Reviews

There is a reason why Mrs Dalloway is a classic - Virginia Woolf's style is mesmerising and empathic to an extreme. Her writing flows naturally, and although I've always been told it is such a complex book [English lit. reverential training], I found it a very captivating read. I felt for the characters and their emotional turmoils and I found their reminiscences moving, without being grossly sentimental. All in all, I am glad I picked up this masterpiece of literature, its praises do it justice.

readingoverbreathing's review against another edition

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4.0

"The word 'time' split its husk; poured its riches over him; and from his lips fell like shells, like shavings from a plane, without his making them, hard, white, imperishable, words, and flew to attach themselves to their places in an ode to Time; an immortal ode to Time."

I read most of Mrs Dalloway, wrote an essay on it even, for one of my first year English courses but never devoted myself to consuming its entirety, to my own chagrin, even at the time. With it looming on my bookshelf, and being such a quick read, I decided to pick it back up on a long travel day headed home for Christmas.

I do wish I had been able to read this without a mindset of academic analysis, which slowly came back to me with certain passages familiar from my essay research and other little annotations I had left in my copy. This is some of Woolf's strongest writing; the narrative flows impeccably, ingeniously, the imagery is vividly evocative, and the perceptibility of human nature uncanny. Left to my own devices, though, I feel like my enjoyability of these elements would have been stronger, less bogged down by the pressures of literary analysis.

Regardless, I am glad I made the time to sit through this one and properly appreciate it. Woolf has never yet disappointed me.

fallenpsychic's review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

enyaxiang's review against another edition

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4.0

Reading Mrs Dalloway was like floating in a lazy river. We hop from person to person into their innermost desires creating a web that connects back to our protagonists: Clarissa and Septimus. Hm, what else? Interesting themes and you got to love it, stream of consciousness!!! Effects of WWI and PTSD. Powerful women, but not exactly a feminist novel. Upper class Brits and their entitlements. The meaning of freedom

mercurialrush's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5/5

Did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely?

i, too, am gay, depressed, and terrified of my own mortality

ladymedievalist1's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective

zkendall's review against another edition

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3.0

Clearly an achievement in style and polished writing and characters.

But I didn't enjoy it that much.

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