With my first read of this book, some 20 years ago, I was intrigued with the character Lily, and her struggles with painting. It seemed to me she lacked talent and or training since her portrait of Mrs. Ramsay with James was a bright blob (or was it a triangle) and she couldn’t find a pleasing composition. This time around, 2021, with the aid of our Scholar Beth Torgerson, I can see that Woolf might have been giving us a hint of herself in the process of writing an experimental stream-of-consciousness novel. In both cases, authentic and fictional, an artist didn’t want the critique of the “learned.” As both she wondered if her effort would be treated shabbily in years to come. By the end of the novel, Lily is satisfied with her creation, she has had her adventure. So what if it is not revered? I’ve read that, all said and done, Virginia Woolf was well pleased with this novel. I say "Brava!" What a grand gift her daring has given us.
This time around, 2021, with the aid of our Scholar Beth Torgerson, I can see that Woolf might have been giving us a hint of herself in the process of writing an experimental stream-of-consciousness novel. In both cases, authentic and fictional, an artist didn’t want the critique of the “learned.” As both she wondered if her effort would be treated shabbily in years to come. By the end of the novel, Lily is satisfied with her creation, she has had her adventure. So what if it is not revered? I’ve read that, all said and done, Virginia Woolf was well pleased with this novel. I say "Brava!" What a grand gift her daring has given us.