To the Lighthouse: Week One

[Marie]

Mr and Mrs Ramsey stay in the Hebrides for the summer, with their children and several guests. A quiet struggle ensues between the Ramsey's over whether the weather will be suitable for a trip to the lighthouse, that in a subtle way, highlights their relationship with their children, each other, and themselves.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Such a feeling of Katherine Mansfield. This book is so subtle. I'm loving it!

[Piyumi]

Me too, love the subtlety of the family dynamics and those of the visitors.

[Marie]

Glad you guys are enjoying it. Which characters are we most interested in so far?

I still haven't read any of Katherine Mansfield, but it's definitely I the list.

[Piyumi]

:D I'm loving James ...I feel an affinity with him and his 'feelings' towards his mother and the anger/jealousy he has for his father. The marriage of the Ramseys also reminds me of my parents'. It was a shock to find that common ground from the first page of the novel and I must admit, that is what is drawing me further in to the story.

[Piyumi]

Now, as I've progressed with the novel, I'm more towards Lily and her thinking. Its superb the way VW gets this character to process her revulsion and then sympathy for Mr Ramsey and makes that subtle comment on how it is the 'lot of the fairer sex' to put up with these demands.

[Linda]

I am squeezing it in when I can, which is tricky with the stream of consciousness and frequent changes in perspective.....but I find it interesting that she's able to depict the way different characters' thought processes work..........Mr. Ramsey's, whose mind seems to run on several tracks at once, and his suppressed emotional needs.......Mrs. Ramsey squashing her own needs and her mind's "voice".....brief glimpses of James', although they are fleeting before an adult's takes over....nicely done.

[Piyumi]

Linda Abhors the New GR Design wrote: "I am squeezing it in when I can, which is tricky with the stream of consciousness and frequent changes in perspective.....but I find it interesting that she's able to depict the way different chara..."

Agree, how VW managers to insert herself to the psyche of each characters and showcase the different thought patterns. She must have been an amazing observer of the human condition.