Read-along – Mrs Dalloway (1 of 1)
Wednesday 18 June
Dear Dallowdayers,
On Wednesday this week some of us read Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway in real-time, from just before 10am until just after 10pm.
It was a wonderful day! I followed the footsteps of the characters around London, reporting live from the various locations and we had a great discussion. It felt like the perfect way to mark the novel’s 100th anniversary!
For interest, I’ve put the videos below – with links to our conversations after each one.
9.55 – Barton Street – What a lark! What a plunge! Mrs Dalloway says she will buy the flowers herself. (Chat)
10am – Victoria Street – She pauses on the kerb as Big Ben strikes the hour. (Chat)
10.05 – St James’s Park – She remembers Bourton and bumps into Hugh Whitbread. (Chat)
10.15 – Hatchards, Piccadilly – She reads ‘Fear no more the heat o’ the sun’ in the bookshop window. (Chat)
10.25 – Mulberry’s, Bond Street – A car backfires as she buys flowers. (Chat)
10.55 – Buckingham Palace – The car drives to the palace, while the crowd watches an aeroplane. (Chat)
11.15 – Barton Street – Clarissa returns home; she has not been invited to lunch; her old friend Peter Walsh visits. (Chat)
11.40 – Regent’s Park – Peter Walsh walks to the park; Septimus and Rezia Smith wait for an appointment. (Chat)
11.45 – Regent’s Park Tube Station – an old woman sings. (Chat)
12pm – 26 Devonshire Place – Septimus and Rezia attend their appointment with Sir William Bradshaw on Harley Street. (Chat)
1.30 – Oxford Street to Brook Street – Hugh Whitbread and Richard Dalloway arrive for lunch with Lady Bruton. (Chat)
2.30 – Conduit Street x Bond Street – Hugh and Richard part and Richard buys flowers for Clarissa. (Chat)
3pm – Barton Street – Richard returns home to Clarissa; Miss Kilman and Elizabeth leave. (Chat)
3.45 – The Army and Navy Stores, Victoria Street – Miss Kilman and Elizabeth have tea and separate. (Chat)
4pm – The Omnibus – Elizabeth catches a bus towards the City. (Chat)
4.30 – The Temple – Elizabeth explores Fleet Street. (Chat)
5.55 – A boarding house, Bloomsbury – Septimus and Rezia await Sir William Bradshaw’s men. (Chat)
6.15 – The Tavistock Hotel – Peter Walsh returns to his hotel for dinner. (Chat)
7pm – Bloomsbury – Peter Walsh walks to Clarissa’s party. (Chat)
8pm – The Party – Old friends are brought together by Clarissa. (Chat)
10pm – The party continues – Clarissa hears of Septimus’s death and decides to embrace life. (Chat)
Here’s what people said:
‘What a lark, what a plunge . . . such a gorgeous day.’
‘This was such a treat.’
‘I’ve had the book on my shelf for probably 30 years and had never read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and may just do this every year on a Wednesday in June.’
‘What a wonderful experience this has been.’
‘I’ve loved it so much.’
‘This was the perfect way to present this book.’
‘Finally read a novel that’s been on my list since grad school (many, many years ago).’
‘A great experience.’
‘A smashing success!’ Steve Horan
‘Such a day! So glad I decided to take the day and devote it to this adventure.’ Kathleen
‘This should become an annual event, a pilgrimage.’
‘A fantastic idea, brilliantly executed.’
‘Mr Eliot said he would walk the route himself. And he has.’
Here are links to our previous Mrs Dalloway posts:
The Schedule (21 May)
Virginia Woolf (28 May)
Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown (13 June)
It’s been a real pleasure reading Mrs Dalloway with you!
Please do join me for another classic read-along. Next month we’ll be reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe over four weeks.
It was a great day, and I'm sure we all appreciate your work, Henry - not the most comfortable day for crossing London!
I am to 'Mrs Dalloway' through a circuitous route: I heard the opera based on 'The Hours' which led me to watching the film on iPlayer, so when the opportunity to have a guided read of the novel came up, count me in!
The book seems much darker to me than the film - although the Septimus and Rezia story is intact, the film didn't seem to have Clarissa's reflections on death and suicide (or I don't remember them). Vanessa Redgrave's Clarissa is, for me, more likeable than the one on the page.
My initial view was that Clarissa was a snob - but, having had time to think about, I would now describe her as shallow. Snobbery might be part of that, but it feels like a symptom rather than the underlying issue. Her reaction to Septimus's death - it's ruined my party - is pretty much the most selfish possible, even if she then considers him in more detail.
What did surprise me was all of the thoughts about death and suicide. It's hard not to make the links between Clarissa and Woolf herself - and to try to understand how troubled she must have been (something the opera did well), and the impact on those around her.
The only difficulty with reading it in a day was I think I may have missed some of the detail, so this will go on my re-read list. When Clarissa is working the room, Woolf seems to be poking fun at her but also to have a measure of admiration for her skills (quite right too: networking is a real skill) and I think a reread will bring out that complexity. And there may be so much more.
I often cut through Tavistock and Russell Square on my way to/from St Pancras, and I think I'll now see them in a different light. Thanks again, Henry.
I wasn’t expecting you to walk the route but that only highlighted how many places are visited in the course of the day! I enjoyed seeing the streets and places in question.