I read this book for Neeru's Hundred Years Hence challenge. The goal is to read one or more books that were published for the first time in 1925. The challenge runs until the end of 2025.
Reading Mrs. Dalloway was a good experience for me. It was the first book I had read by Virginia Woolf, plus I had never read anything written in stream of consciousness style. It did take me a good while to adjust to that style of telling a story, and it got even more confusing when the story moves from Mrs. Dalloway's thoughts to various other people's ruminations.
The story is basically a day in the life of Charissa Dalloway. As she goes through her day she muses about her past and her future: her daughter; her daughter's friend, who she doesn't like; and her own relationships with men over the years. She is probably thinking about the men in her life because an old boyfriend will be visiting her soon. He has been out of the country (in India) and they haven't seen each other for a long time.
The old boyfriend is Peter Walsh, and he still has feelings for Clarissa. Peter Walsh musings as he visits London and Clarissa are second focus of the book. There is another couple whose thoughts are shared in the book, although they have no real connection to Mrs. Dalloway other than proximity to her when she goes out on her morning walk, to pick up flowers for the party she will be giving in the evening. That couple, Septimus and Lucrezia Smith, have an interesting story and it is kind of a downer.
The edition I read had a Foreward by Jenny Offill and an Introduction by Elaine Showalter.
My Thoughts:
This book is just filled with lovely quotes, sad quotes, quotes to think about. But I had a difficult time reading it. So many characters are touched on that I got lost at times. Since it is told in stream of consciousness style, this makes perfect sense, but it still did not make for a pleasant read. There were many pages and sections that I had to reread to make any sense of.
The story has a lot of depth to it. It is about a middle-aged woman, doubting herself as she gets older and her daughter nears adulthood. It takes place on one day in June in 1923, so the reader sees a picture of life 100 plus years ago, in London, written by someone living at that time. The story of Septimus and Lucrezia Smith involves the husband's mental illness due to his experiences in the Great War.
One thing I noted while reading this novel and even more so afterward is how much difference it might make whether you read this novel for the first time when you are a teen, or thirty, or fifty, or like me, in your seventies. Jenny Offill expanded on this idea in her Foreword (although I recommend not reading the Foreword until after you have read the book for the first time).
Since I am not familiar with Virginia Woolf's novels and stories, I did not realize that the character of Mrs. Dalloway shows up in other writings by her. She appears in Woolf's first novel, The Voyage Out, and in at least one short story, "Mrs. Dalloway of Bond Street." That makes me want to read more by Virginia Woolf (recommendations are welcome).
I do hope to reread this book sometime to see what more I can get out of it on a second reading, when I am not distracted by the unusual structure.
18 comments:
I often find stream-of-consciousness stories a bit difficult to follow, Tracy, Our thoughts don't move in a logical progression or strict chronological order, so it's hard to follow a person's pattern of thinking, especially when it comes to the chronological events in a story. Still, as you say, Woolf had a beautiful writing style, didn't she?
Margot, reading this book did not encourage me to try more stream of consciousness books, but it did motivate me to read more by Virginia Woolf.
This is a tough read. I am not sure I finished it but I saw the movie, which mas it clearer.
I found Mrs. Dalloway a very challenging read, Patti. If it had been twice as long, I don't know if I would have finished it. I would like to see the film, if only for the actors and actresses.
Thanks Tracy for taking part in the challenge. I absolutely love this book but had no idea that Clarissa appears in two more texts. I shall search for them.
Woolf is one of those authors I want to read, but am slightly intimidated by.
I found this one very challenging too, Tracy, I did like the movie though, with - I think - Vanessa Redgrave. I also read To the Lighthouse, and found that challenging too. I ended up deciding that Virginia Woolf was not for me, a shame, but there you go, you can't love everything.
Her stream of consciousness style does take getting use to. I had to start The Waves over 3x before I could get into that one. Her books The Voyage Out and Night and Day are more traditional in their narrative style if I remember correctly. I like both of those. The Lighthouse and Jacob's Room are similar in style to Mrs. Dalloway.
Neer, I am glad that your challenge motivated me to try Mrs. Dalloway. I was very tentative about trying a book that used stream of consciousness but I am glad I did.
Same for me, Ryan. For many years I mainly read mysteries. When I started branching out, I still did not think of Virginia Woolf as an author that I would enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised, but it took a while to adjust as I read the book.
I've never read anything by Virginia Woolf and since I can struggle with "stream of consciousness" writing, this probably isn't a place for me to begin.
What an interesting challenge! I don't have any books on my TBR published this year, but maybe I can join in the future.
Never read Mrs Dalloway. But I did read and highly recommend her classic nonfiction book A Room Of One's Own. I did read To The Lighthouse and I find her fiction or at least that book difficult. But I definitely want to read more of Woolf's essays.
Cath, I will have to do some research to decide what else I might read by Woolf. Just from what I have read about them so far, they all seem challenging. I think I would enjoy the film but I don't think it could have the same depth as the book; the actors in the film appeal to me.
Lark, thanks for that overview of the books you have read by Woolf. That will be very helpful. I would definitely avoid stream of consciousness style in the next book I pick.
Kelly, I hope to read one or two more books published in 1925. It was interesting to get that picture of what one woman's life was like then.
Kathy, thanks for your recommendation of A Room of One's Own. I think that would be interesting.
Yeah I agree it's not an easy book to read. It takes much focus to get through. Some of her passages can be interesting but I wish her books weren't so obtuse.
Susan, I am very glad I read this book and I want to try more, someday. But it was a lot of work to get through the book.
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