To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

When I read Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys earlier this summer, there were several references to Virginia Woolf, and so I decided to read one of her books. I read the first 35 pages of To The Lighthouse in total confusion - I didn't want to read about the author or her writing ahead of time- then turned back to the beginning, read the Foreward VERY carefully, then began again, reading more intently. It soon became clear that Woolf wrote in "stream of consciousness": her books are a window into the mind, the sub-conscious. Those millions of thoughts that we have at any given moment are put into words by Woolf, so even as Lily Briscoe is painting the cottage, we read all those thoughts, without any connection between them. Difficult, or what? I finally realized that I'd never totally digest all this, just as all those random thoughts we have can never be completely retrieved, and then my reading began to flow a little bit better, but it still wasn't easy! I also cheated a little and read up on Woolf in Wikipedia. She must have done a lot of self-examination to be able to write like this, and she also must have been absolutely brilliant. The novel divides itself into three parts, and I have read the first, longest part. I had to leave it- just too much concentration was required- but I'll come back to it. At least I don't have to worry about remembering what happened!

I tackled this book in between the two Dervla Murphy books.