Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf; 8/10

Read by Virginia Leishman [Who was solid if not particularly memorable]

 Well I feel like a pretentious asshole reviewing this book at all, and especially giving it anything less than a 10. My uncle, a professor of English Literature at Wake Forest, told me of this book that it is as close as anyone has come to writing a "perfect novel." Michael Chabon, a great writer previously reviewed, said of Virginia Woolf when Karen and I saw him that he didn't like her at first but came to realize she was a "rockstar."  So I think I have some growth ahead of me in my Virginia Woolf appreciation, but broadening horizons is what this whole deal is about. At the time of reading, I'd say this started out as a 4-5 and worked itself up to a 7-8, for what that's worth.

I think a better or more helpful rating would be to say that even as I read it I knew that I didn't understand it well enough and would have to read it a second time to really get it, though I did follow both the plot and what I think the author was doing fairly well. Woolf is one of Karen's absolute favorites, so I hoped to get a bit of insight into her taste by reading this, an endeavor in which I hope I was successful.

Mrs. Dalloway follows a small group of characters through their ordinary lives over the course of a single day in postwar (that's the Great War) London. She peers into the minds of her characters with a candor that eclipsed many of the writers of the previous generation, and which became a major hallmark of good writing in that age. But she also brings something essentially feminine, and more importantly, proudly feminist to the work which I have read was revolutionary. It is not hard to believe this when you read Mrs. Dalloway (which I recommend for most, though not all of my friends). Her word choices, her prose, her glimpses of unguarded reflection were very well done and very striking, and grew on me in leaps and bounds as I read.

I particularly found the character Septimus compelling, and the parts of the narrative which dealt with him said things about the effects of war from a point of view one does not often get. Clarissa Dalloway herself is a fascinating and intricate character study, and I suppose at the end of the day the question of whether or not you like this book will come down to how you feel about her. Bottom line: reputation deserved, but I'm a second reading away from completely getting it.