The Hours: A Novel (edition 2002)

I started this book ages ago and didn'5t get very far, so that it languished under my bed for ages. It was due to be passed on to somebody else, too, ages ago and I feel guilty about that but I decided to give it another go first.

It's not an easy book, any more than its inspiration, Mrs Dalloway, is an easy book. It starts slowly and takes its time to gather momentum, but once it does it's a race towards a conclusion in which the lives of the three women of different generations are seen to intertwine.

Ultimately, it's a book about depression, just as Mrs Dalloway is, and perhaps it takes somebody who has known depression to appreciate it fully. It works for me, then. But in the end Michael Cunningham, who I have no doubt would be the first to acknowledge, is no Virginia Woolf.

I haven't (yet) seen the film but I would like to mention that Stephen Daldry once bought me a drink!
( )

I started this book ages ago and didn'5t get very far, so that it languished under my bed for ages. It was due to be passed on to somebody else, too, ages ago and I feel guilty about that but I decided to give it another go first.

It's not an easy book, any more than its inspiration, Mrs Dalloway, is an easy book. It starts slowly and takes its time to gather momentum, but once it does it's a race towards a conclusion in which the lives of the three women of different generations are seen to intertwine.

Ultimately, it's a book about depression, just as Mrs Dalloway is, and perhaps it takes somebody who has known depression to appreciate it fully. It works for me, then. But in the end Michael Cunningham, who I have no doubt would be the first to acknowledge, is no Virginia Woolf.

I haven't (yet) seen the film but I would like to mention that Stephen Daldry once bought me a drink!
( )

Poco conocida es la novela de "Las horas" de Michael Cunningham, premiada con el Premio Pulitzer en el año 1999; pero casi todo el mundo habrá oído hablar de la película que lleva el mismo título, protagonizada por Nicole Kidman (como Virgnia Woolf), Meryl Streep (como Clarissa Dalloway) y Julianne Moore (como la señora Brown).

He de reconocer que supe de la existencia de la novela de casualidad, y no tardé ni unos pocos minutos en hacerme con ella. Había creído que "Las horas" era una adaptación de "La señora Dalloway" de Woolf, desconocía la existencia de esta fascinante obra literaria, como pocas he tenido la suerte de leer a lo largo de todos estos años, tantos años. Desde su comienzo, hasta su final, me resultaba hasta doloroso apartar la vista de las letras, tan plagadas de hermosura, sentimientos, con una prosa superior, y un dominio del alma humana increíble.

Tres mujeres, tres tiempos y tres historias. Todas ellas desarrolladas en un único día, de su mañana hasta al caer la noche. Es un homenaje a la mujer: a la mujer que escribía, a la mujer que leía y a la mujer que vivía. Es un recuerdo fulminantemente radiante de Virginia Woolf, un reflejo del proceso creativo que terminó por destruirla, un análisis certero de la terrible enfermedad que sufría. Y es un reflejo moderno de lo que puedo haber sido la señora Dalloway, una mujer que organiza una fiesta, que está plagada de pasado, que sufre el peso tan duro de los recuerdos. Y es la señora Brown, un ama de casa atormentada por el poco dominio de sí misma.

Qué difícil es leerla, y qué difícil es sentirse identificado. Expresa la amargura, el bloqueo que a veces, ese dolor, ese sufrimiento, ése que no se sabe de dónde viene, pero te hunde, y no te permite vivir. La mente de Virginia, Clarrisa y Laura sufre, sufre tanto que resulta imposible ponerse en su piel si se desconoce tal sentimiento. Es un sufrimiento que nace de sus entrañas, de no poder asimilar la vida, o no la vida cómo debe ser considerada. Planea Cunningham un reflejo crudo de la anodina rutina, el silencio del hogar y la inmensidad de estar en soledad por un momento.

¡Qué difícil! ¡Qué difícil se puede antojar comprender la narrativa de "Las horas"! Encontrar la belleza en cómo se friegan los platos, o se van a comprar flores, o se prepara un pastel. Encontrar la razón de ese beso tan robado como prohibido. Encontrar el deseo inherente de libertad de tres mujeres encadenadas a sí mismas.

Creo que cualquier lector, cualquier persona, se deleitará con la lectura de esta obra maestra única, inteligente, cruda y dulce. Una auténtica joya de vida, inolvidable. ( )

So happy to have read this after reading Mrs. Dalloway last month. This Pulitzer Prize winner is very creative. Cunningham tells the story of 3 different generations of women all impacted by the book Mrs Dalloway. Virginia Woolf being the first and it gives us a look at Mrs Woolf as she rights the book Mrs Dalloway. The next is Laura Brown, a wife and mother in the period following WWII. She is a women reading Mrs. Dalloway and who is terribly unhappy in her marriage and motherhood. The final generation is Clarissa Vaughan from the nineties and AIDS. Clarissa’s life mirrors the life of Mrs Dalloway and her friend Richard who is dying of AIDS calls her Mrs. Dalloway. Themes include mental illness, sexuality, and groups of threes. ( )

I just finished the Hours. It's deeply moving and asks the readers to consider deeply what keeps a person going when they feel empty inside. I like it in the way I like The God of Small Things. But I am uncertain about my emotions towards these books. It's like talking to fascinating people that you don't like -- not instinctively -- but with whom you resonate deeply.
I tried to watch the trailer for the Hours (which as you know is an Oscar winning movie). Couldn't do it. Perhaps the book is too fresh in my mind and every alteration seems like a careless blasphemy. Frankly for all the film's acclaim, I don't see this novel working well as movie. Its strength and profoundness like in its prose. The book is wrought with viscerally compelling imagery and each phrase is fluid with beauty and darkness melded as one. The film notably features a screenplay altered from the text of the novel to match the novel's plot and themes.
I suppose will try and watch the film later, I suppose, as I do like the actors cast. ( )