MRS DALLOWAY by VIRGINIA WOOLF.SOURCE: A readers group read.
BACK COVER BLURB: In this vivid portrait of one day in a woman's life, Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of a party she is to give that evening. As she readies her house she is flooded with memories and, met with the realities of the present, she re-examines the choices she has made over the course of her life.
FIRST SENTENCE: Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 98}: She sighed, she snored, not that she was asleep, only drowsy and heavy, drowsy and heavy, like a field of clover in the sunshine this hot June day, with the bees going around and about and the yellow butterflies.
MY THOUGHTS: I once heard someone say that if reading were ever to die snobbery would be standing, smoking gun in hand, over the corpse.
Yes, sad to say but there is a certain amount of literary snobbery out there and I'm afraid when it comes down to the so called classics versus more contemporary fiction ..... Well, lets just say that in the book snobs eyes there is no comparison. And thus, worried my discernment as a reader might be called into question, I found myself almost loath to admit that not only did I not enjoy the novel, I was bored by it.
The lack in variation in voice as one character seamlessly merged into another off-putting, the pretentious prose tiresome, the length of sentences and the amount of punctuation there within (at one point I counted 10 commas and 1 semi-colon) beyond annoying. Known as a modernist writer, a pioneer of the literary works that came to be known as 'stream of consciousness'. Virginia Woolf's novel may well be a good example of a piece of literature that focuses on the psychological processes taking place as Mrs Dalloway and co go about their business in what is essentially a snapshot of one day in her life but, as is typical of the genre, I'm afraid for me this resulted in a story that never really went anywhere.
A book you'll ever find yourself absorbed in or lost by. For myself, sadly, it was the latter.
10 comments:
What an interesting commentary on literary snobbery. I have little patience for it...or for any type of elitism, for that matter. (I love watching food shows, but loathe the snobbery which is so blatant in them)
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the book and I have a feeling I would feel exactly the same way. I don't think I'll be adding it to my wish list.
I find I have a problem with most classic literature in that fiction has evolved so much over time. I see so many "rules" of modern fiction broken and those rules are really good and useful. They make stories better! It's hard to keep reminding myself that they didn't have those rules back then.
I don't think I know about this one but well... it's a complicated thing when you're bored by a story... sorry it was the case here.
I have never read Virginia Wolf but I want to.
A lot pf people, even those who do tend to like classics do not like stream of conciseness like stories. I tend tend to like them only because I find them to be a welcome variation from conventional writing.
Tracy, thank you for sharing your true thoughts about this book. I studied this book in school many years ago (and still have my copy of it in the bookshelf). Perhaps you would enjoy the movie based on this book more.
I would like to give Virginia Woolf a try at some point, but admit I find her books a little intimidating given what I have heard of them.
I read an article that was going around Facebook recently about criticism against the Classics. I think it had something to do with people not liking certain classics and therefore they missed the point of the entire novel(s). While some of the criticisms were rather superficial, I felt over all the assumption being made was unfair. Just because you don't like a classic novel doesn't mean you are in the wrong. Talk about literary snobbery.
Sorry you didn't enjoy it. Some classics are winners some are not. Just like the contemps. :)
Honest review Tracy, the book sounds boring :)
I'm not a fan of most classics and don't think I'd like this one either. I need an actual plot, as I quickly get bored when there's no action. Thank you for an honest review!
Terri @ Alexia's Books and Such...
Post a Comment