To The Lighthouse

By Virginia Woolf

Two brief episodes, separated by a decade and the First World War, provide a glimpse into the personalities and relationships that make up the Ramsay family. In both instances, as the family visits their summer home in the Isle of Skye, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay in turn contemplate their life choices and their marriage.

Thoughtful and introspective, To the Lighthouse is an impressive example of both stream of consciousness narrative and early modernist literature, which favours philosophical contemplation over action and plot. The most autobiographical of Woolf’s novels, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay were based in part upon her own parents, and it’s through their lives that she effectively explores the devastating impact of war upon British society. To the Lighthouse has been named one of the top one hundred books in English literature by both Time Magazine and the Modern Library.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781443432207

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf was an English novelist, essayist, short story writer, publisher, critic and member of the Bloomsbury group, as well as being regarded as both a hugely significant modernist and feminist figure. Her most famous works include Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and A Room of One’s Own.

Reviews for To The Lighthouse

[jonfaith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lily Briscoe is a kindred spirit. She asks a pertinent question at the beginning of the final section: what does it mean then, what can it all mean? I have been asking myself that, often out loud for most of my adult life. A pair of events this weekend illuminated that disposition and likely also besmirched my reading of To The Lighthouse. My Tenth wedding anniversary was followed quickly by the funeral for my uncle Fred. The first event was grand, of course, though it does lend itself to a certain survey, of sorts. The second was simply queer. this was no great tragedy, the man was 85 years old had seven sons and had suffered through terrible health these last few years. I leaned quickly that there are no poets in that section of my family and apparently no Democrats either. It was nice to hug, slap backs and smile at one another, most of the time counting the decades since we last spoke at length. Through the depths of such I ran to the Woolf and read for an odd half hour here and there.

To the Lighthouse is a tale of caprice and desperation. It is a kaleidoscope of resonance and impressions. Much like life it can be dusty and wind swept on an even manner. I would likely have been great affected were it not for the switchbacks of the weekend.

[atreic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are books I’ve had on my shelves that I have always meant to read, and that I feel I ought to have read. To The Lighthouse was one of those books, so I took it with me on holiday and read it.But I didn’t really know what it was about, and it’s a strange book to encounter if you have no preconceptions. The first section, with its cloyingly deep analysis of the minutia of life, hundreds of pages where nothing much happens except they go to dinner, all the Meaning trapped in ‘do you think it will be fine enough to go to the Lighthouse tomorrow?’ ‘No, I think it will not be fine’. Marriage and motherhood and thwarted career ambitions and hosting and matchmaking, and the way the smallest thing can hold so much meaning. I found it quite intractable and frustrating at first, and then found a rhythm and a sympathy and settled into it...... when all at once I hit the second part and the book simultaneously broke my brain and my heart. Ten years pass in a flurry of pages. People we had known down to the grain on their fingerprints are casually dispatched in passing in the final sentence of a paragraph. The house slowly decays, the bubble that has been there so clearly is gone, as the dust and mould creep in.And then in the final part we are there again, and are drawn into musing around what fingerprints do we leave on the world, how are we remembered, what is success? Those complex family relationships, so much love and anger tangled up,and all inside, no ripples on the surface. But we paint. And we make it to the Lighthouse.

[firewild · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book reads more like a poem than a novel. Evocative, fragile, nuanced, ephemeral moments of family life set in a gorgeous landscape. It would make a beautiful arthouse movie with long scenes filled with stark seascapes and little action.

[solitaryfossil · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

3-2-17
Tonight I finished Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse.”

Wowzers, it’s really great. This was my first reading of Woolf, and I was really hypnotized by her style. It was an emotional rollercoaster, and I highly recommend you ride it. A very quick read, under 200 pages, and it just flows and flows. Lyrical.

[petroglyph_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Impressionistic rather than descriptive. Divided in three parts. The first, and the longest, serves as an introduction to the setting, the characters, and their interactions. And this part was tough going, especially towards the end, simply because nothing really happens in the first part, and yet it keeps on going, without any real purpose. Characters were kept at a stand-still, just so that the author could paint a detailed picture. My 21st century attention span -- used as it is to snappy, streamlined characterization and world-building -- made me put the book down a few timesThe second and third parts, though, are very much worth the effort of struggling through that lengthy set-up. This is where [To the lighthouse] comes into its own: once you understand what’s going on, the whole thing pays off beautifully.

[margaretfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a family goes to the same vacation house through the years

[patsymurray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The language is so beautifully evocative. The careful echoing of the longer first section, which allows the reader to meet and understand the Ramseys and Lily Briscoe in particular, with the concluding section where Lily (the artist) is forced to come to terms with what it all means is balanced by the much briefer middle part. That section is where we learn of the events of the painful period of Mrs. Ramsey's death, World War II and the passage of time. It functions as a sort of intercession for both the reader and Lily, allowing us to gain perspective (almost without realizing it) on how "we perish, each alone." Such a very powerful book.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is official. I am not a Virginia Woolf guy. I appreciated this book more than Mrs. Dalloway, but I still struggled with it. Basically there is no plot to this story, but it is simply a look inside the minds of the characters and their rapid, deep, and depressing judgements of themselves and those around them. The language is beautiful, and the insights into the thoughts and behaviors of people are fascinating to think about, but it is just too dark for me. If people really thought that poorly of each other, this would be one heck of a sad world to live in. Also, it is too much work to judge the words and actions of others so consistently rather than simply enjoy being in their presence.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are moments of great crystalline beauty here, seamless amalgam of little sharp perceptions and language their vehicle, and I won't forget this family, in particular the two parents, in whom I see so much of archetype, of my parents and my friends' parents transfigured and ennobled by, well, class, I suppose. Mrs Ramsey regal and anxious, Mr Ramsey needy and forbidding, which is almost another (male) way of saying the same thing. But a sprawling family deserved a sprawling novel that would let the modernist psychological superstructure unfold at a less compressed pace. I feel like that pressure relief would have led to fewer "But what is it all? And what does it all mean? And what are ... WE???"-type eruptions. Sure am glad James made it to the Lighthouse and had a moment with his dad though.(On class: the last gasps of compulsive Victorian world-building as well as Victorian formality are on display here, and it's affecting to watch that world list and capsize and the hard-won homeliness of it convert into something more twentieth-century and atomized. But I guess that made the proscribed lighthouse trip possible?)

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Zeer moeilijke lectuur, maar met ongelofelijk veel intellectueel genoegen. Gaat over eindigheid en dood, kijken naar het leven. Zeer beeldend. Om te herlezen en herlezen.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Typical Woolf. Long sentences. Inner dialogues showing way too much overthinking. Way too much detail over little nothings. Tiring. Nothing exactly happens in the the book. Things happen between chapters, then characters start the next chapter thinking about what happened. But we never see what happens.But poor James spent 10 years waiting to get his visit to the lighthouse. Which we don't actually get to see or hear about, because the book ends as they begin getting out of the book.Glad it's done. Glad it was short.

[eurydice_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exquisite. (*****)

[jdecastro_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely breathtaking literature.

[jphamilton-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my second Woolf book and I'm no closer to being a fan of this author than at any other time of my life. Lighthouse was much more enjoyable than Waves, but I won't be rereading either of them any time soon.

[boredness-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this book in university and I remembered I didn't like it. So this summer I decided to read it again to find out why I didn't like it. I soon realized the reason. It is a very confusing book for me to try and read. The sentences go on forever which makes me forget what I was reading about in the first place. I have read the first 8 chapters and I barely know what is going on so I've decided to put the book back on the shelf.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I found it frustrating to read, as little actually occurred in the book, with the content made up almost entirely of the leisurely musings of the English upper-class. On the other, I enjoyed the thoughts on art and I liked seeing the character of Lily grow into a more confident artist. I had some inner laughs at Mr. Ramsay, who in the second half of the novel finds himself in a difficult place without his wife to consistently praise him and his work. I did find the style in which this book was written, the focus on perception without much dialogue or action, difficult to read and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is wary of those writing styles.

[karinlib-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although I think I like Mrs. Dalloway better, this wasn't bad.

[lissabeth21 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I feel like I need cliff notes and a college level lecture on this one. There was just so much going on in this...every sentence heavy with meaning and infused with hidden feeling. The inner lives of Edwardians who perhaps grew up in the Victorian era...so repressed and filled with the expectations of society, struggling not to be themselves, but to even find themselves in the first place.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not much of a plot in this work of dreamy prose. But still worth a read, if just to suck from the marrow of these sentences. Being a short work one, can read it over and over again.,

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had close to the same feeling about these characters as I had to the ones in The Age of Innocence, which is to say, close to none. The writing here, however, was much better, as it seems to me, so there's that.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Found this book a hard slog because of the amount of commas in Virginia Woolf's writing, because of this found it hard to really engage with the book.

[fatmashahin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars

Woolf writes beautifully, but I think the form of her novel just isn't for me.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Zeer moeilijke lectuur, maar met ongelofelijk veel intellectueel genoegen. Gaat over eindigheid en dood, kijken naar het leven. Zeer beeldend. Om te herlezen en herlezen.

[bookdivasreads · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Madison Westin is a recent divorcee trying to get her life back on track. When her aunt dies, she learns that she has been left her aunt’s home and a beachfront motel in Tarpon Cove, Florida. The good news is that she feels comfortable relocating to Florida and taking over the property management. The bad news is that the estate lawyer and current property management don't want her involved in the management of the motel. Things in Tarpon Cove aren't what they appear to be, and Madison quickly becomes suspicious about the estate attorney's behavior, to say nothing of the onsite property manager. Both are acting as if she is an intruder rather than the property owner and refuse to cooperate with her desire to know more about the tenants or the property. If that isn't bad enough, Madison discovers a hunky guy, a bleeding hunky guy, at her aunt's house after the funeral. Zach Lazarro is a private investigator and was a friend of her aunt Elizabeth. He wasn't aware of her death and came seeking first aid. He winds up staying for a few days to recuperate.Madison has a lot to deal with, including what appears to be an unscrupulous attorney and property manager. If that wasn't bad enough, she also must contend with Zach and his family drama issues.CRAZY IN PARADISE by Deborah Brown is a fast romantic suspense read, which regrettably I found to be somewhat lacking in both romance and suspense. To be fair, Zach and Madison struggle to find common ground and build on their attraction. The action of the bad guys is expected and therefore isn't mysterious and there doesn't seem to be any suspense involved when everything is expected. Having said that, and again in all fairness, this isn't a bad read. The action may be somewhat expected and the characters perhaps not as fully developed as possible, but CRAZY IN PARADISE is still a pretty decent read.

[rise_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To the Lighthouse is a challenging read because of the literary devices Woolf used in her writing. I like it because of the unique way Woolf delineates her characters. She is interested in feelings and sensations of each one and the sympathy she arouses in the reader. She can be cruel in her plot.I can only think now of this book in general terms since I've read it some time back. This is the only fiction of hers I've finished so I couldn't compare it with Mrs. Dalloway, which is also one of her acknowledged best work. I've read the first volume of her literary criticism, The Common Reader, and that one was also fantastic.

[barakketh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Found this book a hard slog because of the amount of commas in Virginia Woolf's writing, because of this found it hard to really engage with the book.

[pokylittlepuppy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was intimidated by beginning this book for a long time, but once I did I was really pleased with it. It was much more reachable than I'd feared, and I enjoyed it a lot. It managed to surprise me, too, because it changes so suddenly in the middle, but I think the first half was what I liked best. The drifting thoughts among this group of people are so, so good. Then the middle section about the house that really is about nothing -- nothing at all is going on and pretty much no one is there -- is weird, but wow some of those sentences, the writing was beautiful. The drifting form returns at the end, and there are some really amazing insights, but it didn't feel as magical as the beginning and I lost a little patience. The depiction of the moody, harsh parent and the siblings united, though, was something.One of the stars in this rating belongs entirely to the line,"Nature has but little clay like that of which she moulded you."which may be my favorite sentence I've read. My other favorite passage was near the end, when Cam describes visiting the men in the study when she is "all in a muddle". I also liked the girls' names a lot: Prue, Minta. And I wished we'd seen more than a paragraph of Nancy, because Nancy was sort of hilarious.My ISBN apparently matches this edition, but what I actually read looks like this. Chris's mom bought it for me at the Niantic Book Barn in 2005, possibly because I may have read somewhere it is Rennie Sparks's favorite book. Well, that's me for you.

[sheila1957 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Ramsays are at their summer residence with guests. Mrs. Ramsay keeps promising her youngest child they will go to the lighthouse the next day, but her husband says they won't because of bad weather. Unfortunately, tragedy happens before they can go to the lighthouse. When they do go to the lighthouse, the youngest son is now a teenager. It is a reunion of sorts from that time 10 years earlier.This was not my cup of tea. I found the beginning boring. Quotation marks would have helped when characters were having conversations or thoughts. I often had to re-read passages to understand what was happening as well as who it was happening to. The book is in three parts. The first part is the basic story as in the above synopsis. The second part is what happens after the tragedy. The third part is 10 years later with the return of the Ramsays to the island. The third part I find interesting. It is a stream of consciousness by different people. Some interesting thoughts occur. Some rebellious ones. Some on how to change others' responses to one. There are recriminations and anger in the thoughts. There is sorrow in remembrance. These people are flawed. I just had a problem making a connection to any of them. Fortunately, I borrowed this from the library for book club. It is not a keeper for me.

[jnwelch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In To the Lighthouse, set on the Isle of Skye around the time of the first World War, 6 year old James Ramsay wants to go to the lighthouse, and has his mother's support, but his father says the weather will be bad and precludes their going. Family friend Lily Briscoe, unwed in her 30s, wants to paint, but doubts her ability, and is told by visiting Charles Tansley that women can't paint. These are two of the principal conflicts in this low key short novel. Will James overcome his domineering father and some day get to the lighthouse? Will Lily overcome her doubts and be fulfilled in her impulses to paint? Will the other characters, like Tansley, step out of the shadows of the overweening Ramseys and successfully lead their own lives?Mrs. Ramsay is beautiful, charming and headstrong, with an obsessive desire to see others married. She is an avid admirer of her even more headstrong husband, who is accomplished and valued in his philosophical field. She is patient and benevolent, he is rude, quick-tempered and all about himself. Both fill the rooms they are in and leave barely enough air for others. Only the successful poet Mr. Carmichael avoids their effect and simply eats and drinks at their expense. The others are torn between admiration and resisting the influence.Part of the genius of the book lies in Woolf's giving us the interior perspectives of all the characters. We get to know Lily's passions and longings, Charles' frustrations, James' enmity toward and similarities to his father, as well as the views of peripheral characters like James' sister Cam, who is pulled toward both her brother and her father. The other part of the book's genius is the gorgeous writing."Night after night, summer and winter, the torment of storms, the arrow-like stillness of fine weather, held their court without interference. Listening (had there been anyone there to listen) from the upper rooms of the empty house only gigantic chaos streaked with lightning could have been heard tumbling and tossing, as the winds and waves disported themselves like the amorphous bulks of leviathans whose brows are pierced by no light of reason, and mounted one on top of another, and lunged and plunged in the darkness or the daylight (for night and day, month and year ran shapelessly together) in idiot games, until it seemed as if the universe were battling and tumbling, in brute confusion and and wanton lust aimlessly by itself."Gorgeous, and also quite dense in the reading. I ended up with respect, not love, for this one. It made me think of Proust, with beautiful writing and not much happening. In the midst of such talented writing, it seemed sacrilegious to long for a shot to ring out, but long I did. Four stars.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one has been too long waiting, like the children for their trip to the lighthouse. And, like the children, when they finally got to go, I approached it with mixed feelings and a little reluctance. It's one thing to love, love, love a difficult work you've known for 40 years and read multiple times with increasing understanding and appreciation. It's another to take on a new one, by a relatively unfamiliar (to me) author, and find an affinity. Virginia Woolf has lingered in the background of my literary experience, a bit of an intimidating presence, but no one ever forced me to reach out and take her hand. I'm quite glad that I have now done so, but I wasn't wrong to be trepidatious. Some scholar has probably counted the number of point-of-view shifts in this book; they come, usually, just as the reader is settling into one character's mind, and starting to feel comfortable there. The book is mainly about impressions, perceptions, images, and imaginings. There is virtually no plot. A few major life events are given parenthetical nods ("you need to know this happens, but you don't need to see it happen"). The setting is compelling--an island in the Hebrides, a shabby house, lawns, gardens and vistas of the open sea. The people are quite ordinary, with a few oddities among them, just like the people you know. The whole is a sum of the parts...a rather unexpected, but absolutely correct sum. This is a novel I am sure to return to, as there is simply too much to take in in a single reading.Reviewed January 28, 2014