To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf · ★★★★★

There are many, many books I love but this one is my favorite. Updated review 5.26.26: I've read this book 4 or 5 times in my life - I started before the advent of logging everything we do on social media. Each time I come to it I find it hard to believe I ever read it in the first place. Every sentence feels fresh and full of dazzling ambition. There are big moments I wait for, which are my favorites: Time Passes, "I have had my vision", etc. But the rest of the book has literally no filler. Every single line is notable, works from a fascinating angle, pushes the boundaries of literature from a position of empathy few other writers even attempt. I could quote this book daily, and I would essentially quote the whole thing. Maybe I ought to create a social media bot for that. It would be unnecessary, however. Instead, I'll just keep returning to read this incredible novel every so often. I'll keep being inspired by Woolf's way of handling scenes of characters thinking about other characters as a way to show how they think of themselves. How she paints a vast subconscious network of thoughts that make up what it feels like to exist as human beings. As for what I can say to really convey how I feel about this, my favorite book. No better than to quote the book itself: "The urgency of the moment always missed its mark. Words fluttered sideways and struck the object inches too low."