“To the Lighthouse”, by Virginia Woolf, is a book that focuses on the stream-of-consciousness without a clear plot. The whole book was divided into 3 sections, entitled “The Window,” “Time Passes,” and “The Lighthouse”. Each of these sections is told through the narration of more than one narrator and is fragmented into a semi-complete story. 

At the beginning of the book, Mr. Ramsay’s son, James, desperately wanted to go to the lighthouse. Mrs. Ramsay comforted him that they will go if the weather permits, however, the dad coldly told him that the weather won’t work out. Thus, James develops a murderous hatred in his dad and thinks that Mr. Ramsay enjoyed torturing him. The Ramsays also hosted a party. Many people came, and although there were some conflicts between them, they had a good time. 

As the book enters the second section, time passed quickly and many changes occur: A war broke out and both Mrs. Ramsay, Andrew Ramsay, and Prue died. The Ramsay family abandoned their summer house and only returned ten years later. 

Toward the end of the book, the narration slowed down again and focused on more details. The Ramsays decide to finally go to the lighthouse. During their voyage, Mr. Ramsay’s two sons shifted their opinion on their dad, who they once consider cruel and bad. Even James, who would like to murder his dad if he could, felt a bit of connection with Mr. Ramsay. The book ended with Lily putting a finishing touch on her drawing. 

This book presented many vivid, interesting characters. One that I considered the most interesting, if not the most contradictory, is Mr. Ramsay. On one hand, he appears to be rather sharp and rude, as we can see from when he refuses James and his occasional rude comments. On the other hand, he also constantly seek comfort and pity/sympathy, first from Mrs. Ramsay and then from Lily when Mrs. Ramsay died. Both his straight-forward temper and the lack of sympathy were due to the fact that he knows he will die. As a scholar, he recognizes that death is inevitable, and thus probably wants to make the most out of being alive. His awareness of death’s inevitability also caused him to be unconfident in his scholarly accomplishment as he really doubted whether he will ever get to the letter z. 

Both the personality of hard and soft blended on him and thus I can connect to him and life is full of complexity. In real society, males often need to hold on to their identity as a masculine identity, and that meant they can’t cry and can’t look for comfort. The truth might be the opposite. Mr. Ramsay’s need for sympathy might just be what many need in real life. 

This book also taught many life lessons or advice. For example, Mrs. Ramsay’s opinion that love is when a small thing gets captured and obtained and teaches one a lot about living in the moment and that love doesn’t always have to be bluntly romantic, but rather can be found in the details of many trivial things. 

All in all, I think this book is definitely a worthwhile book to read. Also, it might be hard to comprehend due to the way the story was told, it also teaches many lessons and exposes one to a different type of novel.