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Michael Cunningham takes the life of the literary icon, Virginia Woolf, and juxtaposes it with Mrs. Dalloway, a Woolf character, as well as a contemporary American woman, Laura. He derives even the title, in part, from Woolf's own work (see epigram). He seems to be a master at balancing or exploring themes in threes, subtly linking the three characters through alternating chapters. The Hours brings to fruition topics or motifs he has explored in his first two novels--a sign that Cunningham has so much to say, he can't do it all in one work. The image of a woman working toward the baking of "perfect" cake is used in his second novel, Flesh and Blood, but in the Hours its use may be more poignant. Mrs. Brown "wants to have produced a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while. She wants to have produced something marvelous, something that would be marvelous even to those who do not love her." In this passage and throughout the novel, Cunningham's prose rivals that of his subject: strong yet delicate. The Hours is a novel that will resonate with the reader for a long time, begging to be read again and again, and the reader will comply, happily.
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The Hours by Michael Cunningham
RNJ, January 11, 2010
Michael Cunningham takes the life of the literary icon, Virginia Woolf, and juxtaposes it with Mrs. Dalloway, a Woolf character, as well as a contemporary American woman, Laura. He derives even the title, in part, from Woolf's own work (see epigram). He seems to be a master at balancing or exploring themes in threes, subtly linking the three characters through alternating chapters. The Hours brings to fruition topics or motifs he has explored in his first two novels--a sign that Cunningham has so much to say, he can't do it all in one work. The image of a woman working toward the baking of "perfect" cake is used in his second novel, Flesh and Blood, but in the Hours its use may be more poignant. Mrs. Brown "wants to have produced a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while. She wants to have produced something marvelous, something that would be marvelous even to those who do not love her." In this passage and throughout the novel, Cunningham's prose rivals that of his subject: strong yet delicate. The Hours is a novel that will resonate with the reader for a long time, begging to be read again and again, and the reader will comply, happily.(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)