Lili's Blog :)

Right from the start, we are introduced to the mind of Clarissa Dalloway. From the surface she seems like your typical middle aged white lady, she's settled down, she has a husband and daughter, and she's living comfortably. However, as we move through the book we begin to dive deeper into her mind. We learn she has caught influenza and is suffering the affects after. She's isolated from her husband and is required to rest. Later we are able to see that this is why she was so happy to be put in charge of the party and why it was so exciting for her to go out and get the flowers. Even though she is excited about the party, we constantly see her reminiscing on the past specifically to when she was 18. She begins to think about the past so much that it consumes her present life. She even begins to analyze her relationship with Richard. She seems lost and hung up on the past, her life was more exciting when she was 18, she was free.  So is it that Clarissa is unhappy now, or is...

The Mezzanine is a confusing book in many ways. For starters the plot (if you can even call it that) consists of a guy going up the escalator at work. However, the author adds a twist to it by going into extreme detail and including all of the main characters thoughts and flashbacks along the way. The book may seem over simplified but it in facts holds a deeper meaning for a lot of us. As we read further into the book, we (at least somewhat) stopped seeing the words on the page as an annoying burden but we began to relate to them a little bit. Not only that but they pushed us out of our comfort zones, and I think thats what this book was written to do. We saw a part of ourselves in Howie as we read his racing thoughts on the page. Some were thoughts that we have on a day to day basis without even realizing it.  Part of the reason the book makes us the most uncomfortable is when we get to see Howie's thoughts in the bathroom scenes. Fir starters, we're not used to seeing scenes...