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What can I say - Woolf is one of my favourite authors and I was blown away by this novel the first time I read it. I find myself going back to it again and again. Her beautiful way with words coupled with her unrivalled ability to explore the deepest recesses of the human mind make for a dense but ultimately rewarding read. The most common thing I hear about Woolf's work, and especially this novel in particular, is that it doesn't have any real plot. To me that's missing the point of what she was trying to achieve and overlooks the essence of what makes this novel so great. No, there is no real plot but Woolf was a keen and brilliant observer of human nature and her talents lie foremost in translating human experience onto the page in the purest and most lucid way possible. There's no plot because our minds don't work in a linear sequence of beginning-middle-end. My advice to any would-be readers of Mrs Dalloway is don't try to understand everything in this novel, just go with the flow of the narrative and enjoy it for what it is, which is writing at its absolute best.
saff posted this review Saturday, October 20 2007.
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