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First reaction when I started reading this book: "This is a bit over-written, isn't it". Second reaction: I think it might just be that I have read so much literary fiction (probably inspired by this type of book, whose style was probably fresh in the late 90s, when it was published) that features this same writing-style that I just can't be moved by it anymore. Third reaction: You know what this reminds me of, those writing exercises where you are asked to imitate the writing style of some better author so you can get a feel for how it's done and what works best for you.
It's weird to have these many neutral veering to negative reactions when you start reading a book and yet get to the other side loving it. How I feel about books seems to be more than a sum of my individual reactions throughout the reading experience. This was lovely really and I think it helped that I decided to just sit down and finish it in a few hours, definitely not the type of book you want to read in bits and pieces. A bit like most of Woolf's books herself, immersing yourself in the writing and in the story is the best way to feel it.
This might be a by-product of my tendency to focus on the language itself, or to be swept in the story without questioning the author all that much, but I might be the most unobservant reader ever. When the last chapter came around and I figured out the relationship between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Dalloway, I was so shocked.
All in all, I lovely reading experience. Side not, but thank you to Michael Cunningham for being living proof that it is indeed possible to write multiple fleshed-out, realistic female characters even as a man. Makes me feel better to tearing down those authors that seem incapable or, better, unwilling to do so (because they won't pick up a book written by a woman).
It's weird to have these many neutral veering to negative reactions when you start reading a book and yet get to the other side loving it. How I feel about books seems to be more than a sum of my individual reactions throughout the reading experience. This was lovely really and I think it helped that I decided to just sit down and finish it in a few hours, definitely not the type of book you want to read in bits and pieces. A bit like most of Woolf's books herself, immersing yourself in the writing and in the story is the best way to feel it.
This might be a by-product of my tendency to focus on the language itself, or to be swept in the story without questioning the author all that much, but I might be the most unobservant reader ever. When the last chapter came around and I figured out the relationship between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Dalloway, I was so shocked.
All in all, I lovely reading experience. Side not, but thank you to Michael Cunningham for being living proof that it is indeed possible to write multiple fleshed-out, realistic female characters even as a man. Makes me feel better to tearing down those authors that seem incapable or, better, unwilling to do so (because they won't pick up a book written by a woman).