Michael Cunningham (1)

“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, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more.” -- Michael Cunningham, The Hours

Michael Cunningham’s The Hours is an inspired creative show more work of art that uses Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway as a starting point. The author braids together three different stories of three different days in the lives of three female protagonists: Mrs. Woolf, Mrs. Brown, and “Mrs. Dalloway.” Mrs. Woolf is an imagined version of Virginia Woolf herself, in June 1923, as she is in the process of creating her book and envisioning how it will unfold. Mrs. Brown is Laura Brown, a wife and mother in 1949, who is suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts. “Mrs. Dalloway” is Clarissa Vaughan, nicknamed by her gay friend and noted poet, Richard, due to her first name and personality. She buys flowers for a party she is hosting later that evening for Richard, who is about to receive a literary award. The exact date is not given, but implied to be in the 1990’s. It is hard to do justice to this novel through a plot summary. Suffice it to say it is character-driven and plot is secondary.

Poignant and sad, though not without a thread of hope, this novel explores the difficulties of living with depression, surviving day-to-day in the face of mortality, and fighting against perfectionistic tendencies. The reader will notice many parallels to Woolf’s work in style, themes, and scenes. Cunningham’s prose is lyrical, and he successfully simulates Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness writing style, replete with parentheses, semi-colons, detailed descriptions, and asides. Themes include time, mortality, gender, creativity, and finding meaning in life. The perspective is omniscient third person, so the reader is privy to the thoughts of both the main and secondary characters. This work evokes questions in the mind of the reader and invites meaningful introspection. Be aware going in that the content includes suicide.

The Hours is a brilliant and moving tribute to the hopes and fears of everyday life. Cunningham turns the seemingly mundane into the sublime. Recommended to anyone that has read and had a positive reaction to Mrs. Dalloway. show less

[4.25] This masterfully written book uses a creative structure to tell a compelling and heartbreaking story about a dysfunctional family. Wait. Cunningham might challenge the “dysfunctional” label. In an interview on Northeast Public Radio, he described with precision the family dynamics this way: “A marriage that isn’t quite good enough to be good, but isn’t quite bad enough to dissolve. It’s sort of that undramatic middle in which a lot of us reside.” How true. Another show more possible misstep would be to label this memorable work a “pandemic novel,” as it really doesn’t focus much on Covid. Instead, it explores how an inability to fully love one another can cause pain and harm to children. Cunningham’s use of the word “undramatic” in his radio interview is my lone beef – a minor one, for sure. There were a few sections in this short work that dragged a bit in my estimation. But I quibble. “Day” is a beautiful book that shares some important messages. I’m red-faced to admit that this was my first Cunningham tome. It will not be my last. show less

I first read this book back in the early 2000s, but I remembered very little beyond the broad outline (3 women, 3 timelines, inspired by [Mrs. Dalloway]...). I think I missed a lot when I first read it. I also hadn't yet read Mrs. D so all of that was a bit lost on me. This time, however, I couldn't put the book down. The prose was gorgeous, and I loved the connections and shared threads between the three lives Cunningham gives us. I also thought Cunningham did a wonderful job with the show more interiority of three very different women, especially considering he's a guy ;-) In the end, the considerations of the place and role and aspirations of women were what I took away most - and the fact that those questions are so little changed over time and circumstance.

4.5 stars show less

Day is divided into three parts, each taking place on April 5 in successive years - 2019, 2020, and 2021. It's a novel of family - siblinghood, parenthood, childhood - but this is a unique kind of modern family, formed both by nature and by choice. This is also sort of a COVID novel, but it's not about that; rather, the virus is an agent for change and transformation - a disruptor for a situation that was already headed towards instability.

The beauty of this novel is its interiority - we show more experience these lives, this family, from several points of view through interior monologues and only limited direct dialogue. Cunningham's prose is poetic in parts - I want to say luminescent, too - it illuminates truths but from a kind of distance. I felt like I was watching a play, at times. A very powerful and compelling one, but one in which I never lost my sense of being separate, sitting in an audience. This could be somewhat intentional - the truth that one can never fully know or experience another's reality but can still recognize and internalize universal truths. It's a beautiful book.

4.5 stars

NB: I listened to this on audio, narrated by the actress Julianne Moore. Her strong, quiet voice is a perfect fit for the story. show less