Haha, now you all have that song in your head!! Ok, sorry about that, but it is actually relevant to the book I recently completed: The Hours by Michael Cunningham. I know, I know, you all are wondering what happened to The Kindly Ones, my 900-and-some-odd-page monstrosity. Well, I recently took a brief trip on an airplane, and I was concerned that the weight of said book would hamper the aircraft's ability to take off and maintain altitude. Thus, The Hours, a much more travel-friendly tome. It must also be said that I knew that the film version of this book was highly acclaimed and, although I never saw the film, it did pique my interest a little.
Now to the good stuff.......I loved it. Truly. Michael Cunningham is a stud. :) The novel traces the lives of three women living in different times and places: Laura Brown, a somewhat demented Stepford-ish housewife, Clarissa Vaughan, a hippy-chic urban lesbian who cares for her AIDS-ridden best friend Richard, and.....dum da dum....Virginia Woolf, yes, THE Virginia Woolf. Dying to know more? Of course you are!! Read on :)
Ok, so here's the rundown: Woolf's story line picks up just as she is beginning to write her legendary novel, Mrs. Dalloway. We all know how her story ends up (don't we?), so Cunningham focuses on her growing dissatisfaction with her life in suburban London and her frustration with the writing process. Clarissa Vaughan's life seems to parallel that of Woolf's title character, so much so that Richard has taken to calling her "Mrs. Dalloway." Laura Brown is in the process of reading Woolf's novel as she becomes disillusioned with her own life story. Sound confusing? Trust me, it's not; Cunningham does a masterful job of weaving these three stories together, devoting specific chapters to each of his three women. The story lines interconnect in stunning fashion and, more than once, I slapped my forehead and thought "Duh, how did you not figure that out?" So much fun :)
To Sum Up: The Hours is an identity-questioning-lady-loving-life-altering-tragicomic-estrogen-fueled-whirlwind that kept me, at least, flipping the pages into the night. I won't lie to you; it is dark, but in a very approachable, cringingly humorous kind of way. I recommend it, and I even took the plunge to purchase my own copy (ok, so it was more like a plunge into the shallow end of a mud puddle since the book only cost $0.10 at my local public library)....but STILL! That means something, right? :)
Up Next: The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Happy Reading!
--Kate
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4 comments:
Up next, The Club Dumas? Girl, you aren't on that plane any more! Get back to your tome!
Woman. I took it back to the library and had this one on hand...I promise I will not put it off for long :)
I'm guessing I should read some Woolf before I tackle this one.
Monica, you'd think that would be the case, but it's really not necessary. I'd say maybe read a summary of Mrs. Dalloway before, but even if you don't, the book will still totally make sense. I hope you try it!
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