MJ's Challenge ~ The Voyage Out

[MaryJanet]

What did you think of Mrs Dalloways pontifications on England? I found that outdated & terribly cringeworthy but I've never like rampant patriotism. Extremism of any sort sends alarm bells off in me.

I think she's an accomplished socialite, by which I mean she knows how to talk to anyone but doesn't always show her true self. She's also a great friend of her husband's and he is her friend, and this contrasts with Helen and Ambrose who are at best ambivalent/ingratiating towards each other.

Does it say marriages should be made with great care or not at all? I'm not sure, but I do know VW was against marriage for most of her early adulthood and only came around to it after she met Leonard with whom she had a deep rapport and frank honesty.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I read 3 on Friday night but I need to refresh I think. I remember finding Mrs Dalloway funny. And I don't think there's anything remotely normal about her ~ though I think Woolfe was trying to present her as the most normal of a bunch of eccentrics. I find her the most abnormal ~ which probably says more about me than her.

I am finding it difficult to pace myself so everyone is included. Should we nominate a day to discuss the present chpt under review for each week?

I'll have to go over Chap 3 again. I'm finding that it takes time to sink in and I pick up more on a rereading. Especially after hearing everyone else's points.

 

[MaryJanet]

I'll have to go over Chap 3 again. I'm finding that it takes time to sink in and I pick up more on a rereading. Especially after hearing everyone else's points.

Me too!

 

[Scrambles83]

May I join?
Haven’t read any yet and I won’t be half as articulate as you guys talking about it but I love reading any genre...

 

[Ribh]

May I join?
Haven’t read any yet and I won’t be half as articulate as you guys talking about it but I love reading any genre...

Please do. We haven't got very far ~ only up to chpt 3 ~ so you haven't much to catch up on. You can read on line ~ I've posted the link somewhere. Hang on & I'll find it again.

 

[Ribh]

Here you go @Scrambles83:

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/virginia-woolf/the-voyage-out/text/chapter-1

 

[Scrambles83]

Thank you!
Got it on iBooks for free but thanks for the link

 

[MaryJanet]

Truth is important to you.

I find this brings to the surface our own priorities & world views. I dislike pomposity so all the men are annoying me no end! I also dislike the silly social conversations ~ ie flowers in the sea~ so am irritated by nearly all the characters @ least some of the time.

Truth is important to me, I like to hear it and speak it.

But in thinking about the ways in which untruthfulness is manifested by VW in the women in this novel, well, I think she's making a point about the impossibility of women living a truthful life under the prevailing social conditions.

I hope we can all say truthfulness is easier for us than for eg, our great grandmothers. Even my mother was not true to herself. One grandmother was true to herself, but her husband died before I was born, so I only knew her after her marriage. The other grandmother dropped lies and misrepresentations as easily as she dropped her specs.

Whereas among my friends to my best knowledge, there are only truthful marriages in which neither wives nor husbands misrepresent themselves.

Overall, maybe these observations are an indication of changing social norms.

Of course, I can only put words to the things I observe and that's dictated by my worldview. So I'm keen to know what others are seeing in the characters so far i need to expand my mind.

 

[Scrambles83]

Just read through all the comments and feel I’m in over my head already I’m more of a charging reader and not so much time spent analysing but that’s because I have no one to share thoughts with I guess. This will be good for me, someone who has no idea about this time period/writers, who spent her teenage years reading an older brothers Ben Elton novels and someone who reads a lot of fantasy now but needs to slow down and think about what an author might be meaning in what they have written.
Thanks, I’ll start soon and catch up

 

[Ribh]

Just read through all the comments and feel I’m in over my head already I’m more of a charging reader and not so much time spent analysing but that’s because I have no one to share thoughts with I guess. This will be good for me, someone who has no idea about this time period/writers, who spent her teenage years reading an older brothers Ben Elton novels and someone who reads a lot of fantasy now but needs to slow down and think about what an author might be meaning in what they have written.
Thanks, I’ll start soon and catch up

We have a lot of fantasy readers here... I think, because it's her 1st, this is one of the easiest of Woolfe's novels. So far I think everyone's coping.