Mrs Dalloway is a book where nothing much really happens, but where there is really phenomenal undercurrents of emotion and thoughts. Woolf is so adept at describing every frown, every pause and every seemingly trivial thought that strikes us every single moment that this is one of the most ‘detailed’ book I’ve ever read!

Synopsis
Mrs Dalloway is a fifty-ish high society woman organising a party. She begins her day by going out to get flowers for her dinner, all the while reminiscing about her childhood friend Sally Seton, her fiery suitor Peter Walsh and her eventual marriage to Richard Dalloway. Later on she is paid a sudden surprise visit from Walsh, which catapults both of them into the good old times, yet full of bitterness at how things have turned out now.

There is a subplot in Mrs Dalloway which is about Rezia and Septimus. Septimus returns from the war, and faces depression. It’s quite exciting, as a medical student, to see how people describe the symptoms of depression during Woolf’s times. Woolf herself, is very familiar with these symptoms since she herself suffers from that disorder. The pages detailing the events leading up to Septimus’ suicide and the fatal jump he took are one of the best pages in the book!

We also get a very detailed account of her intimate friendship with Sally Seton. Possibly bordering on being ‘lesbian’… Then I realised that when I was younger I’d read other accounts of such ‘friendship’ between women but I just dismissed it as a close friendship between friends… Now, I think I might have thought too little of it. Heh.

I felt that the scene where Richard Dalloway buys some roses and tried to tell his wife that he loved her was worth mentioning. Ultimately, he did not manage to get the words out of his mouth, Clarissa simply forestalled him. ARGH. stupid guys! Doesn’t mean that if you haven’t said ‘I love you’ for 30+ years in your marriage, then it’s not significant anymore! *buggers*
Review
It’s difficult to use words to describe the varied tones of emotions in the novel. There’s no happy, sad, lost or bitterness… Virginia Woolf is especially talented in the art of describing people. I would attribute it to an exceptionally keen ability to observe. For example, she is able to write such pages and pages about a scene where a car (with darkened windows, and thus possibly carrying some royalty) goes through the city centre, and the subtle reactions and thoughts in all those present. HAHAHA okay, I think it sounds quite boring…

Her book can be quite boring, because there really isn’t much happening! LOLZ… But it’s good for temper control, if you read the book out aloud, there’s a rhythmicity and beauty in the words. Really comforting… Try it!

A paragraph in the book supposedly represents Woolf’s tribute to her parents:

For she was a child, throwing bread to the ducks, between her parents, and at the same time a grown woman coming to her parents who stood by the lake, holding her life in her arms which, as she neared them, grew larger and larger in her arms, untilit became a whole life, a complete life, which she put down by them and said, ‘This is what I have made of it! This!’

Actually I find it very hard to understand and review the book. The explanatory notes helped a bit, but it’s not enough. Actually I think to understand Woolf’s writing, one will have to read many more of her books, and preferably, her biography. It’s really exciting knowing how an author’s life affects her work.