tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post6672466036248752790..comments2024-03-29T03:35:11.890-04:00Comments on Studio and Garden: Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse": The Spirituality of the Inner LifeAltoon Sultanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-32066140051711339632011-09-28T08:10:08.897-04:002011-09-28T08:10:08.897-04:00Wow! Very cool. I knew about the Theosophy around ...Wow! Very cool. I knew about the Theosophy around Bloomsbury, but not the Buddhism.Julie Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668542359534413638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-25324893032796510462011-09-26T08:35:33.106-04:002011-09-26T08:35:33.106-04:00Julie, I did some online research on Woolf and Bud...Julie, I did some online research on Woolf and Buddhism and found that several of her Bloomsbury friends wrote about it, and that she was thinking about it later. Other spiritual ideas were certainly in the air, such as Theosophy, and I believe they must have informed her writing and thought. But of course we see any art through our own lens, a very personal one.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-64299975796856039692011-09-26T08:27:54.341-04:002011-09-26T08:27:54.341-04:00I love this book and each time I encounter it (fir...I love this book and each time I encounter it (first in high school, then teaching it in high school, then hearing the wonderful audio version with Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs. Ramsey), it grows in depth for me. Its structure perfectly enhances the levels of meaning, connection and reverberation of the life underneath the surface that most of us experience. All the characters are imperfect, as are all of us. <br />I found your seeing A Buddhist framework interesting because that likely wouldn't have been Woolf's context. To me it shows how great works of art can be there for us at different times of our own development to reflect back our own temporal focus.Julie Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668542359534413638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-21582821364158187912011-09-25T20:47:54.526-04:002011-09-25T20:47:54.526-04:00I don't like Mrs. Ramsay's particular kind...I don't like Mrs. Ramsay's particular kind of snobbery. <br /> But she is very fine also. When her husband is insensitive to the child: "To pursue truth with such astonishing lack of consideration for other people's feelings, to rend the thin veils of civilisation so wantonly, so brutally, was to her so horrible an outrage of human decency that, without replying, dazed and blinded, she bent her head as if to let the pelt of jagged hail, the drench of dirty water, bespatter her unrebuked. There was nothing to be said."<br /> So silence for Mrs. Ramsay, and words and a vivid image for us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-20659948934597286472011-09-25T19:16:05.122-04:002011-09-25T19:16:05.122-04:00I should also add that this novel is more complex ...I should also add that this novel is more complex than I could write about in a short blog post. It is not all light filled; Mrs Ramsay has her negative qualities; but overall it's a remarkable achievement.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-32343827145395966542011-09-25T18:42:28.344-04:002011-09-25T18:42:28.344-04:00The quotes you've chosen are beautiful, and th...The quotes you've chosen are beautiful, and thinking of it as a long poem is helpful. There are a lot of books out there that really aren't much use to most young readers, but I'm reminded that what's impenetrable at 23 may be just the thing down the road.Susan Sawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17249426819285565971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-823943961065442732011-09-25T18:04:35.861-04:002011-09-25T18:04:35.861-04:00Erik, I think it's great that you related to t...Erik, I think it's great that you related to the book as a young person. It definitely has a mood; for me it's like a long prose poem, with gorgeous writing.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-27741201332229298472011-09-25T17:26:37.319-04:002011-09-25T17:26:37.319-04:00I did manage to read this as a young man, before I...I did manage to read this as a young man, before I knew much about life. I related strongly to the mood of the book, but didn't understand much, probably. Thank you for putting it forward; this makes me want very much to read it again, hopefully with some insight this time.Erik Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11916779728004217143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-77425194319786388562011-09-25T17:15:30.390-04:002011-09-25T17:15:30.390-04:00Susan, I don't think I could have read it year...Susan, I don't think I could have read it years ago. I did read it 3 or 4 years ago for a book club but it was before I'd started my blog; now that I'm writing, I see much more in the book than I did then. I just reread it for my local book club which is meeting tomorrow night; I know it's not the easiest book to read––there's no flowing narrative––so I'm interested in the reactions of others. I simply loved it and want to read other books of hers.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-38247384735766045362011-09-25T17:04:48.414-04:002011-09-25T17:04:48.414-04:00You make me want to try reading this again, forty ...You make me want to try reading this again, forty years or so after my first attempt. I couldn't pay attention to it then, but maybe can now.Susan Sawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17249426819285565971noreply@blogger.com