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rowy148's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
tommy_g's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Grief
rebcamuse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Nicole Kidman provides a fine reading, with a certain passivity that channels the Victorian sensibilities that are an ever-present undercurrent in the book and are perhaps to blame for the Ramsay's inability to truly communicate with each other. I think I would have enjoyed it more in print, and may read it later on in that format. That said, Woolf's language was poetry and Kidman's fluid reading really brought that out. I try not to read too much about a book before I read the actual book, because I feel it biases whatever relationship I'm going to establish with the book. So while I did not know what to expect, and I can't say I'd like to listen to a lot of books with this same approach, Woolf's writing and insights (and occasional razor-sharp wit) were enough to pull me through to the end.
Moderate: War
Minor: Death
pencilspeaker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Grief
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: War
jeremie's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
monahed's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The second part lost me a bit, but overall this is an example of a book that only works, if you are picking it up at the right time in your life.
Take your time with it, let it sink in, read parts several times. For me it helped a lot to be listening to it on audio, it transported the atmospheric writing of Woolf really well for me.
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: War
tamara_joy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Misogyny and Grief
Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, War, and Classism
clevermird's review against another edition
- 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
Turns out, both quite well and somewhat badly.
To the Lighthouse takes place on an island in Great Britain where the Ramsey family and assorted guests are staying for the summer. The Ramsey children (particularly the youngest, James) are excited about a proposed boat trip to a lighthouse, but Mr. Ramsey and several of the guests declare that bad weather is on the way and the trip will have to be postponed. From there, we follow the thoughts and minor happenings of the house's various residents over the next twelve hours or so, jumping back and forth in time and place to paint a portrait of a very normal evening in a slightly dysfunctional family's life before jumping forward ten years to see how those relationships and personalities have developed.
The first thing that stands out about this story is the unique way in which it is told. The narrative floats freely from character to character, event to event, seeming almost to be writing out every individual thought that comes into the head of whoever we are following at the moment. At first, this was overwhelming, leaving me lost trying to follow what was going on. But after about twenty pages, I realized that this wasn't a book where it was important to keep track of each individual event or pay close attention to what events were occurring. This was a book to feel, to let the prose flow over you and immerse yourself in the characters' minds and once I figured it out, it wasn't difficult to keep up.
That being said, this was also the first book I've read in a long time that made me feel like I wasn't smart enough to understand it. I know there's more going on beneath the surface than I picked up, asides and moments that I didn't catch that would have built the characters and themes deeper.
Without them, however, the book was still enjoyable enough. A bit slow, but never truly boring with a lot to say about human relationships and the complexities of perception, musing on questions like "is it ever possible to truly know another person?" and the ways in which our opinions of others change with time and circumstance. Ultimately, most of these questions are left unanswered, but Too the Lighthouse isn't interested in providing answers, merely examining life as it is. Unlike in many narrative books, this one felt real to me, as though this could have happened to me, perhaps stemming from the stream-of-consciousness style that brings you so close to the minds and hearts of the characters. I experienced the story instead of merely heard about it.
Even still, while I enjoyed the book much more than I would have thought I would from the description, it did feel overly long at points and several individual scenes dragged as well, particularly towards the end, and I would have appreciated a slightly tighter focus on Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey and their relationship, as well as a bit more explanation for a specific shift in one character's attitudes in the last few scenes. Perhaps it was covered and I simply missed it, but it seems to occur for no real reason - or perhaps that is the point?
A very different reading experience than most things I've tried before, Too the Lighthouse might not be a "fun" book in the traditional sense, but it was a fascinating glimpse into writing as an art form that was well worth the time invested.
Moderate: Sexism and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and War
thatone2112's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, War, and Classism