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jaan's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I feel PERSONALLY fucking VICTIMIZED by this book. I am not a Virginia Woolf fan—not for any particular reason, I just don’t like her style—but a Reddit post convinced me to give this particular book a shot by just reading it. And not trying to think about anything. Just letting myself enjoy the experience. And I got through it!
To the Lighthouse is a wonderful, wonderful meditation on marriage and partnership, death and grief. I do think it necessitates a great many more rereads before I can really get a handle on it, though—will they happen? Probably not! But I want them to.
To the Lighthouse is a wonderful, wonderful meditation on marriage and partnership, death and grief. I do think it necessitates a great many more rereads before I can really get a handle on it, though—will they happen? Probably not! But I want them to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Animal cruelty
Minor: War and Death
cdua's review
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Sweet words, well written. I’m not used to reading such poetic language and 60 pages in (given that I was also picking up the book after a long break from it), I had to read the SparkNotes to actually understand what was going on and reread the pages to derive the meaning of all the flowery language. There were snippets I feel like I understood but I still feel like I’m lacking the final step and some wisdom that would allow me to actually understand the meaning of the book—not unlike Lily’s missing factor to her painting! Time Passing is something magical that I could read over and over and over again. What an eloquent way to talk about time—and what stood out to me most was that nature will prevail. One day, when we are all dead and rot in the ground, nature will thrive again. If anything, this climate crisis will drive our own species to extinction. That’s definitely a distraction from the novel, but it’s what I thought of most. And two quotes to round off this review:
“All the odds and ends of the day stuck to this magnet; her mind felt swept, felt clean.” (Page 121)
“But this was one way of knowing people, she thought: to know the outline, not the detail, to sit in one’s garden and look at the slopes of a hill running purple down into the distant heather.” (Page 195)
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
jessthanthree's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: War
chloevienna's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
this felt more like poetry than a traditional book - woolf’s writing style is that of a structured stream of consciousness, almost david lynch-like in her storytelling format. it’s a story you more feel than understand. if you get twin peaks or alice in wonderland, you’ll get to the lighthouse - you have to lean in and embrace the nonsensical aspects and run-on sentences. this was graceful and quiet in some ways, yet deeply haunting in it’s subtly woven intricacies. not an easy classic to get through, but worth it if you dedicate the time. i highly recommend the audible audiobook read by nicole kidman! my first woolf book - will most likely continue!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Child death
mistystar's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief and Death
softanimal's review
reflective
4.0
To the Lighthouse, like much of Woolf's work, is a lovely balm for any self-inflicted wounds from the spear tips of ego and believing too firmly in the truth of one's own thoughts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: War
sofipitch's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Prose was beautiful but this book is just the reflections from the most interesting people on planet earth
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Death, and Misogyny
bill369's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I read this book for the Classics Reading Challenge.
I didn't grow to love the characters. I don't care about them.
The life of members of the Ramsay family. A life filled with tension and commonness. I find this book quite tiresome, yet I must admit it gives a decent inside into the middle-class life of the twentieth century. Also, it's admirable how the author manages to portray everyday life with such sophisticated language.
Page 55, the insufficiency of relationships.
(...), zrovna teď, přímo v okamžiku, kdy ji bolela každá připomínka nedostačujícnosti lidských vztahů – že I ten nejdokonalejší má chyby a nesnese zkoumání, kterému je z lásky k manželovi a svým instinktem pro pravdu podrobila; (...)
Page 218, where to start?
Kde začít? – to je ta otázka; v kterém místě udělat první tah? Jedna linka namalovaná na plátně ji vystavovala nespočetným rizikům, mnohým a neodvolatelným rozhodnutím. Všechno to, co se v myšlenkách zdálo jednoduché, stalo se v praxi okamžitě složitým; zrovna tak jako se vlny z útesu zdají symetricky od sebe vzdálené, a pro plavce uprostřed nich jsou rozdělené hlubokými zátočinami a pěnícími hřebeny. A přece, riskovat se musí, musí se udělat první tah.
Page 236–237, repose.
Paní Ramsayová seděla tiše. Byla ráda, myslela si Lily, že může tiše odpočívat a nemusí s nikým mluvit, odpočívat v nesmírné záhadnosti lidských vztahů. Kdo ví, co jsme, co cítíme?
Page 245–246,
Co je to tedy? Co to znamená? Dokážou věci natáhnout ruku a zmocnit se člověka? může ostří říznout? pěst popadnout? To není nikde bezpečí? Nedá se naučit nazpaměť, jak to na tom světě chodí? Žádné vodítko, žádná záštita, ale všechno je zázrak a vrhá se z vršku věže do vzduchu? Je možné, že i pro starší lidi tohle je život? – překvapující, nečekaný, neznámý?
The end was mediocre.
Refined writing and short chapters were the only things getting me through this book. I don't think this book is for me. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it and educated myself.
I didn't grow to love the characters. I don't care about them.
The life of members of the Ramsay family. A life filled with tension and commonness. I find this book quite tiresome, yet I must admit it gives a decent inside into the middle-class life of the twentieth century. Also, it's admirable how the author manages to portray everyday life with such sophisticated language.
Page 55, the insufficiency of relationships.
Page 218, where to start?
Page 236–237, repose.
Page 245–246,
The end was mediocre.
Refined writing and short chapters were the only things getting me through this book. I don't think this book is for me. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it and educated myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death and Sexism
neali's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i loved this, but i think i would have enjoyed it even more if i had read it in more or less one sitting, since it took me a while to get into virginia's writing style and way of storytelling, which i would describe as kind of all over the place.
once you get used to it though, it is very gripping and easier for the reader to acknowledge the beauty that lies in the way virginia tells this story, although it can still be a lot sometimes. what the book "lacks" in plot, it gains through mindful observations of the human nature and the complexity of human relationships.
to the lighthouse for me is a tale on the inconsistency of being human and a study of human relationships, especially between men and women but also between parents and their children. this obviously makes a lot of sense considering virginia's feminist background.
i can definitely see why it is described as a masterpiece and virginia's best work and i'm looking forward to explore her writing even more!
once you get used to it though, it is very gripping and easier for the reader to acknowledge the beauty that lies in the way virginia tells this story, although it can still be a lot sometimes. what the book "lacks" in plot, it gains through mindful observations of the human nature and the complexity of human relationships.
to the lighthouse for me is a tale on the inconsistency of being human and a study of human relationships, especially between men and women but also between parents and their children. this obviously makes a lot of sense considering virginia's feminist background.
i can definitely see why it is described as a masterpiece and virginia's best work and i'm looking forward to explore her writing even more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Sexism, Death, and War
Minor: Death of parent
mercedes's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was hard to get into the rhythm of reading in the beginning, as it was my first foray into stream of consciousness writing. Once I got into it however, it was an immensely satisfying read and I'm so glad I continued with it. It soon became easy to grasp, Lily's perspective in particular was my favourite.
I have to say that this definitely going to be a difficult one to give a rating to. The prose is beautiful and warrants 5 stars, but I think this needs a reread for me to get fully invested into the story.
I have to say that this definitely going to be a difficult one to give a rating to. The prose is beautiful and warrants 5 stars, but I think this needs a reread for me to get fully invested into the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: War