Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Top Horror from the Past Five Years

Sammy's Reviews > The Hours

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Rate this book
Clear rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

by
103544
's review

liked it
bookshelves: c-the-okay

Okay, let's be honest, the only reason this book isn't getting a D is because the language was very beautiful... most of the time. It was beautiful when it wasn't beating me over the head with the whole, "Look how eloquently I can write and use big words and sound smart! Don't you feel smart just reading it? Oh, wait... you just feel stupid, huh?" Which, honestly, wasn't that much, but it was enough to annoy me.

The problem I had with the whole story was that I could not find sympathy in any of the characters. I was not drawn to them, I felt no bond with them at all. I didn't care about them in any way, and with any book you read you should at least care about your characters a little bit, right?

I remember watching the movie and not being very entertained by that either, so perhaps that clouded my judgement when I started reading this. But I don't really think so seeing as how I didn't really remember much of the movie, except the ending, which is what I will probably only remember about the novel when I look back on it.

Usually I'm one of those people that desperately wants you to read the books if you're going to see the movie, you know, get more involved. But, if I remember correctly, the book and the movie are pretty much the exact same thing. So if you want to save yourself some time, go watch the movie. That is if you're really all that interested in the story at all.
77 likes ·  ∙ flag

Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read The Hours.
Sign In »

Reading Progress

Started Reading
December 1, 2006 – Finished Reading
May 29, 2007 – Shelved
June 12, 2007 – Shelved as: c-the-okay

Post a comment »
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Ally (new) - added it
Jun 17, 2010 12:24PM

Ally The Bright Young Things would like to invite you to share your opinions on this book (and others). If you haven't already checked us out please pop in...

http://www.goodreads.com/group/invite...


message 2: by Niall (new) - rated it 3 stars
Feb 10, 2012 10:01PM

Niall Maybe you think Cunningham uses "big words" because Harry Potter is one of your favourite books. I don't think I had to consult a dictionary a single time.


message 3: by Garrett (new) - rated it 3 stars
Jan 27, 2013 09:18PM

Garrett Schmitt I would tend to agree with Sammy on this one in regards to the fancy language used in The Hours. Although it is not so much the use of "big words " in the book that is detracting as it is the excessive description of minor details – the way the flour fell into the bowl while making a cake, or the of the dankness of the brown light in a hallway of a decrepit apartment building, etc. The art of adding description without hijacking the imagery of a readers' mind is certainly a fine line for an author to negotiate, and one that I feel Cunningham does well for the most part. However, the truth of the matter is that this line is drawn at a different place for all of us. My description of a work as "adolescent" or "flowery" is just as accurate as another's observation of the same work as "deliberate" and "engaging". It's all so wonderfully subjective and based entirely on our own unique cocktail of experience and personal preference...but I still only give it 3 stars and think you should too...kidding


message 4: by Jason (new) - rated it 5 stars
Jul 29, 2013 08:40AM

Jason ah. a home at the end of the world book didnt use that style of trying to impress. maybe he adopted it to mirror Woolf (who i think is overly complicated)


message 5: by Blair (new) - rated it 2 stars
Dec 10, 2014 12:48PM

Blair I completely agree. The characters were not interesting and I feel like a bad person for not feeling awful for them but I just .. couldn't.


message 6: by Tristan (new) - rated it 5 stars
Mar 05, 2015 04:44PM

Tristan I can see where you are coming from, but I disagree with your assessment of the movie-book relationship. I found the book to be infinitely more subtle than the movie, which had to use direct dialogue to show what could be captured in description in the book.

Garrett, I agree about the subjectivity.. I read the bit about the flour and went, "I never realized a cup of flour could be so engaging." I feel like Cunningham's descriptions are more enjoyable to those of us inclined to really enjoy symbolism, as it tends to be highly specific selection of detail.


message 7: by Ana (new) - rated it 5 stars
Mar 26, 2015 12:14PM

Ana Antunes I have to agree to disagree in this case. The book is way better than the movie. Please, do not watch the movie before you read the book, or do exactly that. I just did! I was impressed by the movie, I went with my mother and she cried for hours after that. The whole thing was very impressive. So I was ready to get disappointed when I first took the book within my hands. And there I found a treasure. The book was way better than the movie. There are simply words that when put in motion picture cannot even describe in asubtle way what the author was saying. So put it simple as that: His choice of words was a delight to my eye and brain. I felt it as exquisite as it could be, and I was simply exhilatrated as I finished the last page. How many author do we have out there that could bring this wonder? At least for me, unfortunately, not many.


message 8: by Noina (new) - rated it 5 stars
Oct 21, 2015 05:11AM

Noina I'm reading this in English but French is my native language. I partly agree with you, I think the writing style - the descriptions and long sentences - more than the vocabulary make this book a little bit difficult to read, but, having read Mrs Dalloway by Woolf, this book reminds me a lot of it, by its writing mostly... So I guess Cunningham tried to reproduce her writing style, very dense and descriptive.


message 9: by Michelle (new) - rated it 2 stars
Feb 23, 2017 05:04PM

Michelle I thought the author's writing style came off a little affected. He was trying too hard to imitate Woolf and, for me, it was distracting throughout the whole book.


back to top



Quantcast