Mrs. Dalloway , perhaps Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, follows English socialite Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares for a party in post-World War I London. Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening ( American Beauty , The Kids Are All Right ) performs Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style of storytelling brilliantly, exploring the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman's life. When we first meet Clarissa Dalloway, she is preoccupied with the last-minute minutiae of party-planning while being flooded with ...
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Mrs. Dalloway , perhaps Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, follows English socialite Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares for a party in post-World War I London. Four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening ( American Beauty , The Kids Are All Right ) performs Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style of storytelling brilliantly, exploring the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman's life. When we first meet Clarissa Dalloway, she is preoccupied with the last-minute minutiae of party-planning while being flooded with memories of long ago. Clarissa then examines the realities of the present as the story travels forwards and back in time and in and out of different characters' minds. Mrs. Dalloway is daring not only in its stream-of-consciousness form, but also in its content. Woolf's depiction of Septimus Warren Smith brings to light the ugly and often ignored truth of how the brutality of war can drive men mad. We also get to see in depth how our main protagonist, Clarissa Dalloway, suffers from her own form of psychological damage: the more subtle, everyday oppression of English society. Mrs. Dalloway is part of Audible's A-List Collection, featuring the world's most celebrated actors narrating distinguished works of literature that each star helped select.
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The book arrived in good time, but the condition of the book was not as nice as I'd hoped. Often the books I buy via Alibris are in better condition than their ratings, but this time I did not luck out.
maryannnol
May 24, 2007
Great book, great writer
I treid skipping Virgina Woolf in my youth, and now, in my dotage, I have the time and energy to read, read and read more! This is just fntastic, if you've seen the Hours film, you have to read this. What can I add? A basic fabulous book by a female writer, clarity expression, content, style and of course a terrific name!
DT07
Apr 9, 2007
Amazing Book
This book is a classic and should be read by anyone interested in the study of English. It is short, but Woolf introduces a new literary style (stream of consciousness) that proves a little challenging. Her diction helps set the somewhat sad tone of the book, but however sad, Woolf is a literary genius and that comes across in this novel.