Last month I introduced the Monthly Classics series, in which I every month talk about a classic novel. If you haven't read the post from last month, I suggest you read that one too, I discussed To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Today, I am reviewing To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. A modernist author, that I discussed during one of my courses in my first year of university. Because of a time-shortage, on my part, I wasn't able to read the novel back then. Let's hope my professors will never read this! But because after hearing many good things about it, it was still on my list of classics I really wanted to read. So, I figured that this would be September's Monthly Classic, here's why.
To the Lighthouse is almost entirely written through the thoughts of the characters, it is amazing how Woolf is able to switch characters within a few sentences and it all still makes sense. It is divided into three parts: The Window, Time Passes and The Lighthouse. In The Window we get to know the characters, the story centres the Ramsays, a married couple and their 8 children. Together with a few friends, they are staying in their summer home. In the first part, Mrs Ramsay assures her son that they will visit the Lighthouse the next day, Mr Ramsay, however, believes that the weather will not be good enough for them to go. The first part plays out within a single night, closing with the dinner. In the first part, we only observe through the thoughts of the characters, that are shifted occasionally. Mostly, we focus on Mrs Ramsay, she observes her husband and their children during the evening. We get to know her thoughts about marriage and how Mr Ramsay is dependent on her sympathy as he is very self-conscious about himself and his work.
In Time Passes, we see an omniscient narrator, that guides us through 10 years time. During which, Mrs Ramsay, her daughter Prue and her son Andrew die. During these 10 years, the First World War takes place, and during the war, Andrew is killed. The omniscient narrator sometimes shifts to Mrs McNab, a woman that has worked in the summer house of the Ramsays, she observes the changes of the house. During these 10 years, the house is not visited by the Ramsays. At the end of this part, Mrs McNab is informed that Mr Ramsay will be visiting soon, so she and Mrs Bast make sure that the house is in order for them to arrive.
10 years after the first part, some of the characters visit the summer house again. Mr Ramsay and his children: James and Cam are planning to visit the lighthouse. During their trip, Lily tries to finish the painting she started 10 years earlier, during this process she thinks back to the last time they were here. Besides that, she focusses on her memories of Mrs Ramsay.
The thing that makes this novel a classic is how Woolf focusses on thought, instead of writing a description of characters, we read the thoughts of one character thinking about another. Woolf has written this down in an accurate way, of course, in reality, we do not jump from one person's thoughts to someone else's. Yet, the way in which these characters think is very real. Woolf also makes the transition to another character flawless, it is easy to read, but it did take me some time to get used to. Besides that, it also took me a while to figure out what exactly was going on.
These streams of consciousness fit the modernist time period during which Woolf wrote this story. Modernists were inspired by consciousness and self-awareness. Writing down the thought process of the human mind is a hard thing to do. During the day we all have a lot of impressions and small thoughts that flash through our minds. Woolf writes this down in words, while in reality all these thoughts just merge together. This is a reason why Woolf is praised so much, she created consciousness on paper in an incredible way.
I do not have one particular quote that explains and shows this stream of consciousness well, to truly understand what I mean I recommend you to read this novel and experience it for yourself. It is no wonder why Woolf is praised and this is a classic that I would recommend to people with a love for literature. It is not a book to fly through, when reading slowly it is a masterpiece.
Keep reading,
Julia
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