and getting little glimpses of what makes them tick as they communicate with each other, this is, at times, a very tedious book.At some point in the future, I'll probably give it another try in hopes of getting more from it, and I also intend to give To the Lighthouse a go. But I can't say that Mrs. Dalloway will ever make my list of favorites.

[lisapeet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well wow, that was pretty wonderful. Calling something a tour de force sounds so pretentious, but Woolf was breaking new ground then and it still feels fresh and surprising with every sentence. I love how she accomplishes that POV that swoops and darts, alighting on first one person and place and time and then another, and making it all work narratively. It's both extremely cinematic and also just impossible to imagine as an actual film—I know it's been done, though I've never seen it. And that wonderful weight given to things, objects, without giving them agency—just existence and primacy. "Admirable butlers, tawny chow dogs, halls laid in black and white lozenges with white blinds blowing."The setting resonates too, in these strange social distancing days—not London, but the fact that the characters have just emerged, somewhat shell-shocked, from a World War and a pandemic. They've changed from their ordeal, and at the same time the world has changed out from under them. They are working hard to preserve their respective status quos, yet under the surface they’re stunned, appreciative but disoriented, slightly breathless. And there but for the grace of 100 years go we, I think.I'm kind of surprised I haven't read it before this, but maybe that's reasonable in context:When one was young, said Peter, one was too much excited to know people. Now that one was old, fifty-two to be precise (Sally was fifty-five, in body, she said, but her heart was like a girl's of twenty); now that one was mature then, said Peter, one could watch, one could understand, and one did not lose the power of feeling, he said.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reading Mrs. Dalloway almost 100 years after its initial publication is a thought-provoking experience. One understands that Wolfe’s experimentation in modernism – the stream-of-consciousness narration, the deliberate manipulations of time and space – were daringly new at the time of their writing. Since then, however, authors have played with these concepts and taken them in so many new directions, it’s become harder to appreciate the novelty, the literary accomplishment, of those who first set us on this path. (Imagine being expected to pay homage to the guy who invented pagers now, in the era of cell phones.) I found myself asking, as I polished off the last page: “I get why this was a big deal back in the day, but aside from literary context and some passages of lovely, artful prose, what (if anything) does this novel have to offer?”On the one hand, the novel does explore some universal themes. For instance, many of the characters are hiding their true natures behind caricatures that either society or their own choices have forced upon them. (Richard, the politician who would really rather be a country gentleman; Peter, the colonial administrator who would really rather be a radical; Lady Bruton, the society matron who would really rather be a military leader.) It could be argued that Mrs. Dalloway is one of the few characters who doesn’t let others shape her, but instead pursues her own happiness with unusual clarity and determination. (Other reviewers have interpreted her fixation on giving parties as a sign that she is motivated by social position, but I would argue that she gives parties because she finds them interesting to HER – SHE enjoys the challenge of putting people together, of providing a context in which she exposes the true nature of others. Note how unimpressed she is when the Prime Minister shows up at her shindig? She’s far more interested in how her other guests react to his presence.) Many of the novel’s other themes, however, are only very shallowly explored: mental instability (Septimus), the limited roles for women in society (Lady Bruton, Elizabeth, Ellie), homosexuality (Clarissa & Sally, possibly Septimus & Evan), social pretention (Hugh), people who impose their will upon others (Dr. Bradshaw). I constantly found myself referring back to contemporary texts by writers like Greene, Forster, and Lessing that explored these themes in much more comprehensive ways. There are other aspects of the novel that fail to satisfy. I’ve tried to understand how Clarissa and Septimus are “dopplegangers,” but I’m not sure I get it – unless it’s as simple as “some people figure out how to be content with their lives, others don’t.” I’ve tried to understand the novel as a feminist text, but Mrs. Dalloway manages to find her happiness without having to challenge any social, gender, or cultural norms. I gather Wolfe at one time intended Clarissa to commit suicide at the penultimate party. While the final version of the story rejects this ending, Wolfe has left much of the foreshadowing intact (references to Clarissa’s “recent illness,” scenes in which she revisits her past life & decisions – much as authors would have us believe people nearing the end of their lives are wont to do), which feels like narrative carelessness. Finally, Wolfe’s characters – whether defined over the course of pages or paragraphs – rarely venture beyond caricatures. Her most successful character isn’t even Mrs. Dalloway - it is post-war London, the only entity to emerge from the pages vibrant, complex, and fully realized.In summary, I think the argument can be made that Mrs. Dalloway deserves its place on any list of 100 Most Important Works of Fiction. But I’m not ready to nominate it for a spot on 100 Best Works of Fiction – not in a world gifted with 100 additional years of texts that blend literary experimentation AND essential, consequential content.

[skavlanj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Book You Started But Never FinishedI read Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours in succession, then watched the movie {The} Hours. I enjoyed Mrs. Dalloway, but struggled with The Hours. I detested the prose and could never tell whether the narrator was omnisciently telling me the story from each readers perspective or describing the characters is his own voice. Two sentences to illustrate: 1. “She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.” If this is Clarissa describing herself, good grief; if it's an omniscient narrator, good grief. This reads more like a novel from two centuries ago when a narrator telling the reader what to feel was acceptable. 2. “She has never lied like that before, not to someone she doesn’t know or love.” The word "that" made me stop and reread the sentence, substituting "this" (to stay in the present tense writing style). But then the subordinate clause at the end made me think there was a narrator telling me this story rather than listening in to the characters. I also expected some anecdote on who she had lied to.After finishing reading it, I swore off reading any more Pulitzer Prize winners from this timeframe (Olive Kitteridge was my first foray and I really detested that book; see my review for just how much).Then a funny thing happened: the movie {The} Hours (what do those braces signify?) completely ruined a book I didn't like. Watching the book converted into a vehicle for Meryl Streep (and to a lesser degree Juliette Moore and Nicole Kidman) made me appreciate the way Cunningham was true to Mrs. Dalloway's structure and characters. In the book, it is Louis (as an imitation of Peter) unexpectedly visiting Clarissa (as an imitation of Mrs. Dalloway) and crying. In the movie, the visit is planned and it is Clarissa who cries, who is the focal point of the drama. It is the impact on Clarissa, rather than Louis and Richard, that is significant. So I thought more about the book and, while I still detest the writing style (flamboyant with all that word connotes comes to mind) and don't think the point-of-view was clear or consistent, I am closer to neutral than when I finished reading it.

[leahmo-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mrs. Dalloway is a portrait of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-aged, upper-class British woman. On this particular day, she is preparing for the party she will host in the evening — buying flowers, readying her house, etc. Although on the outside a charming woman with a talent for bringing people together, on the inside Clarissa is an endless stream of memories, longings, and doubts about the choices she has made.We are also transported, at times, into the psyches of some of the people she comes into contact with, including her husband Richard Dalloway, who can’t verbally express his love for his wife, and her old flame Peter Walsh, who has just returned from India. Reading these perspectives and their thoughts about Clarissa give us a deeper, more complex understanding of her – who she is now and who she used to be. We see her horror of death, the joy she takes in throwing parties (a joy considered petty by some), the way she has sacrificed passion for conventionality, and how the passage of time has changed her. Parallel to Mrs. Dalloway’s story is the narrative of Septimus Smith, a suicidal, insane ex-soldier who is unable to translate his experiences into words.I really, really loved the language in this book. There were times that I didn’t even care about what was going on in the plot — just absorbing the lyrical, rhythmic prose was more than enough. I can’t tell you how many passages I underlined, either for their poetic beauty or the way they conveyed a tiny, shattering truth.“The sun might go in and out, on the tassels, on the wallpaper, but he would wait, he thought, stretching out his feet, looking at his ringed sock at the end of the sofa; he would wait in this warm place, this pocket of still air, which one comes on at the edge of a wood sometimes in the evening, when, because of a fall in the ground, or some arrangement of the trees (one must be scientific above all, scientific), warmth lingers, and the air buffets the cheek like the wing of a bird.”Mrs. Dalloway made me feel all the feels. I felt the beauty of a hot June day in London, the vibrant but unsettling mentality of the mentally ill, the melancholy sadness of seeing a wild life become small, the doubt over the value of the life one leads, the impossibility of ever really knowing anyone, the fear (and conversely, the embracing) of death, and the way experience/age deepens feeling.I loved this book, but I don’t feel like I fully understood it. I can tell that some of the symbolism went over my head and that there were many connections I failed to make. And I’m okay with that. This is a book I will definitely return to, and I will enjoy digging deeper in future reads. I really want to read more of Woolf’s work and more about Woolf, herself. I want to know about her life and her themes so that I can understand her writing more fully.Read the full review at Books Speak Volumes.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Firstly, this novel is a day in the life of aristocrat/socialite Clarissa Dalloway. She is finalizing preparations for a party she is hosting that evening when she is faced with a couple of unusual circumstances - her husband is attending a luncheon, with another woman, to which she was not invited - her former beau has returned from India after a 30 year absence - and someone has decided to have a bit of a life altering event that disturbs the party. The problem with this novel is I had to be a literary archaeologist to dig through all the verbiage to unearth the story. Stream of consciousness narrative buries the actual story with a multitude of sounds, sights and thoughts.Secondly, not only did I find this book a very difficult read for that reason but also the shifts in time stream of consciousness creates. Often times paragraphs switch from present day thoughts to past events unknowingly. This made for a very uneven read, even annoying.This is not a book to read for pleasure. One needs to be an alert, active reader. It's a lot of work. This book should be read, not for relaxation but for a snapshot of early 20th century life, which is described quite well, when you can see it.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Op zich een relatief mager, dun verhaaltje, over 1 dag in juni 1923 in Londen; maar zeer ruime diepgang. Thema?s: oud worden, vriendschap onmogelijk, eenzaamheid, schone schijn en innerlijke leegheid tegenover gevoel en avontuur. Vorm: innerlijke monologen en omniscient beschrijvingen, maar 1 grote golf, continue stroom.Centrale thema: waanzin en gezond verstand. Onverbiddelijkheid van de tijd. Zeer compacte schrijfstijl met korte tussenzinnen, vol impressies; erg joyceaans, techniek van nevenschikkende reacties, telkens verschuivend perspectief, en de rijdende auto als tussengewoven draad; verwantschap met The Dead

[ladydzura · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mrs. Dalloway is one of those novels that I've been meaning to read for ages but would usually get passed over in favor of something less intimidating. I dipped in and out of it for the better part of a month and a half, and finally steeled myself to finish off the last sixty pages one evening towards the end of last week. And then when I was done, I thought, 'that's it?'The entirety of Mrs. Dalloway takes place during the course of one day, with the story taking place as the reader follows the various characters around London. The story flows from one character to another as they interact -- and I use the word 'interact' loosely here, maybe 'encounter' is better for some of them -- with each other, culminating with Clarissa Dalloway's party at the end of the evening, where everything all kind of ties together.I wasn't an English major, so I can't begin to understand the complexities and subtleties that are most likely hiding in this work. I've never read Ulysses by James Joyce, either, a novel to which Mrs. Dalloway is (apparently) often paralleled, so there goes more that I might be missing. While I did enjoy reading about each of the characters and getting little glimpses of what makes them tick as they communicate with each other, this is, at times, a very tedious book.At some point in the future, I'll probably give it another try in hopes of getting more from it, and I also intend to give To the Lighthouse a go. But I can't say that Mrs. Dalloway will ever make my list of favorites.

[pathogenik-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Oh my was I disappointed?!
This one is better than 'to the lighthouse', that's for sure. But, it was dull, boring, uninteresting, confusing. I skimmed through it and understood the story, some ideas were good, some descriptions were good, she can write, but she's not my cup of tea. This didn't irritate me as much as 'to the lighthouse' , but it was very .. what's the word? ... meh! Very meh! I don't know why everyone like it so much, I frankly don't understand the hype around Woolf, her writing is incoherent. She is the only one who really knows about her characters, they keep appearing out of nowhere, many narrators, lots of names, lost of things she mentions hastily, things we do not know, I dare say she is a snobbish egocentric writer who doesn't feel like giving the reader a chance to understand her mind, or her plot. lots of missing information, cold writing style, and it isn't cool or smart, it's just as if she doesn't want to share with the reader, it only makes perfect sense to her, and we gotta put the pieces together while she's turning her back to us... Camus was very cold in 'the stranger' , but he wasn't deluding or confusing the reader. This is my piece of mind, anyways, this writer is overrated, I believe! Many contemporary writers have more respect for their readers' intellect than she did.