saoirseosborne 's review for:

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

I quite enjoyed this. I think I preferred it to Mrs Dalloway, just because the themes felt more resonant and because the characters are more likeable. 

I like the stream of consciousness style - sometimes a little confusing, but having to work at it is satisfying. Woolf's capacity to create a whole narrative out of such little plot is remarkable. It feels like it's written by someone who experiences a real 'voice' inside their head as consciousness though - I don't, and so I felt that something like A Girl is a Half Formed Thing reflects better how I myself perceive thoughts.

My favourite part is the second section, where describing the house's decline shows time passing. I felt a strong sense of the transience of human action and feeling in comparison to ever-lasting, patient nature.

Woolf is perceptive on themes of gender roles and each gender's dependence on the other. I would have liked to understand better why Lily does not want to marry, and why Mrs Ramsay is so obsessed with it. 

The end, in which
Mr Ramsay tries to restore/complete his wife and son's past desires to go to the lighthouse though it is too late now
, was poignant. I wished we had more consciousness from Mr Ramsay though.