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Title: The Hours: A Novel by Michael Cunningham ISBN: 0-312-30506-0 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (466 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Beautiful Meditation on Life...Love...Death
Comment: I loved MRS. DALLOWAY and I loved THE HOURS. I think it's a beautiful book, though I don't think it is necessarily meant to be written in the exact "stream of consciousness" style as is MRS. DALLOWAY.
THE HOURS tells the interwoven story of three women: the writer, Virginia Woolf, a 1950s housewife named Laura Brown and a present day woman, Clarissa Vaughan. Laura is obsessed with reading MRS. DALLOWAY just as Woolf is obsessed with writing it. Clarissa is obsessed with giving her friend, Richard, a poet dying of AIDS, the "perfect party," just as Clarissa Dalloway was obsessed with the perfect party. Richard, the reader will come to learn, will be the slender thread that eventually connects Clarissa to Laura.
One of the things I found so beautiful, and so remarkable about this novel were the seamless transitions from one character's narrative to another's. Cunningham has written perhaps the most fluid and beautifully intertwining of narratives I've ever encountered.
I've read and heard criticism of this book because it does not strictly follow the rules of "stream of consciousness." I'm not sure it was meant to and I can't fault it for not doing so. Pure "stream of consciousness," of course, follows, not just the main character's thoughts but also the thoughts of others in relation to the narrator. In THE HOURS, we get only Woolf's thoughts in her narrative. In Laura's narrative, we read only her thoughts. In Clarissa's narrative, Cunningham gives us not only Clarissa's thoughts but also the thoughts of one of her party guests and here, Cunningham is writing "stream of consciousness" as Woolf wrote it...to a much lesser degree. But, I have to ask, does this lack of "pure" stream of consciousness diminish THE HOURS or lessen Cunningham's homage to Woolf? I am not sure. I think the book would have been strengthened and enriched had Cunningham woven the thoughts of the other characters around the thoughts of Woolf, Laura and Clarissa, but THE HOURS is so seamless and beautiful in its structure and execution that I can't fault Cunningham for neglecting, or choosing not, to do this.
The only other quibble I have with the book is the fact that everyone seemed to either prefer same-sex relationships or at least have leanings in that direction. What are the chances of that? Not many, I think. I was most annoyed by Laura's experimentation with her neighbor. It just seemed to ring a very false note with me. But that, as I said, is nothing more than a quibble.
It seems striking to me that Cunningham chose to write THE HOURS sans the final party scene. This is the scene in which Woolf showcases her pure stream of consciousness to the fullest and it's the place where Cunningham could have done the same. I have to wonder if Cunningham thought he lacked the narrative sophistication and fluidity to accomplish this (a very difficult task) or whether he simply chose not to do so, feeling that the party inclusion would make THE HOURS seems too contrived. Not knowing the answer, I can't fault him for his choice.
I was going to award THE HOURS four stars based on the above, but it is so beautiful, so seamless, so structurally perfect as it is, that I can't justify awarding it any less than five. This is a beautiful, but harrowing, book that is also a meditation on life...on love...on art and, finally, on death. I think any lover of experimental or literary fiction couldn't help but love it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Just... beautiful
Comment: i am always surprised by male authors who write women so honestly and well; and Cunningham is no exception. The Hours is a gorgeously written novel of three intertwining stories of three women in three different eras. I don't feel like i can do it any sort of justice, so i will just tell you that it is absolutely brilliant, and should be a mandatory read for the entire nation, a new classic
Rating: 5
Summary: A Wonderful Homage to Woolf.
Comment: This is the first novel in many years that I was motivated to read after viewing its film adaptation. The film of the same name is a work of art, though the novel surpasses the picture in terms of its depth, subtlety and intelligent imitation and homage to Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs. Dalloway. As this was the author's stated intent, to my mind, he was wholly successful. Particularly the Dalloway chapters, it was if I was reading a 21st century version of Virginia Woolf's masterpiece. This novel is a superb piece of writing. Cunningham evokes the thoughts, impressions and inner feelings of his three main characters and their unique associations, and cleverly connects them by way of prosaic nuance and understated references to Woolf's novel. In fact, there are so many connections between the two novels, it would require several readings to find them all. This is a true literary achievement because Cunningham's execution, on the surface, seems effortless. His prose is liquid, flowing in and out of the minds and circumstances of each character with empathy, intense sensitivity and realism. However, the book's real achievement is the reader does not necessarily need to have an acquaintance with Mrs. Dalloway in order to appreciate Cunningham's incredible novel.
That said, having read Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, viewing the film more than once, and now having read Cunningham's novel, my appreciation and understanding of all three has become much richer as a result. Woolf's battle with mental illness and her exploration on the boundaries between 'insanity'and what we've come to believe as 'sanity', and her views on suicide, for example, have become a lot clearer to me after reading The Hours. All three works are major triumphs in themselves, but have managed to end up complimenting each other in insightful ways.
My suggestion would be to read this elegant novel, read Woolf's masterpiece, and see the film again. If time doesn't permit or you're not inclined to do so, at least read this novel, it will be well worth your time.
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Title: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Maureen Howard ISBN: 0156628708 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: September, 1990 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, Mary Gordon ISBN: 0156787334 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: December, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Eudora Welty (Introduction) ISBN: 0156907399 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: December, 1989 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title:The Hours (Widescreen Edition) ASIN: B00005JKTI Publisher: Paramount Home Video Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $12.99 |
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Title: Moments of Being: Second Edition by Virginia Woolf, Jeanne Schulkind ISBN: 0156619180 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: August, 1985 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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