Mrs. Dalloway

With the help of Spark Notes, I was able to turn the rating of this novel from a 3 to a 4 star. It's really unlike any book I've ever read. Despite being considered one of the "great classics", it's decades before its time. In it topics like suicide and same-sex love are discussed - not quite the norm for a novel published in 1925.

The internal demons that Mrs. Woolf suffered herself gives this novel so many layers to peel through. Knowing that she committed suicide herself will go a long way in your own reading, if you're just picking it up. (In 1941, the beginning of WWII, at the start of another breakdown she feared would be permanent, Woolf placed a large stone in her pocket to weigh herself down and drowned herself in the River Ouse.)

I encourage you to take the time to read through something like SparkNotes while you're reading this. There really is so much depth to this novel that it's hard to delve in deep enough on your own and fully appreciate the book as it deserves.

I dig the use of stream-of-consciousness narrative (though not all the time since it requires more brain cells and constant attention) and I have been enjoying reading recent releases which utilizes this style. NOW the GOAT of stream-of-consciousness narrative didn’t disappoint. I loved how Woolf utilized even the inner thoughts of minor characters to create a more well-rounded novel. It also made the book thematically richer and provided greater depth to the overall portrayal. I also appreciated how Woolf incorporated elements from her own life and experiences to scaffold some of the characters' actions, particularly the undertones of death.

So a rating requires content and a consumer of that content.

In this case, as the consumer of that content, I have to admit that while I enjoyed the book and found it insightful and funny, I also found it difficult to read. I have two kids under the age of four in the house and get interrupted every three to five minutes on average.

For most of the books I read, the interruptions are manageable. For this modernist structure where you sorta free wander with no direction, it’s essentially impossible to read. What happens is you pick up the book, you try to locate what is happening within the context of the story, you search around a bit looking for cues, you realize the task is basically impossible, and then Alice (your 3.5 year old) asks you whether it’s three o clock yet and whether you can go to the park. You answer those questions and then start back at trying to locate what is happening in the story.

Is this form of storytelling more meaningful than something more straightforward? I suppose it probably is. I found some of the digressions extremely insightful, particularly on the relations between men and women and between men and achievement or whatever you would call the typical aim of male ambition in British society.

Nonetheless, I don’t think the book lends itself well to my particular life stage at this moment.

Another well written novel by Woolf. Character development is the primary basis of this novel, as Woolf recounts all interactions she has with her friends, acquittances and everyone in between. Each character's personality is fundamental to the outcome of her thoughts throughout the story and creates the foundation of how we understand Woolf's thoughts.

I listened to a perfectly enchanting reading of this by Phyllida Law. The story is a textural situation comedy about society life in London. I find myself not caring much about Clarissa but wondering about Septimus.