A review by bluminth
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"No, the other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one thing. The other Lighthouse was true too. "

To enter Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse is to dive headfirst into the center of a whirlwind of varied perspectives and flawless prose. The novel investigates the fragility of life and human relationships through beautiful proses in the minds and hearts of the characters.

"For it was not knowledge but unity that she desired, not inscriptions on tablets, nothing that could be written in any language known to men, but intimacy itself. "

This book bounces back and forth between philosophy and psychology. Each neurosis and preoccupation are given the attention that it often magnifies beyond your typical day-to-day worries. For some, it may seem as though Woolf overly dramatizes experience, but what she really does is put her characters through life at its most intense and acute. 

 "As she looked at him she began to smile, for though she had not said a word, he knew, of course he knew, that she loved him."

To The Lighthouse is a stream of consciousness. It is equivalent to perching in the back of someone else's mind, watching their thoughts and fears from behind their eyes.  It captures the feelings of loss, longing, and love perfectly.