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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
'To the lighthouse' is an extraordinary work of literature which dwells into the consciousness of the human mind. The basic plot of novel is around a family 'The Ramsay's and there friends and admirers. The Ramsay's have 8 kids and the other acquaintances are Lily Briscoe, William Banks, Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, Charles Tansley, Minta Doyle and Paul Rayley. This crowd is vacationing in an island in Scotland one Summer. the story unfolds with the young son of the Ramsay's, James wanting to go to the lighthouse and his father telling him that the weather conditions are not suitable for that. The novel is set during a period of 11 years. The first section 'The window' is set before the World War 1 and the final section 'The Lighthouse' is set 11 years later. However the actual scenes of the novel concentrate on 2 days only. One before the way and the other after.
This is not a plot driven novel. As soon as we get into the novel we get dragged into the consciousness of the characters. The characters are rich and contain multitudes. Marriage, death, time, perspectives are some of the major themes touched on by Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Ramsay is portrayed as the conventional female character who suppresses her emotional needs to cater to those that of her husband. In contrast Virginia Woolf pairs her up with Lily Briscoe who is an independent woman, a painter who has no intention of marrying. The novel basically features how Lily tries and understand the activities, and the thoughts behind Mrs. Ramsay's external persona. It is very intriguing how there are no white or black characters in this novel. Even though Mr. Ramsay is portrayed as a bitter person we are given his perspectives and a look into his consciousness as well. As a result as the novel moves forward we sympathize with each of the characters and come to the conclusion that each person contain a wide variety of emotions out of which only a sliver is expressed.
"How then, she asked herself, did one know one thing or another thing about people, sealed as they were."
"Half one's notions of other people were, after all, grotesque. They served private purposes of one's own"
"One wanted 50 pairs of eyes to see with, she reflected"
There is also this whole doom and gloom about death. At the same time it leaves the reader hopeful and it's as if Woolf is imploring the readers the value of staying in the moment, before it fades away and becomes history. This is a recurring theme and all this past and present and how memories stay unchanged and how these memories play a part in understanding other characters and their actions is widely depicted in the novel. All this seriousness is presented with a hint of humor as well. The not so subtle nod to the established conventional gender roles is found throughout the novel. It leads me to think how Woolf would look at the present situation and find that not much has changed after almost a 100 years.
It is a must read and it must be read SLOWLY, devouring each and every word, letting it fill up the senses, imagining the characters. A five star read and one I'd read again
This is not a plot driven novel. As soon as we get into the novel we get dragged into the consciousness of the characters. The characters are rich and contain multitudes. Marriage, death, time, perspectives are some of the major themes touched on by Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Ramsay is portrayed as the conventional female character who suppresses her emotional needs to cater to those that of her husband. In contrast Virginia Woolf pairs her up with Lily Briscoe who is an independent woman, a painter who has no intention of marrying. The novel basically features how Lily tries and understand the activities, and the thoughts behind Mrs. Ramsay's external persona. It is very intriguing how there are no white or black characters in this novel. Even though Mr. Ramsay is portrayed as a bitter person we are given his perspectives and a look into his consciousness as well. As a result as the novel moves forward we sympathize with each of the characters and come to the conclusion that each person contain a wide variety of emotions out of which only a sliver is expressed.
"How then, she asked herself, did one know one thing or another thing about people, sealed as they were."
"Half one's notions of other people were, after all, grotesque. They served private purposes of one's own"
"One wanted 50 pairs of eyes to see with, she reflected"
There is also this whole doom and gloom about death. At the same time it leaves the reader hopeful and it's as if Woolf is imploring the readers the value of staying in the moment, before it fades away and becomes history. This is a recurring theme and all this past and present and how memories stay unchanged and how these memories play a part in understanding other characters and their actions is widely depicted in the novel. All this seriousness is presented with a hint of humor as well. The not so subtle nod to the established conventional gender roles is found throughout the novel. It leads me to think how Woolf would look at the present situation and find that not much has changed after almost a 100 years.
It is a must read and it must be read SLOWLY, devouring each and every word, letting it fill up the senses, imagining the characters. A five star read and one I'd read again
Of the 3 Virgina Woolf novels I've read, this is my favorite. I'm glad I read it in my 30's and not my 20's. I definately appreciated the writing and the fluidness of the writing.
Some of the most touching, intelligent and relatable prose ever written. Will add some quotes below, they should be shared
“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves”
“She had known happiness, exquisite happiness, intense happiness, and it slivered the rough waves a little more brightly, as daylight faded, and the blue went out of the sea and it rolled in waves of pure lemon which curved and swelled and broke upon the beach and the ecstasy burst in her eyes and waves of pure delight raced over the floor of her mind and she felt, It is enough! It is enough!”
“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves”
“She had known happiness, exquisite happiness, intense happiness, and it slivered the rough waves a little more brightly, as daylight faded, and the blue went out of the sea and it rolled in waves of pure lemon which curved and swelled and broke upon the beach and the ecstasy burst in her eyes and waves of pure delight raced over the floor of her mind and she felt, It is enough! It is enough!”
I really liked this book! I loved its experimental style, and its absence of narrative, which leaves it largely open to each reader's interpretation. Woolf's stream of consciousness is just generally elite; I love her!
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This book draws you in and leaves a lasting impression, an impression as-if they were your own memories.
My first Woolf. What a distinctive voice. I didn't know what to expect from one chapter to the next, from one part to the next, the constant shift in perspectives made me giddy. Not enough story/unfolding plot to hold my attention in a conventional way. The writing was simultaneously beautiful, insightful, hypnotic, and too easy for a reader's mind to drift. As a meditation on our inner lives, magnificent. Prosaic, profound.
Spoiler
The shift in Part Two describing the dissolution of the house, the dissolution of...everything, the reclaiming of the house by nature--just remarkable and better for being out of the blue.
Woolf's style and sentence structure is unparalleled -- her grammar is flawless as she constructs page-long sentences, weaving in complex extended metaphors and seamlessly hovering between multiple points of view in the same sentence. The plot itself seems to lack a climax and a central conflict, but her descriptions and style suffice to pull the reader through.
i liked this book for what it is — an authentic-feeling glimpse into the thoughts and emotions of people experiencing everyday life. some of the descriptions in the second half of the book (post-death of one of the members of the family) really spoke to me, but i didn’t feel very excited to continue reading this book so i can’t rate it super high.
“So loveliness reigned and stillness, and together made the shape of loveliness itself, a form from which life had parted; solitary like a pool at evening, far distant, seen from a train window, vanishing so quickly that the pool, pale in the evening, is scarcely robbed of its solitude, though once seen. Loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom, and among the shrouded jugs and sheeted chairs even the prying of the wind, and the soft noise of the clammy sea airs, rubbing, snuffling, iterating, and reiterating their questions— “Will you fade? Will you perish?”— scarcely disturbed the peace, the indifference, the air of pure integrity, as if the question they asked scarcely needed what they should answer: we remain.”
“So loveliness reigned and stillness, and together made the shape of loveliness itself, a form from which life had parted; solitary like a pool at evening, far distant, seen from a train window, vanishing so quickly that the pool, pale in the evening, is scarcely robbed of its solitude, though once seen. Loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom, and among the shrouded jugs and sheeted chairs even the prying of the wind, and the soft noise of the clammy sea airs, rubbing, snuffling, iterating, and reiterating their questions— “Will you fade? Will you perish?”— scarcely disturbed the peace, the indifference, the air of pure integrity, as if the question they asked scarcely needed what they should answer: we remain.”