Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

6 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

I’m glad I gave this book a second chance! While it is often difficult keeping track of whose head we’re in, I got used to the style/flow after a while. It helped me to note down in the margin who was thinking or speaking. It’s difficulty, I think, is part of its charm. It kept me on my toes, revealing just enough to keep me guessing, but in a good way. Most of the characters felt very distinct from each other, but some of the one-line characters didn’t stick out to me...but then again, they weren’t supposed to. There is so much contained within the 24 hours over which the book takes place that it would be impossible to become familiar with every single person in much the same way it would be for you or me in my day-to-day life.

Why I’m giving it a 3 out of 5 comes down to the fact that this worth a read if you have the time and brain power to dedicate to following along with it. And there are no chapter breaks. And there are a lot of trigger warnings to be wary of!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, War, Abandonment, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

lrl06's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

So beautifully human. There are glimpses of everyone that you delve into at some point where you fully understand them. Clarissa with her perfectionism and love for life as well as Richard and Peter with their shyness that prevents them for showing their love. My main fascination was with Septimus' and Lucrezia's relationship and Rezia's thoughts on love.

Scenes and thoughts I found particularly interesting include Peter seeing Clarissa after coming back from India, Richard buying flowers, Rezia making a hat and the end where Peter and Sally conversate. It's a read that it quite difficult to get into but as you continue, it becomes something that you don't really need to fully understand and that just to appreciate is good enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Medical trauma and War

tamara_joy's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Woolf's writing is very poetic. The book is like one long uninterrupted shot in a movie, that follows one person after another, switching as their paths intersect. The writing swirls around, surrounding and lifting each character before spooling off in another direction.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Suicide, and Colonisation

Minor: Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

grereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

I absolutely loved the book. The -0.5 stars is just because it was sometimes difficult to keep up with the narration, since it was my first time reading something written in stream of consciousness. I loved how the narration is presented through the thoughts of the different characters and how there are many different points of view. I also liked how the characters' personalities can be understood both through their own analysis of themselves and through what the other characters think of them. Septimus and Peter were characters that particularly impressed me. The passage about Sir. William Bradshaw and his love of proportion/conversion is one of the greatest pieces of writing I've ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Colonisation, War, and Forced institutionalization

kers_tin's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Racism, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, War, Classism, Ableism, Colonisation, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gun violence and Grief

librarymouse's review against another edition

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

3.5

I am interested in reading this book over and over again in the hopes that some day I'll understand every facet of it.
This is not my favorite book, but I am very interested in studying it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Suicide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Mental illness, Sexism, and Medical content