Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf Library) - Softcover

Woolf, Virginia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0156628708 ISBN 13: 9780156628709

Publisher: Mariner Books, 1990

Synopsis

Direct and vivid in her account of Clarissa Dalloway's preparations for a party, Virginia Woolf explores the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman's life.

In Mrs. Dalloway, the novel on which the movie The Hours was based, Virginia Woolf details Clarissa Dalloway's preparations for a party of which she is to be hostess, exploring the hidden springs of thought and action in one day of a woman's life. The novel "contains some of the most beautiful, complex, incisive and idiosyncratic sentences ever written in English, and that alone would be reason enough to read it. It is one of the most moving, revolutionary artworks of the twentieth century" (Michael Cunningham).

About this title

Review:

Clarissa Dalloway is civilised--without the ostentation of a socialite, but with enough distinction to attract them to her parties. She finds excess offensive, but surrounds herself with the highest quality and has an abhorrence for anything ugly or awkward. Mrs. Dalloway is as much a character study as it is a commentary on the ills and benefits society gleans from class. Through Virginia Woolf, we spend a day with Clarissa as she interacts with servants, her children, her husband, and even an ex-lover. As she plans and executes one of her celebrated parties, she reveals inner machinations incongruous with her class-defined behaviors, that ultimately enable her to transcend them.

Review:

"Mrs. Dalloway is a standout work in a standout career, a hallmark of the Modernist movement, and a splendid, wrenching, subtle psychological novel, beloved in its day and beloved now." --Lithub, "The 10 Books That Defined the 1920s"

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0156628708
• ISBN 13: 9780156628709
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 214