To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf
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Book Reviews of To the Lighthouse
Book Review: Capturing the elusive nature of thought......
Summary: 5 Stars
To the Lighthouse is a dazzling work of art that illustrates with great clarity the dynamic nature of human thought and perception. "How can an artist do that?", one might reasonably ask. Well,if that artist is Virginia Woolf, the answer is, "With unmistakeable genius". While Woolf's influence is seen everywhere in works of literature that would follow, one must keep in mind that the literary technique employed for most of the novel, stream of consciousness, was still very radical and experimental at the time it was written. Woolf's portrait of the thoughts that pass through the minds of family members and their houseguests at the seaside and her harnessing and transformation of the essence of time and into words is nothing short of awe-inspiring. That she also manages to tell a story and develop rich characters that the reader cares about while painting these portraits of thought and time is utterly amazing. Then, there are her words which connect it all; beautiful words that flow like the sea and color like a paintbrush. It is no accident that one of the main characters, Lily, is a painter, who with her strokes of the brush intermingling with her thoughts, tells this story. Although considered a modernist, as was James Joyce (who also employed stream of consciousness in his works), I found this novel more accessible than Ulysses. It was as if Woolf wanted to create a work that would touch as many people as possible, while Joyce had developed a private code that only a select few could crack. While (trying) to read Ulysses I felt intimidated, left behind; while immersed in To the Lighthouse, I felt invited and included. For a taste of modernist literature at it's most inviting and poetic, I recommend To the Lighthouse!
Book Review: The Essence of Things
Summary: 5 Stars
To the Lighthouse, published in 1927, is a landmark Modernist novel.
Written from multiple perspectives and shifting between time and characters, Woolf is not really concerned with plot. Instead, she paints a psychological portrait of the members of the Ramsay family and their friends, at their summerhouse in the Hebrides. To the Lighthouse is divided into three parts.
In the first section, (The Window), the character of Mrs. Ramsay is the lens through which most of the perspectives are focused, and her son's (James) desire to go "to the Lighthouse" is the catalyst from which the chapter takes shape.
In the next section, (Time Passes), told by an omniscient narrator, Woolf dramatises the decay of the summer house over a period of ten years, and the fate of various characters is divulged. This section has some powerful visual images that expound Woolf's skill as a writer.
In the third and final section, (The Lighthouse), the remaining family and friends finally get to the Lighthouse, and the novel becomes a meditation on love, loss, time and creativity.
To the Lighthouse is a difficult read. But if you can understand the nature of the stream-of-consciousness technique and Woolf's goal of representing the essence of experience, then you will be able to glean a better understanding of the narrative. To the Lighthouse creates internal landscapes, and the main technique is invoking memory and various associations on the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
This book will take time and patience. But if you keep working at it and savour ever word, then you will be in for a rewarding literary experience.
Book Review: A unique novel that is worth reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Much has been made of the "stream-of-consciousness" style of Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Woolf did seek to catch the flow between a character's inner monolog and verbalized utterings. Since the first of the three parts of the novel all occurs in one evening, this serves to stretch time and really examine the events of that evening in miniscule detail. The novel has no real plot--it examines an event that did not occur and then finally did occur (the trip to the lighthouse) as symbolism for the life, death and hopes of the main characters: Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey, James, their son, and Lily Briscoe, an artist visiting them on their summer house on the Isle of Skye. Mrs. Ramsey is a Junonian figure, motherly, nurturing and a contrast to her rigid, somewhat cruel, and totally intellectual husband, a philosopher. Mrs. Ramsey represents Nature (frequently, flower-like terms are used to describer her.) Like a flower, Mrs. Ramsey blooms, is fruitful with eight children and then fades away. Mrs. Ramsey's death is shocking, more so because it, like the other deaths, occurs only in brief aside remarks. The flow of life continues unabated by these interruptions. Only Lily Briscoe must stop, now and then, to mourn Mrs. Ramsey even as she congratulates herself on narrowly escaping the life of a married woman, a life that Mrs. Ramsey (who believed all women MUST be married, again, a Juno-like trait) tried to arrange for her.
If you read To the Lighthouse for the language rhythms and for the fantastic flow between character point-of-view, you will be blow away. If you need a novel with defined plot, this is not for you. The brilliance of To The Lighthouse is in its haunting symbolism.
Book Review: What a Beautiful Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a senior in high school, and when I picked up To the Lighthouse for my summer reading this summer, I had no idea how much it would inspire me and change my perspective on life and writing. The book is not concerned with plot, but more with symbolism and human emotions and truths about life and the role of women in 20th century English society. For someone who had never encountered Modernist writing style, I found Woolf's stream of consciousness wrting style extremely refreshing. It switches between characters' thoughts and the story so fluently that although it is occasionally confusing, overall, it makes the book more of a cohesive whole.
Of course, I can't deny that I used Sparknotes to fully understand the book. But that was because I had to comment on symbolism in my reading log, and some of Woolf's symbolism is hard to understand. However, you don't need to use Sparknotes to understand this book. I understood everything without them but still used them because I love this book so much that I wanted to know everything about it! (And I have never felt that way about summer reading before.)
This book was really fascinating and was an interesting insight into the social heirarchy of the 20th century and the roles of women in that society. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Lily Briscoe and Mrs. Ramsay, and I think that their struggles are those that any woman can relate to. Overall, I would say that To the Lighthouse is a masterpiece and is a must-read for any woman, especially women writers. I know that it has changed my perspective on being a woman writer and has inspired me to consider pursuing writing as a career.
Book Review: Richly Imagined Life of the Mind
Summary: 5 Stars
"Lighthouse" is a unique novel which established Virginia Woolf's reputation as a great writer. The story focuses on 2 days in the life of a large middle class family, with a middle interlude where the family's house is the major character. The setting is the family's summer home, filled with house guests. The action, however, is all internal, the chronology hazy and the events--to the extent anything really "happens" at all--rather mundane. This all made for tough going until it "clicked" around p. 50. What Woolf does is create in real time not "real" events but what is going on within--that constant stream of thoughts and emotions that remains hidden from the world. Woolf spends a long time on a simple scene of Mrs. Ramsay reading a story to her 6 year old son. In the space of a few short minutes as she reads aloud Mrs. Ramsay considers whether an engagement she has been encouraging between two of her guests will occur, feels trapped between her son's desire to go to the lighthouse and her husband's cruel squelching of the idea, worries about the bill to repair the greenhouse, and underlying all senses impending doom just beyond the horizon. Another example is Woolf's description of the interior struggle of Lily as she paints in a style that happens not to be in fashion at the time. But Woolf shows us what Lily sees in her mind--a line here, a shadow there, a form.
Virginia Woolf has a reputation of being "hard to read" and I was unsuccessful in trying to persuade my book club to try "Lighthouse." But I'm glad I plowed ahead on my own--it's a rich and complex work, and totally unlike anything I've ever read. Try it!