Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf #1

I wanted to do a before and after post with this book because I've just started reading it, and I can't say I like it a whole lot. I just wanted to do this to see if maybe my opinion changes about it. I'm not very far in, although I do hope to finish it this weekend, but I'm having trouble getting through it. The way it's written is not a style that I'm used to, or a style I've read before, so needless to say it's taking some time to read it. This far I can't really establish much about the novel, but after our first lecture in class I've learned a few things. First of all, the whole book takes place in a day. It revolves around 19 year old Mrs. Dalloway planning a party, and it's mostly written in third person point of view. Since it takes place in London, Big Ben is always chiming away in the background symbolizing the passing of time. Not just literally, but figuratively as well. It represents Mrs. Dalloway aging and coming to terms with some things. And although the novel is written about one day, it really reveals a lifetime. We learn that Mrs. Dalloway's parents have passed away, and she pays great attention to detail.
The one thing I do like about the writing style so far is that it lets the reader see into the minds of other characters, not just focusing on Mrs. Dalloway. There are many characters that come in and out of the frame and it makes it more interesting because we get to see how everyone is connected. When everyone is in the park watching the airplane make shapes out of smoke, Woolf looks into the mind of an insane man sitting on a park bench. It's interesting to see how his mind works in different ways than the other characters. At the same time, his wife is doing all she can to hide the fact that her husband is insane because she doesn't want anyone to know. Seeing into her mind shows the reader that even though the man she loves is insane, she sticks by him and tries to conceal it from everyone.
After the lecture I am kind of excited to get through the rest of the novel just to see if my opinion changes. Right now I'm not really enjoying it, but the themes sound pretty good and I'm interested to see what other literary devices Woolf has used in her novel.
Also, I learned a lot about Virginia Woolf in terms of her life. Before today I didn't know that she committed suicied, or that she was slowly going insane. There was death all around her, and she tried her best to perservere, but in the end she knew she was going to a dark place so she decided to end her life. She didn't know if she would ever exit her sorrow, so why even try I suppose. Nip it in the bud, right?