قصة الكتاب :
To the Lighthouse is a novel by English author Virginia Woolf, published in 1927. The book was first published in Britain and America on the 32nd anniversary of Woolf’s mother’s death. As she would later explain, she constantly thought of her parents who were no more and writing the book was, in many ways, her mind’s way of laying them to rest properly. The book was a literary success and helped Woolf win the Prix Femina - Van Heureuse in 1928. \r\n
\r\nThe book is divided into three sections, each of which contains stream-of-consciousness thoughts from different narrators. The division of the novel into three sections was described by Woolf as an H shape, with the longer first and third verticals taking place in single days and the shorter horizontal connecting part taking place over a decade. The divisions were created to depict the expansion and contraction of time. The story is set in the period between 1910 and 1920 and centers around the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland during this period. The main themes in the novel are those of marriage, perception, memory and the passing of time. The technique that Woolf used helped her delve into the inner lives of her main characters and present them in a unique fashion. As a result of the literary construct employed, the story does not have a single narrator. Instead the plot unfolds gradually through the details of each character’s consciousness. The readers are left to interpret what they can of the story and form their own views through character development. \r\n
\r\nThe novel starts with the Ramsay’s six-year old son James asking to go to the lighthouse that stands across the bay from their summer home in the Hebrides. Mrs. Ramsey tells James that he could do so if the weather was good. Mr. Ramsey crushes James’ hopes by stating matter-of-factly that the weather would not make a trip to the lighthouse possible. The Ramseys go on to have an argument later on in the day. The central idea in the novel is the exploration of the conflict between the masculine and feminine principles at work. Mrs. Ramsay with her emotional and poetic frame-of-mind represents the feminine principle in the story. Mr. Ramsay, the self-centered philosopher with a rational mindset represents the masculine principle. Both perspectives are flawed and limited. The character of Lily Briscoe is Woolf’s vision of the artist who is the perfect blend of both perspectives. This is metaphorically represented through the completion of a painting that Lily is shown to be working on from the start of the novel. \r\nTo the Lighthouse has been considered as a pivotal work in the modernist canon. It has won significant appreciation and critical acclaim over the years and has been named twice as one among the 100 best novels of the 20th century. \r\n