Michael Cunningham: The Hours review

Three women, three stories.
Virginia Woolf in 1920s, starting her new book Mrs. Dalloway.
Laura Brown in 1940s, wishing she were somewhere else with Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.
Clarissa Vaughan whom her friend also calls Mrs. Dalloway, in 1990s, organizing a party to that same friend. Bring the flowers.

Cunningham's book shifts between the vocalizations of these three women, one to bound to kill herself, one to try it and one to see her friend to do it. Vivid descriptions, slow-paced narration and yellow roses create the atmosphere during the hours that change the lives of these women.

I don't know if I had got more out of this book if I had read Mrs. Dalloway, probably I would have. There were times when I found the narration to be quite complicated and hard to follow (long sentences), but despite of that I really enjoyed how fact and fiction got mixed together in Virginia Woolf's life.

Perhaps it's time to watch the movie.

This book is for those who want to read something beautiful, descriptive and a bit romantic and really dislike action scenes. This is drama on its best.
/ [Caterin S.]

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