Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mrs. Dalloway
Book Review: Clarissa -- why Clarissa?
Summary: 5 Stars
Read as much as you can about Virginia Woolf -- especially the biographies by Quentin Bell, Hermione Lee, and Julia Briggs (2005) before re-reading Mrs Dalloway. In fact, I can't imagine enjoying Mrs Dalloway without "knowing" Virginia Woolf. Some say Sir Walter Scott invented the historical novel. If true, I think one can say Virginia Woolf invented the modern autobiographical novel. Clarissa, Mrs Dalloway, is Virginia. Mrs Dalloway was published in 1925 when VW was 43 years old; Clarissa is 52 and perhaps that's how old Mrs Woolf felt when she wrote her autobiography of middle age. When sane, she is Mrs Dalloway; when mad, she is Septimus. Her descriptions of madness (hallucinations, paranoid delusions) are incredible, especially when written at a time when Freud (whose work Virginia's Hogarth Press had published) was all the rage. Her questioning lesbian love is extraordinarily interesting -- not so much whether it was morally right or wrong but, at a deeper level, what was lesbian love all about and where did it fit in. It becomes a parlour game to correlate details on every page with the corresponding details in Mrs Woolf's life. Her questioning lesbian love in 1925 would have occurred at the height of her involvement with Vita Sackville-West, whom she first met in 1922. Even little references to the fact that an individual would not inherit a family home due to male preference inheritance laws tracks with Vita's predicament. And why "Clarissa"? Where did that name come from? Mrs Woolf's diary entries and letters suggest it was a random choice, but I wonder if it was not a reference to Samuel Richardson's Clarissa?Book Review: Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Summary: 5 Stars
I decided to read this before "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham, since his book was heavily based off of "Mrs. Dalloway." Later I found that it was not necessary, but it certainly was helpful; plus, I read a great book on the way.
Firstly, "Mrs. Dalloway" is not for everybody. I could see where people would get really frustrated, but I didn't find it all too troublesome for myself, half because I knew well what I was getting into, and also because it was for an assignment in school (electively). Virginia Woolf has an amazing talent for making enormous sentences, pages spanning sentences... but as I said, I found these quite entertaining.
Though the book is rather short, the print is fairly small, and with the writing style, which is likely to cost a few pages to be reread, it will take a little bit of a time investment. Not being the quickest reader, I was able to get thought it and write a fair analysis of it in about two weeks.
If you are to read this for school, I would definitely take the time to read it twice, which I did not allow myself to do.
Should you be questioning whether or not to read this for "The Hours," I would highly recommend it, but should you decide to skip "Mrs. Dalloway," you'll do just fine, perhaps not understand the references, but you should still enjoy Cunningham's piece.
Basically, to enjoy this, you'll need patience, otherwise you may want to go onto something else... but if you are interested and have a little time to spare, got for it!
Book Review: Woolf's Prufrock
Summary: 5 Stars
I re-read this novel that I remembered enjoying when I read it in high school because a quote from it ("roses were the only flower she could bear to see cut") was pivotal in Gregoire Bouillier's fascinating short memoir THE MYSTERY GUEST. Bouillier's debt to Woolf is broader and deeper than just a stolen phrase. Both books center around the anticipation of a party in contrast with the reality of its experience as it unfolds; and both share themes of the cruelty and triviality of human nature. Compared to other stream of conscious masterpieces (Joyce's ULYSSES or Faulkner's THE SOUND AND THE FURY), Dalloway is relatively easy to follow. I found it's structure and execution to be rather cinematice. The story is bookended with sections focusing on the title character. In the large middle section the narrative passes seamlessly from one secondary character to another like a baton in a (leisurely) relay race. The trick is to anticipate that the baton will be passed and that the point of view and pronominal references are going to shift. I put an "x" in the margin each time I observed the baton being passed (these would probably be chapter breaks in more conventional novels). I found this to be helpful when I needed to reread a section to refresh my memory on a detail. What is amazing is that Woolfe employs an objective third person narration throughout, and yet each section strongly projects the obsessions and interests of the character that has been brought into the foreground. The prose is fluid, beautiful, and free of gimmickry. The author, like Clarissa Dalloway, is in complete control of all she surveys, a master manipulator. In the end, this seems to me to be a novel about accepting (or resisting) at middle age the compromises one has made in life. And "the ladies," indeed, "come and go, speaking of Michelangelo."Book Review: Into the Characters' Minds -- Woolf Delivers the Readers [46][T]
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel depicts much of early 20th century Britain as others did - but in a very different manner.
This is a detailed reflection of one person's ideas whose ideals are influenced and among the upper crust society of early 20th century England. Unlike Evelyn Waugh, Woolf does not stride with succinct and pernicious dialogue (but I find similarities between Clarissa in this book to Brenda Mast in "Handful of Dust"). Unlike Max Beerbohm, Woolf does not overly state how cutely atrocious British society can behave. Unlike E.M. Forster, Woolf does not engage in panoramic writing. Each is great. Woolf is unique and magnificent.
Moving about in an undulating fashion, her ability to have the characters' thoughts zig and zag throughout each sentence of contemplation is unrivaled. She moves within their thoughts so quickly that within the confines of this less than 200-page novel, we know a tremendous amount about Clarissa and almost as much about her dumped early lover, Peter Walsh, and her old friend Sally Seton.
Dialogue exists, but it is the characters' thoughts that speak so vividly. We learn what it is or was that Clarissa did to Peter Walsh that has made him upset or even mad at her. We learn a little about the depression funk of the war-damaged Septimus Warren Smith (Interestingly, as Woolf too was a depressed person who followed Smith in suicide, I wonder why more of his angst was not described or detailed). And, we discover that even one hundred years ago, mothers and daughters (Clarissa and Elizabeth) had problems with one another, in a fashion reminiscent of the "rebellious" years of today's teens.
I have not read all of the great writers, but among those I have read, none can enter the thoughts and perceptions as well or as vividly as Woolf. This is a great skill by an unmistakenly great writer, who may have shined most with this novel or its contemporary - "To the Lighthouse."
I add that I read this AFTER I read "The Hours." I would recommend to others to do the opposite. And, I would add a recommendation to sandwich those two books with "To the Lighthouse" -- as the three would make a great trilogy of exquisite reading.
Book Review: Well Worth a Read - Take your Time
Summary: 5 Stars
So many people have gone back to read (or re-read) Mrs. Dalloway since The Hours came out that it almost makes me want to have Hollywood create interesting movie versions of numerous other classics. Think of the possibilities! It's almost a shame that people are forced to "plow through" some of these books as course assignments, where all of their enjoyment is completely lost. With movies, it encourages people to read them voluntarily when they are older and can relate to the themes of the book.
While young teens might find the musings of a middle aged woman confusing or tedious, most of us who are over the age of 25 understand completely where Mrs. Dalloway is coming from. She's wandering through the streets of London, going about the chores before an important party. Her mind is flitting all over as she waits for the road to clear so she can pass, while she chooses flowers, while she runs into friends. She thinks about how the party's going to go, how her daughter's doing, what her husband is up to. She's barely aware of the "real" world around her.
As if this isn't enough, an old boyfriend from her teen years shows up. That sets off all sorts of other thoughts. Should she have stayed with him after all? Then there was that girlish crush she had on a female friend. Someone wants to come to her party who wasn't invited. Her husband's off lunching with another woman. Finally the party starts, and she worries that it's not going well, until she finally settles in and is comfortable.
In amongst all of Mrs. Dalloway's angsts and daydreaming, we also get glimpses into other peoples' minds - her old boyfriend, her daughter, her daughter's tutor, and so on. This lets us view the world from a variety of angles. Tying it together is Big Ben, chiming away the hours as the day goes by.
I realize, if you're used to action-oriented straightforward stories like The Da Vinci Code, that it might take a "slowing down" to read this story. Where I zip through other books at break-neck speed, when I re-read Mrs. Dalloway I have to sit back, take a deep breath, and go along at a slow pace. If you don't quite get the hang of the characters the first time through, read through it again. Once you understand who the people are and how they relate, it makes the inner musings much more clear. It's its own rhythm, the slow, steady rhythm of a day in London. It's not about racing to a goal. It's about the daydreams of life that happen *while* you're preparing for something.
Interestingly, another book - "The Party" - gathers together many of the short stories Woolf wrote at the same time as Mrs. Dalloway. One in particular is a different version of the beginning of this story. In Mrs. Dalloway, the title character is going off to buy flowers for herself. The imagery is very powerful, and very meaningful for women who are used to having flowers bought for them - but not getting them for themselves. Intriguingly, "The Party" version has her going out and getting grey gloves, and wondering if they should have buttons of not. The power of the scene is *really* changed. It makes you wonder what other famous stories had different versions of their beginnings, and how much the story might have been different if they hadn't redone it. I definitely recommend getting both books and reading them together.
Then rent and watch The Hours, and see all of the interweavings of the stories!