Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Mrs Dalloway

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

222 reviews

jessicaminster's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Mrs. Dalloway is rightfully regarded as one of the preeminent modernist novels. To me, it was nearly rivetting from beginning to end but was bogged down in subplots around 3/4s through the book. There comes a point where so many characters are being introduced that it's hard to keep track of them all. As a whole the book is incredibly well written and engaging, even though it mainly deals with relatively everyday things. Some of the characters will definitely stick with me.

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youarenotthewalrus's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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albon's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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jaspreetsandhu13's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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okayyyanna's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

How does Woolf do this? Highly recommend reading the introductions/info on the book after completing the novel for extra appreciation

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mmefish's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

"She wanted support. Not that she was weak; but she wanted support."

"So she made him think. (But he was not in love.)"

I appreciated it, I liked it at times, but I didn't love it (except the parts including Septimus; simply superb).

"They went to Hampton Court on top of a bus, and they were perfectly happy. All the little red and yellow flowers were out on the grass, like floating lamps he said, and talked and chattered and laughed, making up stories. Suddenly he said, 'Now we will kill ourselves,' when they were standing by the river[...]"

"It might be possible, Septimus thought, looking at England from the train window, as they left Newhaven; it might be possible that the world itself is without meaning."

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zomvi's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved the character work that Woolf employs, and the societal commentary and examination of mental health is brilliant! However, I wasn't a fan of the rambling stream-of-consciousness style in which it's written; I'm sure others will disagree, but it's just not a style I generally enjoy altogether. I recommend the Listen With Audrey audiobook edition specifically, as there is substantial extra material giving a lot of historical context and information on the author herself that greatly helped my understanding. There are some unfortunate references to POC, as well, but this is almost inevitable, sadly, given the time period, and in many other ways, this was an extremely progressive book. I was also not super clear on if it was just the characters themselves viewing them in that light, so perhaps I'm misjudging Woolf's perspective on that matter as well? Overall, I'm glad to have finally read such an influential author's work.

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bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wish I was the type of person who likes Virginia Woolf, but man, this was NOT my cup of tea.
I understand that the "stream of consciousness" writing style is deliberate, and at its best it does capture the nature of human thought very realistically, but it also makes the book excruciatingly slow and hard to get through. I'd say it eclipses the plot, except there isn't much of a plot to speak of, just the particularly unexciting daily chores of the main character and supporting cast.
I can see the appeal; there is a lot of insight into society and human nature on display, many thought-provoking quotes or striking sections, and even a genuinely great, devastating POV (that of Septimus, a WW1 veteran with depression and PTSD), but it never adds up to more than the sum of its parts to me. It never even really concludes, just stops.
Recommended if you like depressing repressed homoeroticism and wondering if your thoughts would also sound this self-centered and vapid to others if they were broadcasted 24/7.

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songbirdsue's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.5

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asienerbrown's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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