Comments on: Woolf in Winter: To the Lighthouse

By: Care

Care — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:52:59 +0000

I appreciate you picking one idea/scene to discuss (if there is such a thing as one thing in a Woolf novel) – I feel my random post was shallow but oh well. I so enjoyed this and everyone’s comments to your ‘bundle of personalities’. I can’t help but restate how fascinated and enjoyable these discussions are. And how everyone brings something different to the experience.

By: verbivore

verbivore — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:09:18 +0000

This is one of my favorite novels, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I think this moment of tense interaction, when two personalities have conflict because of differences in their fundamental, inescapable selves, is where Woolf is at her greatest.

By: Alison

Alison — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:01:39 +0000

You almost have me convinced to give Woolf a second chance. Had to read To the Lighthouse for a class almost 10 years ago now… probably isn’t a fair way to judge her.

By: Frances

Frances — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:47:43 +0000

Really enjoyed this post. I always avoid dealing with this section of the novel because of the discomfort of reading it. The characters and their interactions do feel so real that I bristle at descriptions of Ramsay’s undeniable tyranny. I pity him. And those he subjects to his neediness. But as said above, what rich characters.

Thanks for reading along and I hope to see you on the 12th for Orlando.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:58:22 +0000

That scene you chose to focus on is a great one, Nicole, and the resolution with Lily’s comment about the boots is both comical and pitiful in equal proportions. Watching Woolf’s characters resist becoming healers out of principle made me feel really connected to them as believable creations, but I also think it had a distancing effect on me in some way in that they sometimes seemed more stubborn than principled. Still, a very powerful novel. Nice post!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:30:18 +0000

GREAT post. That scene is so intense and layered. I too am struck by your point about the characters spending much of the book trying to decide if they like each other. So true to life – we do it all day, even with people we’re completely convinced that we love. What an odd human trait.

By: Bellezza

Bellezza — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:22:58 +0000

That the tyrant, Mr. Ramesay, is not Lily’s responsiblity is huge! So many women (me, in my twenties) take responsibility for things they have no business acepting, or trying to sooth the mess that tyrants have created. I felt Lily’s pain acutely, and was amazed that Mrs. Ramesay was able to cope with it all so gracefully.

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:08:14 +0000

Nicole, I’m glad you focused on Lily Briscoe because, on this second reading, she really came forward for me. As a character she is deceptively quiet and modest and, next to Mrs. Ramsay, she almost seems to be in the background. Mrs. Ramsay didn’t care a fig for her painting. Thank heavens for William Bankes, who has the intelligence and consideration to overcome his prejudices and listen to her. What is Woolf saying about this particular friendship? It has completely different dynamics from the marriage relationship of the Ramsays. Mr. Bankes–despite Mrs. Ramsay’s pity toward him as lonely–is not a needy man. I think Woolf is saying that people are complex, “bundled,” as you put it; and all those different relationships that Claire lists–each one is unique. I enjoyed your post!

By: Martine

Martine — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:04:21 +0000

Hi, thanks for your review, but it has put me off somewhat. i didn’t manage to read the book yet and now I am not sure about reading it. Mr Ramsay sounds just like my ex husband so I am not sure I want to read a book about an emotionally needy man, sounds too depressing:-)
martine

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:00:25 +0000

Yes, yes, yes! Loved your post, Nicole. The tension Woolf creates between Lily’s conflicting impulses, and between her and Mr. Ramsay, is indeed masterful. Personally I’m always rooting for Lily to withhold sympathy and “niceness” from Mr. Ramsay and Charles Tansley, although on this read-through I felt more sympathetic toward Mr. Ramsay than I have before. More to the point, though, Woolf’s attention to the “bundled nature of personalities,” as you so aptly put it, is so beautiful and complex. Thanks for reading along, and for articulating one of my very favorite things about Woolf’s novels!

And Anthony: That’s so interesting that you felt the characters in Mrs. Dalloway to be two-dimensional! I don’t know if I agree, but their interactions are different than those in To the Lighthouse, to be sure…those in Mrs. D have a long history with each other, for one thing, whereas not everyone in TTL does. Will have to ponder…thanks for making me think!