On Lighthouses is a surprising and compelling read

What starts as an engrossing treatise on the multifacetedness of lighthouses turns into a dazzling and prismatic read on obsession.

A collection of linked essays centering on the historic, cultural, and personal significance of lighthouses.

The book is broken up into six essays, each centering on a lighthouse in a different geographic location.

Each essay is written in a braided and fragmented format, and juxtaposes each lighthouse's historical and cultural significance (for instance, the first lighthouse inspired Virginia Woolf's iconic novel To the Lighthouse) with Barrera's personal connection to them.

There are some experimentations to the essays throughout--the last essay, for instance, takes the form of a somewhat diaristic travel log --but mostly stick to a braided structure.

Barrera's meditation on lighthouses is lyrical and probing. She explores the more straightforward significance of lighthouses--symbols of hope and humanity . However, Barrera also argues lighthouses as attempts in transcendence and explores how the many interpretations of what a lighthouse could be or mean intersect and conflict with one another.

I found Barrera's thorough and nuanced examinations of lighthouses so compelling, I immediately picked up one of my favorite books, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf . Still working through this novel, but I absolutely plan on giving my thoughts on how Barrera's book reshaped my reading and love for To the Lighthouse (stay tuned for another post on this!).

Barrera also questions not only the nature of lighthouses itself, but also the idea of obsession itself. What draws us to collecting, what draws Barrera herself to this obsession? If at the heart of obsession is the obsessor's desire for "complete ownership" of an object, then what does our object of desire and our inevitable failure of total possession say about us?

If you are a fan of hybrid or braided essays--think Maggie Nelson's Bluets, Jazmina Barrera's On Lighthouses just may be your next favorite read.

Thank you to Two Lines Press for a review copy of this beautiful book.