Mrs. Dalloway is a Shallow Bitch - Lynn

Mrs. Dalloway is about one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway.  Published in 1925, this book is considered  ground breaking because all of the action occurs in a single day and because of Woolf's extensive use of interior monologue and stream of consciousness.  The book is also one of the first to address the subject of shell shock (PTSD, as we call it today).

All the groundbreaking is well and good, and I don't doubt that Mrs. Dalloway should be on the top 100 list, but that  doesn't mean that the book is enjoyable.  It's not.

Woolf's writing style is dense and non-sequitur, with run-on sentences frequently requiring rereading and re-rereading. Ugh.  And Clarissa Dalloway becomes less and less likeable as the story unfolds.  She typifies upper-crust England in the 1920's; her concerns surround appearance and propriety and her world is circumscribed by class-based conventions. Also, none of her friends are likable.  For that matter, neither are her enemies.  Her daughter is downright detestable.  And her husband is a loser.  It's hard to get into a book when there's no one to root for.  Or almost no one, anyway.

The most sympathetic character in the book is Septimus Smith, a WWI veteran who was exposed to horrific events during his honorable service and is now going mad.  On this day, Septimus has been taken to a specialist, Sir William Bradshaw, who determines that Septimus needs to be committed.  Unwilling to give up his independence, and haunted by the apparition of his dead comrade, Septimus jumps out of his window and kills himself.  Sir Bradshaw is called to the scene, which irritatingly (to him) makes him late to Mrs. Dalloway's party.

Upon his arrival to the party with his wife, Lady Bradshaw informs Mrs. Dalloway of the reason for her husband's lateness.  Mrs. Dalloway's first reaction is to be angry at him for ruining her party with a mention of death.  This is when I decided I downright disliked her.  Upon further reflection, Mrs. Dalloway decides that Septimus killed himself to preserve his 'treasure', his happiness.  This is when I decided I hated her.