Book Club: To the Lighthouse

Book club has been different since the pandemic crisis. Well, everything has been different since the pandemic. Even before the virus felt like a serious threat in the UK, we were having a hard time getting together. Our last two books were One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Animal Farm by George Orwell. I didn't write about either of these. Marquez's novel is a brute to try to explain the usage of non-linear writing and characterization throughout an entire family instead of individual characters. It was a novel that I was so glad to have read but would probably never read again. And with Animal Farm, well... what is there to be said for a novella written as an allegory for communism. I felt Orwell was a bit heavy-handed in showcasing how terrible communism is but I understand that that was the point of the story. It feels like there isn't much more to be said about the novel, to be honest. We had to have both of these meetings virtually and it was different but not a terrible situation. It was nice to talk about something of meaning and to connect with our group.

April was my choice of novel. We originally started this group with the intention that each month it would be a different member's turn to choose a book and that is what we would read. However, we have gotten into the habit of picking two or three books and giving choices to our fellow members. I suggested a novel by Amy Tan (I started it on my own after we chose and abandoned it a little over halfway through) and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. My group chose To the Lighthouse (they seem to have a proclivity towards classic novels) and we didn't talk for over a month. I was putting off reading it. I was in a crazy reading slump. Life felt hard and stressful and although I generally love to read, it wasn't bringing me the joy and distraction that it usually did. And it seems that the other members are also experiencing this as at the date of writing this, nobody else had even started it. 

Finally, at the beginning of May, I started this novel... and instantly regretted making this my choice. Although I have an appreciation for many classic novels, I find many to be overrated and tedious to read. Just because something is old does not make it more meaningful or literary than a modern novel. To the Lighthouse suffers from something I believe many classic novels do, it bounces between interesting and uninteresting so quickly that it is a paradox to the reader. If the author can write clearly and interestingly, why then do they choose to write in nonsensical over-descriptive meaningless circles? I know judging the quality of writing is so subjective to individual taste but I find pretentious writing that tries too hard to be "meaningful" tiresome. Maybe because I find that I have those inclinations in my own writing. 

I've found Woolf's life to be interesting ever since I wrote a research paper on her in school but I had never actually read one of her novels. Perhaps this was not the one to start with (although I believe it was suggested as a starting point for Woolf) and I don't believe I'll be reading any more of her novels. I found myself pushing to finish the novel because I chose it and I didn't want to not finish a book I chose. But it was a process to make myself read it. Do I appreciate elements of the novel? Yes. I do think that there are some interesting parts and uses of her writing that make it an interesting piece of writing. I do think it could have been a short story and made a better impact though. 

The use of stream of consciousness is lauded by many critics and readers and I understand why. It allows us to see the inner workings of many different characters' minds as well as to ponder the meaning of the human conscious. However, the way it whipped back and forth to each character with no indication that the narrator had changed was very frustrating as a reader. If each character had a more distinctive voice, I believe it would have been more interesting and less confusing. I'm sure Woolf's writing has influenced many modern writers to do just that and I appreciate how difficult it is to be one of the first to do something. Mrs. Ramsay is very much the most developed character as I instantly related to her thought processes. I felt like she had the most unique voice of all the characters and I found her parts the easiest to understand. 

Sometimes I like to write down instant thoughts about a novel when I finish it and one of my favorite quotes from my own writing is that "Mr. Ramsay is an insufferable twit who shows the fragility of the male ego well." Perhaps I've been spending too much time in England but I stand behind my statement. Mr. Ramsay's need for everyone to feel sorry for him and to pump up his ego about his attempt to become timeless through philosophy is so frustrating and annoying. And I believe that this was Woolf's attempt at criticizing the male ego and the women who fuel it. Mr. and Mr. Ramsay were testaments to the inner workings and thoughts of normal marriages of the time. From my research To the Lighthouse is semi-autobiographical and Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay were based on Woolf's own parents. I think you can see how she was trying to get to the root of who they were as people, parents, and how their relationship was flawed but still loving.  And when you realize the work is semi-autobiographical, you realize that Lily is obviously representative of Woolf herself. I see this especially in the use of Mr. Tansley saying that women can't write or paint and how Lily fixated on that message even when she disliked the person saying it. It is such proof that our insecurities plague us throughout our lives. I also saw in Lily her conflicted feelings about marriage and family. You see Lily be extremely jealous of the life Mrs. Ramsay lives while also criticizing and denouncing it for her own life. I feel the stream of consciousness was used to it's best effect during the dinner party scene. It was the one scene where I felt comfortable with the movements from one character's thoughts to another. I loved how Woolf showed how fickle the human conscious is, oscillating between love and disdain for other people based purely on the current predicament. I feel like she showed us that just because we think something doesn't mean that is is actually true or that we believe it in the end. Our thoughts can be cruel and false. How wonderful it is that no one can read our minds. 

While writing this, I do see the merit of the novel. I realized that I actually got more out of reading it than I originally thought. However, the actual process of reading it was monotonous and difficult to comprehend. I even found the Time Passes section so incredibly boring and uninteresting while others marvel at that section. To each their own but I don't think I'll be picking up a piece of Woolf's work for quite some time.