Mop Philosophy Book Club: To The Lighthouse

Godrevy Lighthouse
St Ives, Cornwall

 Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse completely took me by surprise!  I have had this book on my "to read" list for years and I had some preconceptions about it.  I am not sure of the origins of my ideas about the book as they were completely off base.  In the end I found it a pleasurable read, and though many passages were "psychological poetry" I did not find it difficult, though I did find it a challenge.

How so?  To be so completely immersed in the inner thoughts of the characters was a challenge for the absolute seriousness of their thought processes.  The idea that kept occurring to me was that no-one has thoughts this dour!  Each character, to me, seemed fairly plunged into gloom, perseverating on the same themes, winding around in circles of both self-consciousness and ambitions of belonging.
Reading each character's stream was an immersive experience, to the point that I found myself going off on my own thoughts and coming around again only to realize I'd read half a page and hadn't taken a thing in!  So while I enjoyed this thought immersion, I also found myself unable to read it if I wasn't paying particular attention to focussing on the character.  Did anyone else have this experience?

As you probably know if you have done any bit of reading on the book we are dealing with quite a bit of autobiography here.  Virginia Woolf's own family had a summer home in Cornwall and there was a lighthouse located out to sea, past similar gardens and a bay.  The character Mrs. Ramsay was modelled on Virginia Woolf's mother, who died when Virginia was only 13.
The sometimes frustrating thought process of Lily Briscoe was an exploration of Virginia Woolf's own writing methods, as well as a nod to her sister Vanessa Bell, the painter.
James is modelled on their brother Adrian.

 Did I enjoy the book?  My most favourite section was Time Passes, when we are immersed in the house rather than any particular character, though Mrs McNab the caretaker does add in her own thought process as she "lurches and leers" around the house on occasion, cleaning and attempting to keep the ravages of time at bay.
The house as well as time itself become characters of some importance:
"So with the house empty and the doors locked and the mattresses rolled round, those stray airs, advance guards of great armies, blustered in, brushed bare boards, nibbled and fanned, met nothing in bedroom or drawing-room that wholly resisted them but only hangings that flapped, wood that creaked, the bare legs of tables, saucepan and china already furred, tarnished, cracked." (Chapter 4, Time Passes)

I enjoyed this essay on the novel:  Virginia Woolf Explores and English Country Home (NYT)

I really liked this biography:  Virginia Woolf Biography 

As well as this take on the book:  To The Lighthouse is really a book about summer holidays.

However what I'm really looking forward to is any thoughts you might have on the book, whether you've read all or part, don't be shy, chime in!
xoxDani