Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Rating: 2.5

What it's about:
Heralded as Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, this is a vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life. When we meet her, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is something much more than a perfect society hostess. As she readies her house, she is flooded with remembrances of faraway times. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices that brought her there, hesitantly looking ahead to the unfamiliar work of growing old. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Mrs. Dalloway chronicles a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway. The novel itself reveals the thoughts and ruminations of Clarissa and her friends. I found the book to be dull and lifeless. None of the characters were interesting with the exception of Sally Seton who is a very minor character. They seemed shallow and boring. The only thing that was at least mildly appealing was the language itself. At times the sentences ran on and were tedious but some of the time the language was very enjoyable. I do like the first sentence. It really draws the reader in. "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." Mostly I was relieved to be finished with Mrs. Dalloway!

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:
In one of the most entertaining and brilliant essays ever written on the importance of freedom for women, Woolf brings her literary imagination and defiant wit to bear on the relationship between gender, money, and the creation of works of genius. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
I can concede that the theme of this essay is noble...but...the content is a bit boring and dry. I will say that Virginia Woolf had some poetic ideas! There are two main ideas that I particularly liked in this essay. The first being Shakespeare's Sister.

Woolf points out that if Shakespeare would have had a sister who was born with the same genius that is Shakespeare, she would not have been remembered because her artistry would have been allowed no outlet.....because she was a female.

The other point I took away from this essay ties in with Shakespeare's Sister. Women need "a room of one's own" and freedom from the worry of everyday living in order to write fiction. Woolf illustrates how these needs were not met throughout history for women. That is why there is no Shakespeare's Sister.

This essay is not the most exciting book I've read lately. But taken for what it is, Virginia Woolf does make her point heard.