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A review by clevermird
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
3.5
The fifteenth installment in my quest to read the 'great classics' of Western literary canon, To the Lighthouse was a rather anticipated step, as it seemed less "high school reading list" and more "high brow literary" than most of what I've covered before, at least by impression. I've enjoyed this project well enough so far, but I wondered how I'd fare with something like that.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and War