Considering all the labels and praise and criticism that have attached themselves to Virginia Woolf and TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, it can be difficult for the new reader to formulate a nonpartisan - though still subjective - opinion. The book is supposed to be this; it is supposed to be that; feminist literature and experimental stream-of-consciousness literature and ground-breaking modernist classic and member in-good-standing of the Western Cannon and so on - any one of which may wear like a loose, or very ill-fitting, garment, depending on the proclivities of the individual reader.
The Power of "To" Furiously trying to finish reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf before the opera began, I didn't take time to read the program notes. The lights dimmed, three men stood on stage, a table behind them.
I have now read or listened (via audio tape) to this book five times. Each time, I have enjoyed it more, and have been enabled to look deeper into it.
A deceptively simple novel that explores the meaning of life. Written in a stream-of-consciousness poetic style, this is a book that should be read slowly, not at the pace of a traditional novel, or you will miss the slow-motion explosions of beautiful insights lurking about when least expected.
One of my favorite novels. It's dense and provocative and profound.
Everything was like they said. Book was in good condition and came on time.
It's a phenomenon that a place so unliterary as Hollywood is often responsible for renewed interest in a writer's work or personal story.Virginia Woolf got a giant boost a couple of years ago with a major film production called "The Hours.
Stylistically midway between her more traditionally structured novels like The Voyage Out, and experimental, modernist works like The Waves, To the Lighthouse melds elements of both experiment and tradition, making a balanced, well-organized, richly textured novel. Woolf is very adept at re-creating the passage of time in bold, unexpected ways.
I must have read this novel at least five or six times, and every time I return to it I re-discover its greatness; I also discover things I haven't noticed before. I've read it on my own, and for class assignments, and for writing major papers about it, and it remains, for me, the best book written in the twentieth century.
To the Lighthouse is a seminal work in literature and possibly the best that V. Woolf wrote.
This book is a classic and should be read by all. That being said, it's not particularly easy to read, but it's magical none the less.
No wonder people study this in school, it's quite hard to follow with very little storyline to follow. I can see why it is a literary classic, but certainly isn't great holiday reading.
Fantastic entree into Virginia Woolf. I really enjoyed the style of writing that she employed and the way the book was split into three unique parts without losing the thread employed all of the way through.
Would have been one star but for "Time Passes." Don't know why anyone would want to spend several hours in the minds of these characters.
I often read for sound, and I could listen to this book for the rest of my life. If I had a 6 foot 4 and 1/2 inch rabbit pooka friend who could stop time, I would find the most beautiful woman and we would share a bottle of whiskey under an oak tree while I put my head on her lap and she read me this book over and over again.
