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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “The Hours by author Michael Cunningham, is a 3-segmented novel. Each segment follows the lives of women in different times, and in different circumstances. The first, most current, Clarrisa Vaughn is a friend with an award-winning writer struggling with AIDS. The second, Laura Brown is a mother...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It4 of 4 members found this review helpful “Somehow, I miss what all the fuss was about. It blandly reads like a novelization of the movie it was to inspire (and a very good movie it was, too). Maybe someday I'll give it another try and mine eyes will be opened.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I enjoyed the way this story was written. Michael Cunningham threads Virginia Wolf's live through the story of these three women in different eras of time. It's extremely creative. At the same time, the story is extremely depressing and somewhat hard to get through.”
Denny G wrote this review 4 hours ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This was a really interesting book which focused on three separate storylines: Virginia Woolf, a woman who was reading Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway,' and a woman who was living out a life very similar to the character of Mrs. Dalloway. It was fascinating and well-woven. ”
Meghan B wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Brilliant!”
Luis M wrote this review 4 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book was divided between three narrators and I found that I only really liked two of the three. Still, it was worth reading.”
Angie R wrote this review 4 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The Hours is both an homage to Virginia Woolf and very much its own creature. Even as Michael Cunningham brings his literary idol back to life, he intertwines her story with those of two more contemporary women. One gray suburban London morning in 1923, Woolf awakens from a dream that will soon lead to Mrs. Dalloway. In the present, on a beautiful June day in Greenwich Village, 52-year-old Clarissa Vaughan is planning a party for her oldest love, a poet dying of AIDS. And in Los Angeles in 1949, Laura Brown, pregnant and unsettled, does her best to prepare for her husband's birthday, but can't seem to stop reading Woolf. These women's lives are linked both by the 1925 novel and by the few precious moments of possibility each keeps returning to. Clarissa is to eventually realize:
North Shore Country Day School English-10 wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined.... Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more.
As Cunningham moves between the three women, his transitions are seamless. One early chapter ends with Woolf picking up her pen and composing her first sentence, "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." The next begins with Laura rejoicing over that line and the fictional universe she is about to enter. Clarissa's day, on the other hand, is a mirror of Mrs. Dalloway's--with, however, an appropriate degree of modern beveling as Cunningham updates and elaborates his source of inspiration. Clarissa knows that her desire to give her friend the perfect party may seem trivial to many. Yet it seems better to her than shutting down in the face of disaster and despair. Like its literary inspiration, The Hours is a hymn to consciousness and the beauties and losses it perceives. It is also a reminder that, as Cunningham again and again makes us realize, art belongs to far more than just "the world of objects." --Kerry Fried”“I really liked this book. I thought it was interesting at the end how all their stories seem to fit together. The beginning gets a little confusing with all the character changes,but once you get into the rythem of the book it gets really good and intersting! ”
Valerie T wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I was diappointed with this book. The sections dealing directly with Virginia Woolf were very good. The remaining sections were not even mildly interesting to me. I found Cunningham's allusions to "Mrs. Dalloway" in structuring the non-Woolf portions of the novel to be pedantic and uninspired. I would not recommend this book.”
Barry E wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A very well written book that I definitely enjoyed a lot! It was amazing how the author wrote the book and twisted the three stories together, I think that maybe the ending could have had more and the book overall could have been more descriptive. The end result though is that I liked the book a lot and one of my favorites lately.”
Shelby B wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“i think i'll buy the flowers myself...”
Christina T wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Told through the eyes of three characters in three time periods, The Hours focuses on three women who are at points in their lives where they find themselves questioning the world and their place (or not) in it. Virginia Woolf has seen success with her writing, but also mental illness. Recovering in a small town with her husband, Virginia struggles with the restlessness burning inside her. In 1940s America, housewife Laura Brown has it all, but can't figure out why she isn't happy, though she puts on a convincing facade. All she can think about is escape. And in New York in the 90's, Clarissa is preparing a party for a friend who is both rewarded by a literary prize, and dying of AIDS. The chapters alternate in perspective, and together lead to a final conclusion. The writing is alot more straightforward and it was a very interesting book overall.”
DAVID N wrote this review Sunday, November 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
