To the Lighthouse

Rating:
Summary: One of the absolute best books I have ever read
Review: This book is not for everyone! Last month our bookclub read "The Divine Secrets of the YA YA Sisterhood" which I thought was just drivel but is an absolute hit with the public. Fortunately our selection this month was "To the Lighthouse". This is the anti "YA YA" book. It is very spiritual and existential. The symbolism is beautiful. I will never think of lighthouses the same again. I am just sorry that I waited until I was 40 years old to read this book. At least I found it! I will read it over and over. True there is no real plot, but Virginia Woolf is a genuis in her commentary on life. The whole novel is told from the inside out. Everything is told from someone's thoughts. I could not put the book down and was struck with a sense of Awe the entire time. To me this is a true work of art. I also admire her treatment of the theme of masculine and feminine in our society. It is a sad commentary on our society that there are over 300 comments under the book about the Ya Ya's and just a couple of comments on "To the Lighthouse".

Rating:
Summary: I am amazed by these other comments!!!
Review: Virginia Woolf is a true artist and this, her masterpiece. This novel is motivated more by the sheer brilliance of her poetic prose than it is by the story itself--which is also very good. So, if you have the attention span of the typical American action movie goer, you will not be able to follow... Even so, this was not a slow read for me. The last line is one of the most memorable of any novel ever written in English. The way she uses water is remarkable. READ THIS!!! It might be a bit of work but worth it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not Good!!!!
Review: Since To the Lighthouse is the best book of the century, I thought it would be a spell-binding book, but after I read it, I found the book to be extremely pretentious.

Rating:
Summary: "Along the stream of consciousness" with a few rocks
Review: This book came highly recommended from someone who shares the same affinity for the stream-of-consciousness style of writing as myself. However, I found that this book suffered from a lot of repetition and evantually that monotony just got under my skin.

This book does have great moments but these are countered by the dull ones.

Rating:
Summary: brilliant work of literature
Review: V.W use and style of writing captivates the patient, and open minded person. It is different from the usual novels in its style but it still captures the importance of family and the need for families to be strong. The breakdown in families happen everyday as in V.W life,yet, through the book V.W shows how she would have liked her life to end by the reuniting of the family. However, and unfortunately V.W committs suicide. The book should be used as a lesson to all!

Rating:
Summary: This books is slower than the 7 year itch
Review: I and many friends tried to read the "classic" To the Lighthouse it is slow and monotonious.

Rating:
Summary: More like "To the Outhouse"
Review: Too much thought processing for my liking. "Mrs. Ramsey thought..." or "...he thought..." gibberish makes my head spin. Somewhere in this book, there is buried a story. It just takes too long to find it and once you do, it wasn't really worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: Very boring. Not a good choice to read. Too long.
Review: DO NOT CHOOSE TO READ THIS BOOK! I'VE WARNED YOU! IT READS TOO SLOWLY, AND THERE ARE TOO MANY PAGES FOR SO LITTLE THINGS HAPPENING.

Rating:
Summary: Along the stream of consciousness
Review: Those of you interested in an engaging plot should, in general, shy away from Virginia Woolf. _Lighthouse_ is an exquisite novel that explores the minds of its characters. In fact, it is only through the thoughts of one character that the reader learns about another. The culmination of this can easily be seen during the dinner in the first section. Gorgeous, and as Welty says "ethereal" prose throughout. Techniques like the flow of time in the second section are what truly amaze me about Woolf's writing.

Rating:
Summary: Disclaimer: Not My Style
Review: There is only so much introspection and symbolism one can stand. Technically, interesting especially the treatment of passing time in the middle section (and the juxtaposition of its reality vs. perception), but these folks are more boring than my family. When something like this hits a 'Top 100' list, I just scratch my head.