I posted my list of 20 book picks for The Classics Spin a week ago, and today The Classics Club announced the winning number: 14! Number 14 on my list is Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, one of the books I am most intimidated by and also the most curious about.
I read Woolf’s To the Lighthouse for my high school AP English class and really struggled with it. It seems that most people either love Woolf’s work or don’t “get” it. I’ve been really curious lately as to which camp I would fall into should I try reading her again. Now that I’ve aged five years since last reading her and my reading tastes have developed quite a lot, will I enjoy Woolf’s writing, or will I still be frustrated by a lack of understanding of what’s going on? I’m both nervous and excited to find out.
The challenge asks for participants to read their chosen book by April 1, and that will be my goal.
What book will you read for The Classics Spin?
You’re in for a treat!
I’m in absolute love with Virginia Woolf; it’s ever so slightly obsessive.
I think her essays are wonderful. While I love her fiction, her essays are just so fun to read, they make sense. She almost feeds you the information and ideas, so when she gets to the main point of he argument, it’s like she’s taking the words out your mouth.
Anyone who wants to be able to write a good essay should read Woolf’s essays (I would recommend ‘A Room of One’s Own’) for inspiration/help.
You make her essays sound great, and perhaps a bit more accessible than her novels (?). A Room of One’s Own is on my list to read!
Much more accessible, but also incomparable. You would be excused for thinking they were written by different people!
I hope you enjoy this one Leah
My #14 is Dangerous Liaisons
Thanks, I hope so too! Good luck with yours
I LOVE this book Leah. I read it in tandem with The Hours back when that book came out and feel instantly in love with both. I’m not doing a Classic Spin, but I’m looking forward to hearing what you think.
That’s so encouraging! I’ll have to watch The Hours when I finish
Have only just signed on for the classics club – posting my list of 50 tomorrow so missed out on the spin. Hope you enjoy your read.
I suspect you’ll like this one. Your taste in books is awfully similar to my own (as you’ve probably noticed), and you seem to appreciate similar things in books. I think the trick is don’t try too hard to get Woolf, but just let yourself get swept up in it – you can figure it all out afterwards. I think you’ll like this. I hope you will.
Thanks for the advice! It seems like her writing may require a similar approach to reading poetry — don’t focus too much on what it means, just get lost in how it makes you feel? I’m not very good at reading like this, but I’m going to try, damnit!
Yeah, actually now you put it that way, yes. At least on the first reading. I think Woolf is someone you can re-read afterwards to try and see what she means, but yes I think your proposed approach is a good one.
I struggled with To The Lighthouse but loved Mrs. Dalloway. If you like it, then you have to watch The Hours. I love it when movies and books connect like that!
Good to know! I will definitely hunt down a copy of The Hours when I finish
I just finished this one recently and I fell somewhere in the middle. I think I look back on it more fondly than I felt when I was reading it, but it was a roller coaster of emotions for me!
I remember reading your post, and I might try your approach of reading the introduction after the story instead of before. It might be a nice way to kind of tie everything together. It’s a mark of a good book that it took you on an emotional roller coaster, though, right? Isn’t good writing supposed to make you feel all the feelings?
I suppose. But my feelings were more in regard to the writing itself than the storyline, so I’m not sure! I did feel better after reading the “introduction” at the end, though!
I read it for a Women in Lit class in college and was not a fan, but I was forced to read it. So you might end up enjoying it more!
At least it’s short, right? I’m really hoping it will surprise me and make me love it!
You never know! Good luck with it!