31. ‘To the Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf

I had been meaning to read To the Lighthouse for ages, especially since it’s held in such high esteem as the pinnacle of modernist literature. It also allowed me to knock another classic off my list. This is my first experience reading a book by Virginia Woolf, and I was completely unprepared for how much it impacted me (talking feelings here people!). It never ceases to amaze me how a short book (200 pages) could be so complex and insightful. I write this review a changed human being. 

To the Lighthouse tells the story of the Ramsey family and their assorted house guests during a holiday visit to the island of Skye off the coast off Scotland between the years 1910 to 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey along with their eight children spend their summers there, along with various friends and colleagues who have been invited to join them. Through the complex dynamics between the characters, we are able to explore conflicts as they occur among family and loved ones. Semi-autobiographical in nature, Woolf wrote this novel in order to process unresolved issues about her own family. In order to achieve this, the writing is done in a way that was considered highly innovative and experimental at the time.

Rather than compose the story in terms of plot development, Woolf focuses more on form which is essential to literature of the modernist era. Told in three distinct sections, Part One titled “The Window” takes place over the course of one specific day and is written in a stream-consciousness style that allows us inside the thoughts of a specific character. The point-of-view switches often between the characters, sometimes mid-sentence. I definitely felt swept up among the characters, painter Lily Briscoe being my personal favorite. As we begin to understand each of these unique individuals, we see that each one is concerned with outward perceptions. Each guest wants to be appealing to hosts Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey. Meanwhile, the hosts themselves have their own insecurities. I was amazed at how Woolf captured so many different inner voices so well.

“She felt… how life, from being made up of little separate incidents which one lived one by one, became curled and whole like a wave which bore one up with it and threw one down with it, there, with a dash on the beach.”

Part Two “Time Passes” quickly covers the span of ten years in about twenty pages. The Ramsey’s summer home is described in various terms of decay and disrepair while we learn the fate of several characters. The story concludes with Part Three, during which a fraction of the Ramsay family finally goes to the elusive lighthouse that is discussed at the beginning of the book.

At first, the elements that Woolf uses such as the distortion of time, the crossing of memories, and the stream of consciousness style were overwhelming for me. Like riding waves on the ocean, it is so easy to get lost in Woolf’s narrative style. She so brilliantly captures the inner workings of the human mind with all of its foibles and insecurities that you truly begin to feel that anxieties of the individual characters. It is definitely not a novel you can just breeze through. It requires so much introspection to fully grasp its themes. Throughout the disjointed lives of its characters, rests the lighthouse in the background. Serving as a symbol for finding your way through life’s difficult waters, it often reminds us that simple moments are truly everything. Woolf’s distinct lack of a structured story helps us realize where meaning is truly found.

I’m excited to read more from the great Virginia Woolf. Her use of language is so lyrical, so poetic. If you want to learn how to develop characters well, then reading Woolf is one of the best ways to accomplish this. Just remember to read her work closely and take your time with it.

“What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.”

This book counts towards one of my challenges for the year. You can track my progress by clicking here.

Have you read this book? I’d love to know your thoughts! Sound off with a comment down below.