Book #27: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

So, I started reading this book 9 months ago. SERIOUSLY. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to finishing it. I read the first half in a couple of days, then I set it down and promptly left it on my bedside stand for the next nine months until I decided yesterday that I had to finish it. It only took me about two hours to work through the rest of it--sad that I put it off for so long. The problem was that I really didn't love or understand it the first time I started reading it, and wasn't very interested in finishing it. But interestingly, I really liked the second half much more and was much more engaged by it this time around. I really enjoyed the stream of consciousness writing and how Woolf fluidly shifts from narrator to narrator--it seems very beautiful and it really emphasizes how interconnected everyone is. It feels like a movie where the camera follows one person closely for a few minutes, where you see everything they think and see and do, and then the camera spins off with someone passing by and follows them instead. The shifting narrators and the different perspectives change so easily that sometimes you don't even notice it's changed until a few paragraphs later. I think this is a book you need to read with the expectation that it'll be smooth and calm and not being interested in "what happens" or the plot--just take it slow and enjoy the ride. I thought the best part was Woolf's commentary on mental illness (through the character of Septimus Warren Smith, suffering with PTSD after WWI) and doctors and society's views on mental illness. (It seems very forward-thinking of Woolf to be so cognizant of this issue considering that this book was first published in 1925. Of course, she had her own mental illness issues, which is probably why.) I could feel Woolf's anger and frustration with the system and Smith's desperation as he feels cornered and throws himself out the window. I also liked the consciousness of time and how time passes slowly through the book, and you hear Big Ben clanging the hour all day throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would at first, and I would definitely re-read it again (and probably like it better now that I understand more of what it's about).