Cecil Vortex

Welcome to Week 2…. Looks like we’ve got an excellent bunch of ‘marchers onboard. And yes, a part of me fears I’ll be bankrupted by all them magnets. But then I’m reminded of that old wax devil math. Good old math.
Since some folks are new, here’s a quick word about what to post when: At the start of a new thread, post about the previous week. That is, you’d post about the first week’s reading right here. As the week and the thread roll on, people tend to start posting about the current week’s reading. And that’s fine too. Really, there’s no hard and fast rule about this. We’re all just just trying to avoid dropping accidental spoilers by jumping ahead of the pack.
That bit o’ business aside, let me say: golly I enjoyed this week’s reading. This is my first brush with Woolf. I expected there’d be leaping in and out of people’s heads. But I didn’t expect anything as goofy-great as Mr. Ramsay’s heroic efforts to conquer R. Or anything as vivid as that selfsame Mr. taking his leave “with a movement which oddly reminded his wife of the great sea lion at the Zoo tumbling backwards after swallowing his fish and walloping off so that the water in the tank washes from side to side…” All this and the repeated refrain from Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade — “stormed at by shot and shell, boldly we rode and well….”
I’m sold. It’s a great start, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes us. See ya on the trail,
-Cecil
Next Wednesday: One more relatively short hop, and then we’ll start to pick up speed. Let’s meet at the end of Chapter XVI where we can “assemble in the dining-room for dinner.”

Welcome to “The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse” — a group read of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
I think we have something like 15 or 20 people planning to read this go-around — a nice solid number. Simple math, however, tells us only that two will finish, and I won’t be one of of them. Still, as my Italian nanny used to say: “il per la matematica è una cosa della cera ed i numeri sono fatti della cera.” Which means (roughly) “math is a wax thing, and numbers are made of wax.” She was a crazy old coot.
For anyone new, here’s how it works: every Wednesday I post an entry saying how far we’re reading that week. Folks drop by and comment over the next seven days.
But Are There Prizes?
Yes! There are prizes! Finish the book and comment each week, and you’ll receive a genuine To-the-Lighthouse-themed talisman hand-imbued with a fractional sampling of the raw power wielded by Magneto, Master of Magnetism. (on the off-chance we get more people than we’re expecting, let’s cap that at 30 hand-imbued talismans)
Be sure to shout out in the comments (click on “Whaddya Think” below) if you’re on the ‘march, both to stay talisman-qualified, and so’s we can get a headcount. Don’t sweat it if you fall a little behind on the reading — “I’m so far behind!” actually counts as a legitimate comment. And of course, If you’ve read the book before, try to keep comments from getting ahead of the weekly reading.
And that’s it. Mostly, it’s just a chance to read a great book, share thoughts and questions, and shake a fist at that old wax devil, math, by making it through to the end.
See ya on the trail,
-Cecil
Next Wednesday: We meet at the end of Book 1, Chapter 7, where someone’s about to say nothing and take opium.