To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

[Sir Bartholomew]

Virginia Woolf considered To the Lighthouse her masterpiece. This is quite easy to consider and ponder why. If we take note of her other novels To the Lighthouse hits closest to home partly because of its highly autobiographical nature. Unlike in Mrs. Dalloway where Woolf observes us earthlings with an icy coolness, in this novel we see her involvement and her strong attachments.

Basically a novel about the pains and struggle of an English family before, during and after the First World War. To the Lighthouse is part reminiscence and the attempt to put into words the real "vision" and how this particular instance strikes our consciousness.

The Ramsays is a large family of ten and as the book opens we see them - with some of their friends - spend a quiet time along the coast of Scotland . The youngest child, James, cuts away happily pictures from a shopping catalogue. He is happy because they're to visit a nearby lighthouse the next day. His mother assures him and prepares for the things to be brought. The father interrupts: the trip to the lighthouse is cancelled. A conflict arises lasting ten years before things are fairly settled. In these ten years many events will occur. The family will remain in London , the emergence of the First World War and several family members will die. The family returns thereafter and tries to amend bitterness and search for what one has lost.

But what fascinates the reader is how Virginia Woolf managed to put this simple story altogether and express them by her own means, by her own "vision". The novel is told in three parts: The Window, Time Passes & The Lighthouse. The Window is set in an afternoon, the Ramsays languidly frolicking around their country house. At the end of that day Time Passes starts setting speed by rendering a quick recap on what happened ten years after. The third part The Lighthouse we see the Ramsays back in their country house, this time in the morning after 10 years of absence. By setting two days with ten years in between readers will be perplexed as virtually nothing happens in the story. This novel is not as simple as it seems for Woolf is more concerned with the little things that we take for granted. Small details dominate perpetually in this novel.

To each his own, To the Lighthouse isn't for everybody, yet it deserves to be read and admired. What strikes me is the novel's sense of the individual, the inner self that talks its own language and its heartbreaking longing for the past.

[Nossa]

I've never gone pass the first half of the first part of this novel. I guess I'm not too fond of Woolf's way of writing, but I'll sure finish the book sometime.

[mortalterror]

I liked it, not as much as Mrs. Dalloway, but I liked it. Virginia Woolf's narrative style is excellent, although I think she worked a little harder than she had to on some tangential aspects. I had to study this book in a class, and the teacher kept going on and on about this recurring word, or that recurring image. I think that the book would have been fine without all of that.

[Walter]

I really loved the three of them. They were a totally new experience to me, reading them one after the other and in sequence.

[Sir Bartholomew]

I want to read Orlando again.

[Gladys]

Woolf portrays mercilessly the indeterminate and unfulfilled nature of the present, the here and now. Does going 'to the lighthouse' even matter? So true to life.

The novel seemed much easier to read towards the end, but mostly a struggle.

[kelby_lake]

Couldn't really get into it.

[Gladys]

Couldn't really get into it. I had reasons for persevering, but the first half was all uphill. Endless interior monologue in circles, and pronouns that sometimes referred the preceding noun.

Still, true to life.

[PabloQ]

Crap, sounds like another one I need to add to the shelf. Good report, Sir Bart.

[curlz]

I have to admit that at first sight I wasn't too fond of To the Lighthouse but two years ago I used it as part of my thesis. I did a comparative study with Ian McEwan's Atonement. In his novel McEwan makes several allusions to Virginia Woolf, so I wanted to find out what his fascination with her was about.

This way I was obliged to take a closer look at To the Lighthouse, focussing on stream-of-consciousness, use of time, intertextuality, language and structural experimentation. I have to say I really appriciated the novel more after that, probably because I had a much better understanding of its inner workings.

For me, it also helped that I could link it with a more contemporary work. So maybe this can be a tip for those who read/ are planning to read To the Lighthouse: have a look at McEwan's Atonement.

[MissScarlett]

It certainly wasn't my favorite book, but I did like it. Not as much as Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, or Orlando, though.

I thought Virginia Woolf always considered The Waves her masterpiece.

[Gladys]

...I did like it. Not as much as Mrs. Dalloway, The Waves, or Orlando, though. How was 'To the Lighthouse' inferior?

[onioneater]

Without a doubt, THE worst "classic" novel I've ever read. Even worse than "The Bostonians" by Henry James, and that's saying a lot.

[Gladys]

Without a doubt, THE worst "classic" novel I've ever read. Even worse than "The Bostonians" by Henry James, and that's saying a lot.

And I liked James's "Washington Square".

[blazeofglory]

The stream of consciousness is what reminds me of her novels. I like the story in the lighthouse and the rest.

[Paulclem]

It was the first novel I read that successfully mimicked the interior narrative through the stream of consciousness technique. I studied it in 6th form, and I think it needed to be studied for me to get as much as I did from it, as Curlz has already said. Given the keys to the book, I thought it was really good.

[Red-Headed]

Woolf can often sensitively structurally emblematise forms of the inner consciousness, & you have to admire that, but I sometimes find her hard to get into to use a popular phrasal verb. Maybe I should re-read her!

[Dark Lady]

I'm just reading To the Lighthouse.

Woolf's a weird one for me because my reason for loving her books is not the same as my usual reasons. I really love her writing style and think her lyricism is amazing, which is so different from just identifying with a character or getting hooked by the plot. It took me a while to admit that I liked her because when I read Mrs Dalloway at uni everyone went on about how awful it was. I almost agreed with them and then realised I was enjoying it!

[Janine]

We discussed this book in depth awhile back - maybe 2 or 3 yrs ago. You might be able to locate the discussion thread in the old listings. I liked the book very much; was quite interesting when we discussed it in a group.

[dfloyd]

this is mine.

[janesmith]

I've read it a few years ago and quite enjoyed it. I do prefer "Mrs Dalloway" though because it seems to make the stream of consciousness technique more bearable and I'm particularly interested in the subject of shell-shock neurosis.

[neilgee]

I have to agree with Sir Bart's positive review, although it took me two attempts to read it once I got the feel of Woolf's highly individual style I was hooked and I've read almost all of her novel's since then but Lighthouse remains one of my favourites, [nevertheless this review gave me some new ways of seeing the novel so thanx for posting this], the only one I really couldn't penetrate was The Waves. I'll have to try that one again one day.

[Gladys]

Basically a novel about the pains and struggle of an English family before, during and after the First World War. To the Lighthouse is part reminiscence and the attempt to put into words the real "vision" and how this particular instance strikes our consciousness.

Isn't Woolf's novel equally about the moment-to-moment anxiety of all human beings: where have we come from, where are we going, why are we here? For all her characters life was, is and will be less than satisfactory, less than coherent. Yet all put on a brave face, most of the time.

And once in a while, each approaches a lighthouse of clarity and revelation: approaches, not reaches.

[sheissoheavy]

Well basically what I like about this novel is the style, like any other Woolf novel. I love her use of the stream of consciousness, not as much as I love Joyce for example but still.

What bothers me is the point she is trying to make, I mean the whole idea of the novel. I disagree with the critics and all A LOT. It is like, you know, it is complicated isn't it. This novel gets me thinking: no wonder she committed suicide. You cannot live with expecting that much from life. She is an extremist and it scares me because if I went on her line I know I will eat myself to death. I know she made the book so "black and white" so it would be easier for the reader to compare but still.

I would never want to be like Lily Briscoe. I would probably prefer to be a Mrs. Ramsey. Yet I think that there is something between those two extremes as well. I don't think Lily had to sacrifice her love life to paint no. I also do not like the whole thing that William Bankes and Mr. Ramsey could not be friends because he married and he didn't. That is not true, it is not like one was breastfeeding his kids while the other was partying in Vegas. You can be friends with people who differ from you. Also I do not think that Mr. Ramsey is socially awkward.

I also think that Lily is a lesbian and I believe her attitude towards Mrs.Ramsey has little nuances that prove this. I think this makes it clearer for me to understand her yet for obvious reasons Woolf did not expose the idea as much. If she did it would be impossible to compare her to Mrs. Ramsey because her reason for not marrying would be more logical. Yet the fact that Woolf shows creativity as an option to a family is uncomfortable. Also I do not think Mrs. Ramsey failed in what she was attempting to freeze time and find the meaning of life. She has 8 children she will live forever while Lily probably will not since she will never share her art. I read that some people also find her victorious because she did not die in the novel. Death is not losing Virginia, all of us will die and hypothetically speaking so will Lily. Yet if we look carefully we can see how Cam is imitating her mother in "The Lighthouse". She lives on.

Also just because the marriage Mrs. Ramsey arranged did not work out does not mean marriage is bad or that Lily made the right choice. One marriage failing does not mean anything. If that is your outlook on life you can never really live. Nothing is perfect. Some things work out others don't.

I don't know, in a way I love this novel yet on the other hand, it creeps me out.

I prefer Orlando though.

[Buh4Bee]

This was a great review and now I am interested in reading it.

[alexandraG]

What do you guys say about Mrs. Ramsay? Isn't she too overprotective? I think her husband is misunderstood.

[Buh4Bee]

Ha! Funny to see what one wrote 2 years ago. I did pick it up and put it back down. I picked up The Idiot instead. Maybe I'll give it another go, but my impression was that it is very dense and needs to be "studied" more than read.

[prendrelemick]

I am now a "Fan" after not reading To The Lighthouse. I've been perusing her essays and articles after reading Orlando (thanks to kindle complete works). It's her humour that has most suprised me, she is sophisticated and wicked.