The Hours by Michael Cunningham
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Book Reviews of The Hours
Book Review: An Excellent Novel About The Struggles Of Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I will try not to sound prejudiced. Michael Cunningham wrote a novel which seems as if forged by a woman's mind. Reading the emotional heartache and struggle, one would think a woman wrote this book. But Michael Cunningham is superb, psychological, profound. He definately knows Virgina Woolf, who had a life full of emotional crisis, who gave the literary world stream-of-conscious novels and beautiful writing. Virginia Woolf's verbage was always striking. In "The Hours" ( the title suggests the theme- the hours of our lives must be taken seriously, enjoyed, to really LIVE THEM), Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep in the movie) is a strong, independent 50 plus woman who is married to an author dying of AIDS who also happens to have some mental disorders. She is preparing to throw a party for his honor. At the same time, we look back at 1950's suburbia where a pregnant Laura Brown and her son prepare a cake for her husban'ds birthday. Virginia Woolf, in the English countryside, is brainstorming to write her short story, "Mrs. Dalloway".For those who have read Virginia Woolf and in particular, "Mrs. Dalloway" the series of events that occur in "The Hours" should strike a familiar bell. Mrs. Dalloway reappears in the lives of Laura Brown, specifically, but one can make the argument that Clarissa Vaugn is also Mrs. Dalloway's reincarnation. The tragic parts express human suffering, particularily the sadness of loss, the poignancy of living with a terminal illness, the fleeting sense of living. The lives of the characters are complex, vivid and remarkably true to life. Cunningham will be a noteworthy writer on my list. Some of the things are very dark, but poignant. The contemplation of death and life, transience, loss and the madness and despair at human nature is best expressed with Virginia Woolf's eccentric, melancholic persona. Two suicides in the book. Virginia Woolf said it best, "To look life in the face- to love it. And then to put it away."
Book Review: The hours that live on...
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Cunningham did a great job researching and writing about Virginia Woolf and of course, some imagination went in there as to how Woolf was feeling at the time of writing her great novel, Mrs. Dalloway, and dying.
Here, we get three different stories of true emotions, each heartfelt in its own way, combined into a cohesive novel that will have you in tears a couple of times before the end.
The link here is Viginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway". Virginia Woolf, an author troubled by by own insanity in Richmond (early 1920s) is in the midst of writing her book, Mrs Dalloway. Choosing between living in Richmond and death, Virginia Woolf will finally succumb to the voices in her head by drowning herself. As she questioned her existence, life and love for her husband, Virginia put part of herself in the book she was writing.
Almost 30 years later, a lonely housewife, Laura Brown in Los Angeles (195o's) picks up the book for a read and questions her own life and feelings. It looked as if her life was perfect, a loving husband, a son and an unborn coming their way. It was her husband's birthday and she wa going to make a cake. She made one and another. Her best friend, Kathy, came for a visit with bad news and both parted with a kiss, a kiss that transcended time, gender and emotions. Laura chose to leave her family while the impact on her son, Richard, was so devastating in years to come.
In modern day 90's New York City, a gay woman, Clarissa Vaughn being nicknamed "Mrs. Dalloway" by her dying AIDS friend, Richard (Laura's grown-up son), questioned her own existence and priorities when Richard re-ascertained his love for her before leaping to his death.
In this well-executed novel, feeling is operative here. In a complex web of life, love and relationships, one day in the life of three women in different times was to be so life-altering.
Absolutely smashing.
Book Review: A rewarding meditation on life, death, time, art and more
Summary: 5 Stars
The Hours is one of the best novels I've read in years. I heard someone else describe it as a "meditation on the gifts the dying leave to the living." That's a a profound and rich theme that isn't often explored in popular literature. I suspect that's why some of the negative reviews here seem so angry; mortality isn't a topic we like to think about particularly. I feel bad for those who can only see it as a "story about weepy women." And I feel worse for those who think it's boring. I was intrigued to follow Cunningham's rich themes through connections made among these three times and their related characters. These relations through time, the parallel attempts to connect, to create lives worth living, for me, temper the existential despair at the root of the book by revealing the universality of it all--with art's ability to help us through. This is one of those books that I have a hard time articulating its full meaning and impact on me. That happens rarely, and I usually see it as a sign that the work is tapping something deep, primal and profound. Some reviewers denounce the book, as if they expected it to be a biography of Woolf or a sequel to Mrs. Dalloway. I'm male and I hadn't yet read Mrs. Dalloway, and my experience with Woolf is scant, which may be a blessing in appreciating The Hours. I've seen Woolf scholars get their panties in a twist because they think The Hours is an inaccurate portrait of Woolf and her work. Maybe it is, but THAT'S NOT THE POINT, people. Others here dismiss the book, wanting "more plot" and character development. Some are confused by the time shifts. If you're one who wants your reading predictable, simple and always the same, The Hours is probably not for you. If, instead, you like a challenge and are willing to let yourself be carried along on this internal journey, you might be be richly rewarded.
Book Review: Very good, short read
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book a few months after the movie, which I haven't seen, came out. It has one quality which I appreciate above all others (apart from a certain humor) in a novel: conciseness. These days, with so many ambitious American writers trying to write the 'Great American Novel', following in the footsteps of Tolstoy by writing boring, prolix and heavy handed books, it was refreshing to find an ambitious literary work that was both meaningful and short.Cunningham's sentences remind me of an article by John Updike about the South African writer J.M. Coetzee, which appeared on The New Yorker some months ago. In it he compared Coetzee's writing to the obsessively pruned trees that line some Parisian avenues.
In fact, sometimes you wish Cunningham had expanded a little on some of his character's thoughts and ideas. But that happens only a few times.
The one thing I found lacking in this book is humor. Had it not been short, I would have given it 4 stars: you need a few laughs to keep the ride interesting; if art is a reflection of life, a novel without funny moments would feel artificial. The great exception is the surreal dialogue on the first meeting between Mrs. Dalloway 2.0 and her friend Richard, the poet, whose mind has been ravaged by AIDS:
" "Good morning my dear," Clarissa says again.
He opens his eyes. "Look at all those flowers."
"They're for you."
"Have I died?" "
In the end, on the last chapter, as Clarissa and Laura, two characters from two different stories, come together, the main point of the book is driven down, with neither sad despair or happy delusion: that life is a few hours of seemingly infinite joy surrounded by "others, far darker and more difficult."
Book Review: These are the hours
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to read this book for a few years now since it's publication, but I never did. But when the movie came out and has so far been highly awarded as well I thought I should give the book a read. I have not seen the movie and I'm not sure about the movie after I read the amazing Novel. I'm so glad I started with Cunningham's novel because it is in one word: beautiful. I am a Woolf fan as well and I was amazed by how Cunningham was able to take the true essense of Woolf and create a truly different and complex novel. What is amazing about Woolf and Cunningham is the depth they place behind the characters. There is little talking in the book and little plot, but what is behind what is being said and done is the true message. Woolf's whole idea in writing was to explore the silence between people, all things left unsaid, all our inner thoughts and emotions, and in the end the big question is: do we ever truly know another human being? Cunningham has the very same ability in this novel as Woolf does in hers. I read this novel so quickly all in one day and I just felt tired afterward, I was drained of feeling. At first, as with Woolf's novels, I was depressed by the book, but I think going back and looking at it again I see the hint of hope that lies in the end of the novel, which is how many of Woolf's novels work as well. I highly recommend this amazing story of three women who all seem to be lacking something in their lives. Follow them through one day and explore the hours that help create them as complex and truly amazingly written characters. My advice would be to read the novel before viewing the film. I plan to see the movie but I fear it will go against everything that Woolf and Cunningham are aiming at, I hope I'm surprised by the movie, but regardless this book is worth your Hours.