Rating: 
Summary: Tough, but worth the effort
Review: It's not really fair to judge this book or its author by today's standards, but damn, this is a hard read. I'd read it about 20 years ago and recall struggling with the endless sentences and the rambling explorations of Mrs. Dalloway's interior thoughts, her every little fleeting idea, and the tiny events of the day in her life which this book chronicles.
Then of course when The Hours was published, I rummaged around in the bookshelf, found it, and read it again.
And then the movie came out with that wonderful cast of characters, and, well, I had to read it a third time. And I'll say this: it takes more than a single reading to harvest all the gems from this dense prose. Mrs. Dalloway grew on me with the passage of time and with three careful readings. The studied explorations into past and present, men and women, women and other women, society and the family, love and regret...it's a lot to take on in what is really a pretty small book - and only someone of Woolf's talents and brilliance could have made so much of so little.
Highly recommended, but I'm sorry - you'll probably have to read it more than once to extract every single little diamond chip.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, but tough read!
Review: Well, I decided to read Mrs. Dalloway because of "The Hours". I didn't expect this book to be such a difficult read and contemplated stopping many times. However, i pressed on and am glad i did.
Virginia Woolf writes about several different characters; all on the same day which leads to Clarissa Dalloway's party that evening. What made this such a hard read for me was that Woolf would jump from one character to another and I wouldn't know who she was speaking of.
This story talks of the customs of these character who live in England, and also has some flashbacks into their past. There was one total shock in this book, which was when Woolf wrote of Clarissa and her friend Sally share a pretty passionate kiss.
Although it was a difficult read, Woolf was right on track, and some of her themes in this book hold true in today's society!
Rating:
Summary: The real world!
Review: I feel i must give great credit to Woolf for her work on Mrs Dalloway, although it may be dull as there is no real excitement at any part of the novel however, she really does deal with real people in the real world...reality! Her characters reveal how the world really is for so many..we have so many thoughts but are unable to fully communicate it all. It reminded me very much of Catcher in the Rye as you realise so many people in this world are 'fake'. I think anyone who hasn't been able to appreciate her work at all should really wake up!
Rating:
Summary: Poetic lyricism in Virginia Woolf
Review: Any young aspiring writer should compare Woolf's early work, such as Night and Day to something like Mrs. Dalloway. The transformation in narrative strength is incredible. I think Woolf found her voice when she gave up on traditional technique and focused on vivid imagery, poetic language, and really getting into the souuls of her characters.Her views on love in this boook are heartbreaking. Love serves as mere convenience, romance is just an illusion. 9 times out of 10 people choose safety. Pretty cynical viewpoint, but she lived during the days of a crumbling Empire and wrote about it beautifully. She really achieved her greatest literary power later on in life. Also, this book studies insanity and the doctors who are impotent to help. I'm sure woolf would have the same view in today's heavily medicated society. This book is not for the faint of heart. She does not hide characters emotions, but tends to dwelon their weaknesses. The final party scene is brilliant. If you like this book, read To The Lighthouse, which is equally brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: A Simple Truth
Review: Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" is perhaps my favorite novel. As simple as it is intricate, she provides a seemingly endless number of new insights and observations that I discover with each reading. Her ability to create the voice inside of a situation is clean, being touching and moving without being sentimental.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a classic
Review: Mrs. Dalloway doesn't make sense. It's not written in sequential order and her characters are all over the place. I found this book extremely boring and pointless. Why is this considered a classic? I gave up 3x but decided to finish. I don't think I will read another Virigina Woolf again.
Rating:
Summary: mrs dalloway
Review: Mrs Dalloway is a book well written, it gives a very good example of real life. How people act, what kind of character they have.But my opinion is that it is a bit boring, there's no excitement.
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Summary: if it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy
Review: like many people i got to this book after seeing and later on reading "the hours". i was pretty indimedated at first, knowing that this is almost a mythologicly difficult book to read, but i have to say that once opening this book, i could barely put it down, it draws you in from the first second and stays with you trough, as it leads you through a soul search and revelation. this is a story of several charecter throughout one day, which tend to be a day in which all either have importent disocveries or life changes events. it talks about a lot of big issues, such as the world war, classes in england, madness, womanhood and masculinty and how we iteract with those turms, the obligation to oneself Vs. the obligation to societly, old age and growing up and so on. it's amazing to see how all dilemas those are delt with without loosing the tread of the story and the events of the day. personaly, the most interesting parts for me were the one duelt with spesimus, a young PTSD soldier who's gettingmore and more ill as the day advance, verginia woolf's own experience with deppression and madness deffenetly shows in this book, it made me realate to the book very emotionaly from that angle. stream of consciusness type of writing's offen very confusing and demanding, and while in other books i couln't quite relate to it, in this book, i think i finelly got the idea behind it. it's a very deep book, one of the greatest books of modern times for sure.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult and Dull
Review: I suppose there are two types of people in this world: those who appreciate VW's work and those who feel her words were best left within her own mind. I fall into the second category. I bought and read this book as a precursor to "The Hours." While I would highly recommend reading this book before "The Hours" I will also admit that I found it difficult to get through and dull as old rain water. I think what bothered me the most was the stream of consciousness writing. It's hard to really follow where VW was taking this story, and well, exactly WHY. Also, there are no chapters, and I personally find that a more difficult read. On top of these things, VW switches from one character's perception to another, leaving the reader wondering just who is doing what and necessitating a re-read to figure out just what happened to the character one was reading about and who this new character is. The weird thing to me was, it seemed as though one could almost feel/read the disorganization and distortion that was perhaps VW's mental illness. I know there are many books which have been deemed "classic" by some literary force but which people in modern day can't figure out exactly why. This is one of those books. It's reputation does not live up to its actuality. If you plan on reading "The Hours" this book should precede it. Otherwise, find something more engaging.
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Summary: Do yourself a favor . . . read this book + The Hours:
Review: I'd tried Virginia Woolf several times, but bogged down (I'm not alone in this, I suspect). Then the film, "The Hours", moved me to try again . . . I have just finished reading (in this order) Mrs. Dalloway and Michael Cunningham's "The Hours." DO YOURSELF THIS FAVOR! You'll become acutely aware of the skilful interweaving of themes . . . Clarissa and the other characters take on deeper facets . . . details that may have tired you, or slipped by, in Woolf will take on new shape and meaning. And above all, the language . . . I'm not going to go into plot, characterization, symbolism, etc. -- When you're dealing with a classic, such things are readily available, and I'm not a scholar of English literature. Suffice to say, I have come from this reading experience feeling refreshed and renewed -- and enormously impressed. A great way to enter a hectic season. (Why not give the two books as a gift?)
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