BC Reads!
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
    • Student Reviews
    • Faculty/Staff Contributions
    • Illustrations
    • Sort Reviews... >
      • All
      • Alphabetically by Title
      • Alphabetically by Author
      • Alphabetically by Genre
      • Alphabetically by Reviewer
      • Faculty/Staff Contributions
  • Events
    • Boston Book Events
    • News and Events
  • Get Involved!
    • Become a Member
    • Submit a Review
    • Volunteer >
      • Saint Columbkille Partnership School
    • Donate Used Books
    • Become an Illustrator >
      • Work with a Reviewer
      • Design a Bookmark
      • Work on the Publicity Team
  • Resources
    • Where Can I Find Books For Free?
    • Local Bookstores
    • Useful Websites
    • Other
  • About
    • Executive Board
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff Members
    • Special Contributions
  • Contact
  • Untitled

"To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf

12/2/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Title: To the Lighthouse
Author: Virginia Woolf 
Genre: Fiction
# pages: 312
Date published: 1927 (Republished in 2005)
5-star rating: 5 stars
Would you recommend it:  Yes




            For readers who crave action-based plots and traditional narrative progression, To the Lighthouse will prove to be a frustrating and fruitless reading endeavor, as the entire novel revolves around one action: going to the lighthouse. For the open-minded reader, however, the novel is an overwhelmingly profound and rewarding literary experience. What the plot lacks in physical action, it makes up for in emotional and psychological movement, as Woolf uses a free indirect discourse to seamlessly weave in and out of her characters’ psyches.  

            Set at Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay’s summer home, To the Lighthouse fuses natural and psychological elements to explore how exterior and interior spaces interact. Mrs. Ramsay is the novel’s life force, as her beauty and natural authority charm the many visitors who frequent the beach house. Mr. Ramsay is decidedly less vivacious, and his preoccupation with academic and paternal failure leads him to constantly (and often annoyingly) crave sympathy from his wife and other female characters. To say that Mrs. Ramsay is solely a dominant and lively housewife would unfairly reduce her intricate character, and the same applies to Mr. Ramsay and his gloomy necessitousness. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay fascinate Lily Briscoe, a visiting artist who exemplifies the frustration that arises from violently opposing emotions that constantly fight to take precedence. Does she love the Ramsays or despise them? Is art the bane of her existence, or is it her true passion? 

            Readers will find that the novel is full of these paradoxes—it is almost impossible to concretely define characters. That liminality makes the narrative dynamic (yes, dynamic) and realistic, because Woolf does not shy away from the volatile and often irrational emotions that shape human experience.

            Woolf finds the pulse of the philosophical, psychological, and artistic Modernist movements that emerged after World War I. While the novel does not explicitly focus on war, it does grapple with the daunting existential questions that resulted from loss and disillusionment. The novel’s three sections act as time markers, with the first section representing pre-modern life and the last exemplifying the anxiety and uncertainty of post-war existence. Characters also convey the shift from the “old way” to modernity. Mrs. Ramsay, the traditional homemaker, embodies Victorian creation; Lily, on the other hand, tries to figure out her role as a different kind of artist: the modern painter.

            To the Lighthouse asks readers what remains after devastating loss. How does one go on after dependability and reliability perish? What is creation, and how long will it endure? With her lyricism, Woolf astutely articulates seemingly ineffable emotions, and her representation of the complexities of the human condition is a beautiful depiction of everyday trials and triumphs in the midst of global tragedy. A novel about the numerous forms of creation, artistic and otherwise, To the Lighthouse is a literary masterpiece. 



Review by Lauren Bly, A&S '15


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Who are the authors?

    These book reviews have been submitted by BC Reads! Staff Writers and other Boston College students.

    Archives

    December 2014
    November 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Andrew Ireland
    Anne Donnelly
    Autobiography
    Biography
    Brittany Duncan
    Caitlin Mason
    Caroline Grindrod
    Chris Mclaughlin
    Christie Wentworth
    Christine Degenaars
    Colleen Brady
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    General Fiction
    General Non Fiction
    General Non-fiction
    Hallie Sullivan
    Historical Fiction
    Historical Non Fiction
    Historical Non-Fiction
    Horror
    Humor
    Immigration
    Jennifer Heine
    Julia Walker
    Kayla D'Ambrosio
    Kristie Dickinson
    Laura Baumgartner
    Lauren Bly
    Lauren Schlacks
    Liz Handler
    Maria Peroni
    Memoir
    Michael Solah
    Molly Saint
    Morgan Healy
    Movie Franchise
    Mystery
    Non Fiction
    Non-fiction
    Patrick Hughes
    Pulitzer Prize
    Quick Read
    Romantice Fiction
    Satire
    Science Fiction
    Serena Gibbons
    Short Stories
    Steven Nicholas
    Suspense
    Tashrika Sharma
    Thriller
    William Hwang
    Yande Lombe

    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.