To The Lighthouse (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

In what many call her most autobiographical novel, Virginia Woolf creates a warm and intimate portrait of a family which resembles her own-her parents, brothers and sisters-and the friends with whom they enjoy their summer vacation on the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides. Mrs. Ramsay, the mother of eight children, is the linchpin of the fictional family. She adores her husband, and though she often feels she fails him, she persists in smoothing his way so that he can work, managing the house and children, and inviting large groups of his students and friends to visit. Often strict and always right, Mr. Ramsay loves being the center of praise, but rarely praises others, and is often insensitive to the hopes and dreams of his children.

In Part I, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay, their children, several women and men (including philosophy students), for whom Mrs. Ramsay enjoys acting as a matchmaker, all contribute their thoughts as Virginia Woolf explores some of her favorite themes during the course of one day on the island. Mrs. Ramsay's running commentary on her everyday life emphasizes her vision of the role of women and opens the question of whether or not it is possible for women to find a meaningful role in life outside of marriage. The importance of the thinking life-with peripheral attention paid also to the artistically creative life-reflects the intellectual climate of England in the lead-up to the First World War, and the desire of many thinkers to create a significant intellectual legacy which will survive them.

Part II, a brief bridge, ten years later, focuses on the changes which have taken place. The war has begun and ended. Many key characters have died, and Mr. Ramsay, devastated, also fears that all his writing will have been for naught. In Part Three, what's left of the family returns to the house on Skye for a visit after a ten year absence. Perhaps showing his personal growth and desire to atone for his previous insensitivity to James's desires, Mr. Ramsay now insists on making the trip to the lighthouse with teenagers James and his younger sister Cam, though James is no longer even interested in going. James commands the boat, however, and receives unaccustomed praise. Back on land, Lily Briscoe, a young woman artist for whom Mrs. Ramsay was hoping to be a matchmaker, decides to begin work again on an unfinished portrait of Mrs. Ramsay, and as she works, she also realizes a new kind of freedom for herself.

Taking a modernist approach, Woolf has no primary narrator, instead slipping in and out of the minds of several characters as they think about life and observe life around them. Her modified stream-of-consciousness allows her to create a vibrant, free-flowing atmosphere which she peoples with unique characters who have revealed their innermost thoughts. The overall effect is powerful, and Woolf's often lyrical prose conveys the sights and sounds of life on the island at the same time that it also enlivens the highly philosophical but very personal portrait of family life. No unifying plot and no unifying voice tie the three sections of the novel together, and many of the early characters play little role in the ending, yet in her hands the novel "works." Woolf captures not only the passage of time but also the effects of time on all of her characters as they continue their lives, however changed, following in the footsteps of experimental writers like James Joyce, and taking literary chances which place her work with the best of the twentieth century. Mary Whipple

Orlando: A Biography (Oxford World's Classics)

Woolf's mastery of the stream of consciousness technique certainly is something to be admired, but that being said, I still find the novel rather boring and written (deliberately, I believe) in a way not particularly easy to read. Just like this sentence, actually.

I really wanted to write this review, however, to praise this particular edition (Oxforld World's Classics) for including the most ingenious notes I have ever seen. They are obviously very painstakingly researched, incredibly detailed and astonishingly pointless. When a character looks at a picture of Vesuvius exploding, an asterisk encourages the reader to read the appropriate note which is a comprehensive list of all Vesuvius eruptions from 1850 to 1920 (pointing out the most likely one). Upon Mr Ramsey being likened to a walrus, the note helpfully identifies (by name!) a walrus Virginia Woolf could have seen in the London Zoo, complete with his dates of birth and death. Sometimes the note directs you to a relevant passage elsewhere in the book; in one case, this relevant passage (quoted in full in the note, by the way) is as far as three lines away. And the list could go on and on.

Either the notes are an elaborate joke or a clear proof that Oxford professors are rather curious people. Either way, they are hilarious. I never thought I would laugh out loud reading a Woolf novel.

It is often stated that To The Lighthouse is Virginia Woolf's most autobiographical novel. The subject matter is the fictional account of the Ramsey family with the characters of Mr and Mrs Ramsey representing her parents. The narrative is split into three sections. The first is the Ramsey family and friends holidaying at the Ramsey's Hebridean holiday home. It is written in Virginia Woolf's inimitable style with the storyline covering the events of this disparate group over one day. In the third section the reader is taken back to the holiday home after a period of ten years has elapsed to re-visit the scene of the earlier narrative, and to explore the environment in light of the inevitable changes that have occurred. I have purposely left out the second section of the novel and kept the narrative information to a minimum so as not to ruin the novel for those who have not read it before.
Virginia Woolf's writing style (streams of consciousness) does tend to divide readers but if you enjoy exploring how characters think and interact in different social settings then I would recommend this book. Additionally, another of Woolf's works that I feel is on a par with To The Lighthouse and just as enjoyable is Mrs Dalloway (Oxford World's Classics) Both these books will give you a taste of her writing style and are an ideal place to begin if you have not read her before.