Somehow the first line "she would buy the flowers herself" attracts me. It was difficult for me to read this book, but I had really enjoyed.

I loved this little book though I really feel like I didn't truly understand it very well and want to read it again rather soon. From about the 20th page in, I felt like I was reading poetry. I love how Ms. Woolf puts her words down on paper. Words that had no rhyme at all to them seemed, in my mind's eye, to rhyme. I would have loved to been able to see into Virginia Woolf's mind's eye. What a fascinating woman and what a fascinating book.
The book is very small and is about married couples; some here and some there. Some productive; some not so much. One gentleman is very depressed and I found his story very interesting. Also the way the doctors looked at his illness at that time. This is not an exact quote, but to be in the company of loved ones at a time like this is harmful to the patient. They need to spend months of time in bed away from home and just rest.
I think that Mrs. Dalloway is a very important HUGE little book and would love to hear what a lot of you have to say about it. ( )

What a lovely read. . . if you're nervous to pick it up because it's a classic, don't be. ;) Reading this book is like walking down the street and being able to see the thought bubbles above everyone's heads as you pass by. You choose a few people that have the most interesting thoughts, and follow them around for awhile, observing their day and peering into their mind, too. Very readable, very enjoyable. ( )

A modernist book about memories, social roll play and the lonelyness we feel at never really being totally close to anyone. Beautiful colours, lively descriptions, interesting reflections. ( )

It's the kind of book I'd love to write, if I could. ( )

It's the kind of book I'd love to write, if I could. ( )

It's the kind of book I'd love to write, if I could. ( )

A day in the life, London, summer 1923. The traumatised soldier is completely bonkers, and Mrs Dalloway didn't seem entirely sane either. Amazing use of words, but perhaps a touch beyond me. I didn't understand many parts.

Without doubt a classic, which may leave you wondering why this reviewer has awarded it a mere three stars: well, first, I ought to say that I do not regard three stars as "mere"; for me three stars is good, just not so good as to get me really excited; by the way, did I mention that I also get excited about cabbages, actually I don't - get excited by cabbages, that is - but what I am attempting to do here, no doubt extremely badly, not to say ungrammatically, is to mirror Woolf's long, rambling sentences that frequently go off at tangents. Having spend a long time in one character's head, you can suddenly find yourself inside anothers. If you don't keep your wits about you then you might miss the switch from one to the other.

For all its frustrations, one just cannot help but notice that this is a fine piece of creative art. I also enjoyed it much more than the last Woolf novel I attempted, which was To the Lighthouse. I will now probably give the latter another try, though not just yet. ( )

The most poignant passage was definitely Septimus's suicide, perhaps because it was the most actual action in the whole novel. I did enjoy it, but it's a book that I feel should be inhaled - read in as few sittings as possible. However, it didn't impel me to read it in such a fashion. Part me of me dreaded picking it up knowing that there wouldn't be a good stopping point. It is a beautiful work though; one of those that is perhaps best appreciated upon completion. ( )

Found this book very hard to read, very little plot. By the end I valued the writing much much more. Found Septimus, the poor soul suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, fascinating. Especially in how the mentally ill were treated. ( )

Mrs. Dalloway is paragraph after paragraph of observations of people in Clarissa's life as opposed to a moving or suspensful story. I finished uninterested in Mrs. Dalloway although I enjoyed the biography of Virgina Woolf's life. ( )

amazon PD: On a June morning in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway, the glittering wife of a Member of Parliament, is preparing for a grand party that evening. As she walks through London, buying flowers, observing life, her thoughts are in the past, and she remembers the time when she was as young as her own daughter Elizabeth; her romance with Peter Walsh, now recently returned from India; and the friends of her youth. Elsewhere in London, Septimus Smith is being driven mad by shell shock. As the day draws to its end, his world and Clarissa's collide in unexpected ways.

In a corner of London, political wife Clarissa Dalloway plans and hosts a party. Meanwhile, her family, friends, acquaintances and neighbours are all going about their daily lives - some cheerfully, others in anguish.

Although I only gave this book a rating of 3/5, I didn't think it was a bad book. I think it is a Marmite kind of book - you either love it or hate it. I pretty much hated it - on pure personal enjoyment, I'd probably give it a 1/5 - but I did think that it was very well written. The realism of the characters and the lyricism of the prose is wonderful, and it's fascinating to see into the characters' every thought - but I really didn't get on with the stream of consciousness style in which the book is written. I didn't dislike the writing - many of the sentences were beautiful - but I could put it down very easily, and regularly felt bored. I could read a page, and at the end have no memory of what was in it. So it gets a rating of three on the basis that it is a piece of great writing but, subjectively, not necessarily great reading. ( )

I love how this book is keeps its intrigue and suspense without really having a lot of action. That really shows the quality of the portraits of the characters, which really is what the book is all about. The characters are multifaceted and realistic, and seem to balance each other nicely. Even though all the characters are british upper or middle class and all the action takes place in a single day, the book seems to sum up a lot of the diversity that is the human mind.

It is the work of a skilled author, and a great tale. ( )

MRS DALLOWAY is a stream-of-consciousness look at one day in the life of a society matron and the people she comes into contact with. While Clarissa Dalloway is at the centre, Woolf devotes equal care to those who surround her. The point of view flits from character to character with the speed of thought, and the result is a beautiful, unconventional novel in which plot takes a backseat to character development.

I adore good characterization, and Woolf's is lovely. She gives us a real feel for who each of these people is as she invites us to ride around inside their heads and view the world through their eyes. Over a very short period of time, we learn a great deal about each and every one of them. And we don't just see how they view themselves; Woolf also shows us how those around them perceive them. I'll tell you up front, I'm an absolute sucker for anything that invites me to consider its characters in this way. The contrast between each character's view of herself and the way others see her is one of the novel's strongest qualities.

The prose is equally good. Even though Woolf deals with the minutia of everyday life, I found the story strange and dreamlike. I think this is due, in large part, to the sudden shifts in POV. One moment, we're hard into Clarissa's perspective; the next, we're deep in Peter Walsh's mind. From him, we jump to someone else... and then to someone else again... and again... and again... Even though the story is grounded in reality, the storytelling makes it feel as though it isn't. It's nicely done.

It does, however, make the book a bit difficult to sink into, especially if you've put it down for a while. I had some troubles in that area, and occasionally found that I just couldn't go back to it. I'd read a few lines and decide I needed another break. It's for this reason, more than anything else, that I've decided to pass it along to someone else. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll likely want to read it again, but I doubt I'll return to it any time soon. And when I do, I'm sure there'll be an obliging library or book market ready and waiting to provide me with another copy.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

An astonishing work of sustained imagination. Virginia Woolf revisits the Dalloways, who featured in her debut novel, stripping away the veneer of the politician's wife to discover the woman behind the mask. As Mrs. Dalloway plans her party, Septimus Smith is breaking down from his experiences in the Great War. ( )

* NO SPOILERS WERE USED IN THE WRITING OF THIS REVIEW! *

Every coin has two sides, and in "Mrs. Dalloway" Woolf seemed intent on scrutinizing each side without giving preference to either. The result is a book that is equally fascinating and frustrating, which is not surprising since the entire work seems intended to mirror life as one huge contradiction.

Take for example Woolf's contradictory writing style, which is either made up of very complicated syntax or maddeningly fragmented "stream of consciousness" run-on sentences. I counted 15 semi-colons on one page, and eight in a single sentence: "In people's eyes, in the swing, tramp and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages, motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwichmen shuffling and swinging; brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; London; this moment of June." While revolutionary then, in my opinion Woolf's "stream of consciousness" experiment has not passed the test of time, seeming lazy and sloppy to me as a modern reader, despite striking moments of beauty and rhythm.

The contradictory writing style in Mrs. Dalloway is intentional and perfectly sets the stage for a juxtaposition of contrasting themes: Past vs. Present; Youth vs. Age ; Passion vs. Security; Life vs. Death. These common themes are found to some extent in most modern literature, however Woolf goes over them with a magnifying lens, providing an equal and non-judgemental view of each side.

In closing, this rather short book is quite a difficult, though rewarding read for a patient, intellectual reader, offering insights and reflections long after it is finished. It is a work that I will doubtless return to and find new gems of insight every time. Woolf's description of Mrs. Dalloway's effect on a former lover is a perfect metaphor for this entire reading experience: "You were given a sharp, acute, uncomfortable grain - the actual meeting; horribly painful as often as not; yet in absence, in the most unlikely places, it would flower out, open, shed its scent, let you touch, taste, look about you, get the whole feel of it and understanding, after years of lying lost." I love to hate this book! ( )

I just finished Mrs. Dalloway-- a quiet respite after Blood Meridian. I really
enjoyed it.
Certainly not a plot-centric book, but the characters were so interesting and I
loved watching
them develop from passersby into people I really felt in touch with just by
spending a few
moments in their thoughts. Virginia Woolf really gets what's going on inside
people's heads-
- the really deep secret stuff that no one ever talks about. I felt naked.

Rate 4.75/5.0 ( )

A literary feast that boggles the mind and treats all of your senses. Captivating, Enthralling, and very intelligent. A masterpiece of masterpieces... and definitely time for a re-read!!! I can't wait. ( )

I read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf in two days. I could not put it down. I truly believe that it takes some knowledge of her as a writer to appreciate her work and getting to know Clarissa Dalloway is no exception. If the reader is unfamiliar with Woolf’s style and history, this book is hard to follow. Her back and forth movement that she manipulates the reader through one day of her characters' life is brilliant. In one day she gives us thier lifetime. This is defiantly not a casual read, your mind must work enjoined with novel to get the full effect. It is a remarkable testament to Woolf’s creativity and courage as a female writer in her time. ( )

I greatly enjoyed this book; Virginia Woolf's descriptive language and
realistic characters made for a challenging yet interesting read. As I
have never read anything by Virgina Woolf, it was difficult at first to
adapt to her style of writing. At the beginning of the book when she
introduces the characters on their errands about London, England, I found
it hard to follow the quick movement from one character to another.
However, once I had delved into the novel a little farther, it became
easier to understand the writing. This book is a good, historical read for
any person. Molly

I've read this book at least five times and every time it is different and shocking and brilliant. ( )

Stream of consciousness and great observations about life from a middle-aged perspective. Very well written and I love the "day in the life" concept, but I liked some of Woolf's other works better.

On the difficulty of aging and "settling down":
"She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown; there being no more marrying, no more having of children now, but only this astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them, up Bond Street, this being Mrs. Dalloway; not even Clarissa any more; this being Mr. Richard Dalloway".

On the other hand:
"...the passions remain as strong as ever, but one has gained - at last! - the power which adds the supreme flavour to existence, - the power of taking hold of experience, of turning it round, slowly, in the light". ( )

I found this book a bit boring. On the other hand, in places the language was brilliant, and I believe I will add some quotes from this book to my collection. ( )