s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all]’s review of To the Lighthouse > Likes and Comments

That's what I've been hearing. I've only read a short story by her, shameful I know.

do it quickly!! chop chop! then we can discuss while it's still fresh in my mind (cos it's all about me of course, te he). you're going to loooove it.

Sounds good to me! Too much positive praise from people I trust to not read her immedietly

I wanna see your review. A friend of mine read it (a lot of reviewers say this is a masterpiece) and he only gave it three stars. He read me some parts of the book and I didn't like them. So, I'm waiting to see what you think :)

Hey, sorry, I didn't see this. I'm getting terrible at responding lately! So far this might be the best book I have read all year. It's definitely up there. It is super dry at first, but I sort of like that. I language is incredible though, I think you may enjoy it in a good translation. It reminds me a lot of Faulkner in a way.

ok, ok, i'm gunna get in on this action too! :)

Good choice. It is amazing!

You definitely should! I think it is the best of the year for me so far, but I'm still basking in the afterglow. It's just, well, exactly what I wanted to read.

I finished To the Lighthouse' recently too and 'basking in the afterglow' is a good description of how I felt for a few days.

Awesome, glad someone else felt the same! I actually had a dream that involved the beach and looking for the boat last night, I guess it reached me even on the subconscious level

I'm interested to hear your feelings on this book. I read it about 6 years ago and had a very strong reaction to it and walked away not sure whether I like it or not.

I'll try to get a review up this weekend. I think this may be my favorite book of the year so far.

I just posted a review of Katherine Anne Porter's "Ship of Fools." Porter's favorite book was "To The Lighthouse" and said her novel was influenced by it. To paraphrase Porter's opinion of Lighthouse --It begins with an apparently insoluble problem, and it works out of confusion into order. The material is all used so that you are going toward a goal. And that goal is the clearing up of disorder and confusion and wrong, to a logical and human end. I don’t mean a happy ending, but it comes out to an orderly end. The threads are all drawn up.

Nice, that is a perfect description of that book. It does have a fantastic conclusion, and really sums up the issues of human relationships and our desire to stay permanent in an impermanent existence. I'd HIGHLY recommend it, especially as a come-down from Joyce. Apparently it is a response to Ulysses in a way, and manages to be just as impressive in a fraction of length. Someone summed it up in a thread in a way that I've tweaked as: Ulysses blew my mind, Lighthouse stole my heart. What Joyce did intellectually, Woolf did for that inner spirit of emotion.

Now i will have to reread Lighthouse and reappraise it.

Good plan, I think it's one that probably speaks more with age anyways.

So glad you loved this.....

Me too! I'm actually writing the review...right now (finally), and, I have to admit, drunkenly

Yayyy....another awesome (how the hell he write such stuff) review is coming up.

Yes drunken reviews are the best.

Ahem... I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2...

Stephen M wrote: "Ahem... I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2..."

NICE. I'll have to make one of those! Turns out your voice fits you to a T. Always nice when that happens ie Mitchell, ie Faulkner, ie Merwin.

Garima wrote: "Yayyy....another awesome (how the hell he write such stuff) review is coming up."

I hate to disappoint, but this one is rather lazy. I waited to long and I sort of just vomited this one out.

s.penkevich wrote: "Stephen M wrote: "Ahem... I'm just going to leave this here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2..."

NICE. I'll have to make one of..."

Yes!!!!

Ha, very cool. You should definitely do it. It'd be great. It's so much fun fitting actual human voices to those square pictures.

So true, I'm doing just that right now. I forget people have accents too!

s.penkevich wrote: "I hate to disappoint, but this one is rather lazy. I waited to long and I sort of just vomited this..."

You call this LAZY! Lemme read and decide :P

Long but lethargic. Too much of this: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/...

I just recently bought this book, because I've read so many good things about it - and now this amazing review as well. You make it sound like the exact kind of writing I love. Perhaps this is what I should spend my day off reading.

Kirstine wrote: "I just recently bought this book, because I've read so many good things about it - and now this amazing review as well. You make it sound like the exact kind of writing I love. Perhaps this is what..."

I think you will enjoy this, I'd be very surprised if not given your taste in books.

Awesome review yo!

(Just a little thing. I think one of your italics isn't closed on the end there).

*straight face* I know I'll hate this book now.
Great review, refer to Stephen's comment.

Great review Sven and this sums it up beautifully

They all try to leave their impressions upon one another but, at the end of the day, are still only left with their perspective and opinion of the others instead of the unity and knowledge of who their contemporaries truly are inside and what motivates their actions. They are forever separated by the fact that souls cannot ever meld and become one. The real tragedy is that these characters, while desiring to understand and be understood, more often than not hurt one another, often due to fear and insecurity, through their attempts of reaching into the others soul.

I wonder Beer doesn't mellow down your modesty eh!

There is no telling when the beam of life will be gone, no preparations can be made, and we must deal with it. Such is existence.

I love that line of yours; you have summed up 'To the Lighthouse' perfectly!

Stephen M wrote: "Awesome review yo!

(Just a little thing. I think one of your italics isn't closed on the end there)."

Thanks! Glad you inspired me to read this one. Ah, yes, should be fixed now. I posted this and said 'eh, editing will come later never.' ha

Jonathan wrote: "*straight face* I know I'll hate this book now.
Great review, refer to Stephen's comment."

s.penkevich realizes he did not make this review gimmicky enough. He assures Johnathan, by means of the comment section, that a Pale Fire review is brewing and promises it to be more or a gimmick than the actual brilliant novel.

Garima wrote: "Great review Sven and this sums it up beautifully

They all try to leave their impressions upon one another but, at the end of the day, are still only left with their perspective and opinion of th..."

Thank you! I'm glad it turned out alright. I was feeling like I was trying to just sledgehammer all my notes through a tiny hole and began to get apathetic with my attempts. I suppose it's hard to feel confident writing something after reading Woolf ha.

Lawrence wrote: "I first read this 20 years ago stuck between two stations on the London underground in the sweltering heat for over an hour, it saved my soul.
After this I read everything she ever wrote and avoid ..."

Ha, good decisions. I'll be reading everything she wrote too now, and avoiding public transport as well!Do you have a favorite of hers?

Fionnuala wrote: "There is no telling when the beam of life will be gone, no preparations can be made, and we must deal with it. Such is existence.

I love that line of yours; you have summed up 'To the Lighthouse' ..."

Thank you Fionnuala! But I must protest, it was you to sum up TTLH perfectly in your review.

s.penkevich wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "*straight face* I know I'll hate this book now.
Great review, refer to Stephen's comment."

s.penkevich realizes he did not make this review gimmicky enough. He assures Johnathan, ..."

Brewing eh? Like that fine beer you had I presume :p

Nah, the beer went down smooth. The gimmick will just probably be clunky and chunky (like if the fine beer comes back up)

bravissimo! I thought this one was going to slip through the cracks unreviewed. well done sir.

Mike wrote: "Nice. Nice. Nice. Keep 'em coming, s.penx. What you don't make us want to read, you make us want to reread. Can't do much better than that."

Hey, thanks!
Just avoid reading the ones I recommend by Bulgakov ha.

Jenn(ifer) wrote: "bravissimo! I thought this one was going to slip through the cracks unreviewed. well done sir."

It almost did. And then the alcohol said 'hey, review this!' and all was merry.

Mike wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: " Hey, thanks!
Just avoid reading the ones I..."

Oh, I've got your number, mister. Lesson learned: Don't read Spenkerz' books when the author's name is unpronouncable."

Ha, good rule to abide by. Hamsun, Woolf: ok. Gombrowicz, Szymborska: proceed with caution.

Lawrence wrote: "Mrs Dalloway is my favourite, see if you can track down her five volumes of collected letters, great immediacy and poetic insight on everything"

Nice, I own Dalloway and will probably read that soon along with The Waves. I'll keep my eyes open for the letters.

Kat wrote: "Your review is better than a Cliffs Notes, because you not only made To the Lighthouse comprehensible, you also made me want to read the book!"

Hah, thank you! I hope I didn't give too much away though, I tried to keep it out of context from the plot so things still come as surprises. I hope you enjoy it, once you get into the groove of her style it really opens up beautifully.

Your reviews always convince me to add the novel to the old TBR list. Lovely. Just lovely.

Great review as usual!
I should give woolf a Second chance ,I have only read Mrs Dalloway,and didn't like it.it was boring may be because i read it translated.

I really LIKED this quote;
"They all try to leave their impressions upon one another but, at the end of the day, are still only left with their perspective and opinion of the others instead of the unity and knowledge of who their contemporaries truly are inside and what motivates their actions. "

There must be something about Virginia Woolf that inspires some of the best written reviews on Goodreads. Yours is a quintessential case in point, Penkers. Telling us her perspective as she wrote it was a great angle -- her family background and the male dominance that she faced.

Now for a quick observation about your state of sobriety. We've been warned not to drink and dial. These same people might advise us not to tipple and text. But if your output here is at all representative, we should look to revel and review as much as possible. ;-)