To the Lighthouse

Critics

• Virginia Woolf–TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

  Note: This novel is ranked #15 on Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels: “For now [Mrs. Ramsay] need not think about anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of—to think; well, not even to think. To be silen ... (read full critics)

  marywhipplereviews published on Sat, 4 Sep 2010

22 Reviews

• 5 people find this helpful

  

  果然是跨時代的作品，讓人驚豔！

  情節這東西在細緻入微的心裡描寫中消匿了，成了瑣碎之物；而可讀性卻完全沒有減少！本書的閱讀體驗即是在不同人物的內心遊走，雖不是看盡眾生相，卻也讓人嚐到俗世的紛雜、人生的無奈。

  p.s. 裡面用的英文辭彙好精妙......實在忍不住手做了數頁筆記，來來來，奇文共賞：

  “She never wanted James to grow a day older! Or Cam either. These two she would have liked to keep for ever just as they were, demons ... (continue)

  果然是跨時代的作品，讓人驚豔！

  情節這東西在細緻入微的心裡描寫中消匿了，成了瑣碎之物；而可讀性卻完全沒有減少！本書的閱讀體驗即是在不同人物的內心遊走，雖不是看盡眾生相，卻也讓人嚐到俗世的紛雜、人生的無奈。

  p.s. 裡面用的英文辭彙好精妙......實在忍不住手做了數頁筆記，來來來，奇文共賞：

  “She never wanted James to grow a day older! Or Cam either. These two she would have liked to keep for ever just as they were, demons of wickedness, angels of delight, never to see them grow up into long-legged monsters.”（千萬不要給媽媽看到，不然就又多個小名兒了~吽吽）

  “But what after all is one night? A short space, especially when the darkness dims so soon, and so soon a bird sings, a cock crows, or a faint green quickens, like a turning leaf, in the hollow of the wave. Night, however, succeeds to night. The winter holds a pack of them in store and deals them equally, evenly, with indefatigable fingers.”（讓人不禁想起通頂的時候⋯⋯）

  Is this helpful?

  toni said on May 6, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  To the Lighthouse is a novel written by Virginia Woolf. the story is center on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. we can divided this into three different parts: the first is "the window"; the second is "Time Passes"; and the last is "the lighthouse".
  in the novel ... (continue)

  To the Lighthouse is a novel written by Virginia Woolf. the story is center on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. we can divided this into three different parts: the first is "the window"; the second is "Time Passes"; and the last is "the lighthouse".
  in the novel there is an omniscent narrator exept in the second part in which is described ten years and is represented the link between the first and the third section.
  the plot is secondary to philosophical introspection, in fact the most important aspect in the novel is the psychological element.
  The novel includes little dialogue, observations and almost no action.

  Is this helpful?

  Maris92roma said on May 3, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  The main element of the novel, is the lighthouse that serves as a symbol:in fact the contrast and the alternation between darkness and light represent the differents aspects of life.The sea too,has a symbolical meaning: in fact in the first part,its positive aspects reflect and symbolize the positiv ... (continue)

  The main element of the novel, is the lighthouse that serves as a symbol:in fact the contrast and the alternation between darkness and light represent the differents aspects of life.The sea too,has a symbolical meaning: in fact in the first part,its positive aspects reflect and symbolize the positive situation of the characters, while its destructive aspects symbolize the sadness that afflicted the family.

  Is this helpful?

  Flappi92 said on May 3, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This book is trouble, and it gives you trouble. And yet it's so worth all of it.

  Is this helpful?

  l'aura said on May 30, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  This is the first Woolf's book I have read, and I like it. Comparing with other writers in her time, I find that Woolf is easier to understand, maybe it is because I am female as well? There is an important message in To the Lighthouse: everyone needs to have her/his own vision. I'd like to r ... (continue)

  This is the first Woolf's book I have read, and I like it. Comparing with other writers in her time, I find that Woolf is easier to understand, maybe it is because I am female as well? There is an important message in To the Lighthouse: everyone needs to have her/his own vision. I'd like to read other books by Woolf very much.

  Is this helpful?

  myself0826 said on Apr 8, 2012 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Modernism exploration

  To The Lighthouse is one of Virginia Woolf’s most famous novels. It is quite short, only 150 pages, but it contains very little plot. The story was Woolf’s attempt at a novel of stream-of-consciousness, which basically means that she wanted to represent the workings of the mind and our thought proce ... (continue)

  To The Lighthouse is one of Virginia Woolf’s most famous novels. It is quite short, only 150 pages, but it contains very little plot. The story was Woolf’s attempt at a novel of stream-of-consciousness, which basically means that she wanted to represent the workings of the mind and our thought processes.

  The story surrounds a family, the Ramsays, at their summer home on the coast. As well as Mr and Mrs Ramsay and their several children, there are a few guests staying with them, such as Lily Briscoe, Augustus Carmichael, and Mr Bankes. It’s difficult to summarise the story, because the plot only talks about small events, such as Mrs Ramsay reading to her son James.

  There are three separate parts: the first details the happy scene of a summer at the beach; the second observes the passage of time, when the family have abandoned the house, and we are taken through the decay of the house. In this section we learn that 10 years has passed, and several people have died in tragic circumstances. Two women and a young man are employed to get the house cleaned up so that, in the third part, the family and friends can return to the house. The final section deals with the goal of the novel – to get to the lighthouse – and the struggles of trying to slot back into a previous life.

  I enjoyed the novel, in a sense, but at the same time felt quite neutral towards it. We learn a lot about some of the characters’ thought processes and their opinions of others, but it feels like a very static and slow story because not much plot goes on!

  Is this helpful?

  Jemma said on Mar 28, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

See all 22 comments

Book Details

• Rating:
  (379)
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 star
• English Books
• Mass Market Paperback 192 Pages
• Publisher: Grafton Books
• Pub date: Jan 01, 1985
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, School & Library Binding, Unbound, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

Improve data of this book

Groups with this in collection

• English learners' community (42)
• The Collective (146)
• Best 100 books ever, according to 100 contemporary authors (31)
• The Novel 100 (106)
• 50 Book Challenge! (866)

Groups conversations

• Mrs. Ramsay's flashes of consciousness Enricograzzi (3 comments, 2 people)

Margin notes of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN	Edition	List	Sale	Seller
No ISBN	Mass Market Paperback	--	--	--
Other editions →
+ 9 copies tradable: →