Unsure...
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Having finished `Mrs Dalloway', I was left unsure whether I actually enjoyed the book. I can clearly see why it has received so much praise as Woolf's excellent use of language truly envelopes you in the psyche of Clarissa Dalloway and the thought processes of her other dramatic devices, particularly the visionary Septimus. However I was, as I am sure Woolf intended, irritated by many of Clarissa's flaws and despite some of her redeeming characteristics, I found part way through the book that I no longer wanted to continue following her train of thought. Luckily there was also plenty of substance to be found in the other characters that made me want to continue reading and by the end I felt I had a thorough understanding of each of every one of them. I would, on consideration, recommend this book but I do not see myself returning to it in a hurry. It certainly stayed with me for days after completing it but purely because I just couldn't decide how I felt about it. Try it and see for yourself...
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Good but not great
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Described as Woolf's first 'great' novel 'Mrs. Dalloway' tells the story of a woman who becomes immersed in artificial, material things in order to avoid facing the real and difficult things in life (her emotions). This is a wonderful concept as it is something that we can all see around us in everyday life. Thus it is a wonderful idea for a novel. Woolf tells the story in the (then revolutionary) stream of consciousness technique. This is done in order to capture all the thoughts and feelings of the characters in the book. This allows Woolf to show how perceptive she can be and all adds to the general air of intelligence of the novel. Woolf wanted to show someone's entire life in just one day. Again another superb idea. Their past (peter) their present (husband) and even their future. This is a great idea driven novel. 'Mrs. Dalloway' contains many revolutionary techniques and original ideas and on all technical levels this is a masterpiece. However, the novel is now nearly one hundred years old. These techniques have been tried and tested time and time again. We are used to it. So the real question is what is left when all the razzmatazz of the revolutionary new style and original ideas are taken away (basically how will the modern reader find this). Unfortunately not much else is there. The story is a half interesting journey into a pretty unlikable woman's life.
Mrs. Dalloway is more of a supremely successful experiment in writing than it is a great story that will stand the test of time. One can not really talk about Mrs. Dalloway these days without mentioning 'The Hours'. Now I have only seen the film (in fact, it was the reason I read Mrs. Dalloway in the first place) but I thought the film expanded and improved a lot of the ideas in the book. The idea of just how we keep on going, when having to endure the exquisite pain of facing all we know and all we have had to live with during our lives. This is portrayed beautifully in the film. 'The Hours' has taken 'Mrs. Dalloway' and beefed it up and expanded it where it was needed.
This is by no means a lambasting of Woolf. On the contrary, I will certainly read her work again, and will probably thoroughly enjoy it. It is just that in this readers opinion 'Mrs. Dalloway', whilst being dazzling is some aspects, is not a great novel in others.
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Mrs Dalloway
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I decided to read this after seeing "The Hours". The way it's written seems to exude the distress Virginia Wolfe must have felt throughout her life, and the detail of the characters minds is almost painful and uncomfortable. I can imagine this must have caused quite a stir when it was first released.
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Overrated
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This books is not particularly difficult to read as there are no complicated ideas or challenging concepts in it. It is just a long, tedious collection of gibberish prose. As I read the book I deliberately forced myself to try and see what the big fuss about it is but once I put it down I admitted to myself that I had just read a really bad book and felt somewhat tricked. Don't let yourself be fooled by wasting your time reading this shamefully overrated book.
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A touching, haunting example of literary genius.
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My favourite of Woolfs novels and also, I think, the most acessable to readers new to her work. It is the least complicated example of her style and the one where her stream of conciousness achieves its best synergy with characters and plot. Two central plotlines interweave, Mrs. Dalloway fighting submerged demons below a perfect veneer, while elsewhere in London Septimus Smith is overwhelmed by his. His character as a metaphor for the struggles in her mind works very well. Woolfs prose is on wonderful form here; with a clarity and beauty rarely matched it touches the heart, while opening a Bloomsbury cavern filled with class divide and false appearance. It is a very human, humane novel with a private, fragile quality that echoes it's themes - the mind, the life and marrying the two without harm.
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