Puss Reboots: Blog: July 2010: Mrs. Dalloway

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It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
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Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Oscar and the Cricket by Geoff Waring
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Stage Fright on a Summer Night (Magic Tree House #25) by Mary Pope Osborne
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Mrs. Dalloway: 07/16/10

cover art

I came to reading Mrs. Dalloway in a back to front fashion. First I read The Hours by Michael Cunningham and saw the film. Then I went back and read the source material for the Women Unbound Challenge.

What I hadn't expected was just how much The Hours for all it's time travel and artistic license mimics and parallels the original novel. If Mrs. Dalloway were an orange, The Hours would be fruit opened up and taken apart.

Clarissa Dalloway is planning a party. The plans bring to light the lives and troubles of the people in her life: an ex lover, her daughter, a teacher and a war vet who is suffering from shell shock. Coming to the book via an adaptation, I could see the themes unfolding before I would have otherwise.

I think that the experience of having read and loved The Hours and having seen the film helped my understanding and appreciation of Virginia Woolf's novel. By itself I might have found it a ponderous and oddly paced novel.

Comments (4)

Comment #1: Saturday, July, 17, 2010 at 11:58:10

Chelle

I read the book twice before I saw the movie. I'm not sure I would have appreciated the movie as much without knowing the novel. But I loved Streep as Clarissa. I think she nailed it. She made Clarissa come alive for me in more than just a literal sense.

Comment #2: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 19:09:15

I read The Hours and then saw the film. Then I read Mrs. Dalloway. I have the film version of Mrs. Dalloway on my Netflix queue to watch soon.

I liked Streep as Clarissa too.

Comment #3: Sunday, July, 25, 2010 at 00:18:01

Leah

Interesting to see it through the prism of The Hours. I read it before I saw the movie and I was not so impressed with the movie.

I do think that the novel is an oddity by itself and can be hard to get through because you have to focus on who is the object of attention at each moment.

If you would like to check out my review of Mrs. Dalloway, here is the link.

Comment #4: Monday, July 26, 2010 at 15:56:01

I don't think I would have been as quick to read Mrs. Dalloway had I not read The Hours first.

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