She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.

Three women, three lives. Virginia Woolf writes. Laura Brown reads. And Clarissa Vaughan buys flowers for a party.

The architecture of The Hours holds up the essence of life itself—the suffering, the sacred. Each hour bears weight. And time tethers all; the woman writing a book inspires the woman reading.

Literature is irrevocably transformative. But some transformations are unsurvivable.

I approached this book in completely the wrong order. By that I mean, I watched the movie first, in the theatre when it was released in 2002, having absolutely no prior idea as to what it was about. I had no clue that that it was based on a Pulitzer prize winning novel, which was itself based on a novella by Virginia Woolf.

The movie decimated me (in a good way!). My best friend and I went from theatre to cafe in a daze, bludgeoned by the film, and spent the following hour in very awkward silence. The evening could not be resuscitated.

A decade later, I read Mrs. Dalloway. That marked my only successful foray into Ms. Woolf's oeuvre. Maybe I shouldn't use the word 'successful'. I should just say it's the only book of hers that I have actually finished, and that is only because it is short. Virginia Woolf is a writer who I have long wished to connect with. I know she had a beautiful, impressionistic mind and that her impact on literature is vast. She's the only writer who makes me feel illiterate, though. She seems impenetrable. I can't stay in - hell, I can't even get in - and I am so jealous of those who do! I want to be part of that club.

It's a few years later, and I finally read this book. Like Mrs. Dalloway, it is brief. And like the film, it broke me. Three people are straddling life and death. The story is equal parts pain and beauty. Pain being those interminable, almost unbearable hours life has to offer. Always, the hours... Beauty being those precious hours, oh those precious ones. You know what I'm talking about. Those hours that stand out to you after decades have left them behind, but you still see them glittering, shining warmly as a reminder of what your life is all about.

I could feel dismal, reading this book that tells of illness, suicide, abandonment, and, yes, depression. But somehow, those illuminating hours, the precious ones, overpower everything else. Our mortality is so grey, homogenous, unoriginal. But those precious, beautiful hours? Those filled the story and my heart with hope, with the excitement at being reminded of a treasure that had always been right in front of me.

At times the book feels a little audacious - periodically I wondered, who are you, Michael Cunningham, to tell me what life is all about? But it works because he's really talking through Virginia Woolf, and somehow I don't mind her telling me. He's like her translator, and what she has to say is sort of a miracle. I'm so glad he wrote this book.

There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) knows these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning; we hope, more than anything, for more.

"We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep--it's as simple and ordinary as that."

Sigh. Swoon. No other book so perfectly captures the restlessness / misgivings / dissatisfaction of characters who should be content living what appear to be perfect lives, and I am (still) in love. Very Little Children, but more lyrical. I should have fallen head over heels in love on the first reading (I mean I did, with reservations) but I had the movie adaptation, which so closely mirrors the book, still playing in my head. Even now I struggle not to picture those actors as these characters, and I wish this wasn't so. I want to imagine Virginia Woolf as Virginia Woolf, not Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf, even if Julianne Moore makes for a perfect Laura Brown, who is my favorite of the three women in this book, by the way. But how can a character played by Meryl Streep muse about having possibly sighted Meryl Streep? Ugh. (Fine, it might have been Vanessa Redgrave [unlikely] or possibly [probably not] Susan Sarandon.)

[first review]

Here I go again, rebel that I am, loving a derivative work (à la Wide Sargasso Sea) without having read the original. Am I the only one who relished the A Single Man feeling of Laura Brown's story? Perhaps the comparison is a bit too obvious--suburban disillusionment in mid-century Los Angeles, following a single character through a single day etc. There even a scene on the LA freeways! As a whole the book reminded me of three intercut Alice Munro short stories (but more lyrical!), and I fell absolutely in love with it. The movie put me off reading it for a long time, but after coming across it in a Little Free Library (I actually do have a copy of it somewhere), I had to give it a chance. How glad I am that I did. I'd forgotten that I've read Michael Cunningham's A Wild Swan: And Other Tales, so this isn't technically my first book by him, but what an introduction!

Wat een sensatie, wat een schok, op een ochtend in juni in leven te zijn

In De Uren volgen we de verschillende levens van drie vrouwen in drie verschillende periode's, die allemaal verbonden zijn met Virginia Woolf's roman Mrs. Dalloway. Elk met hun twijfels, angsten en verlangens die nauwelijks aan de oppervlakte komen in de schijnbare perfecte levens die ze leiden. Onder de alledaagsheid van het kopen van een bos bloemen en het bakken van een taart ligt een woest water - wie zijn ze, welke rol spelen ze en wat hadden ze kunnen zijn? Drie vrouwen, Virginia Woolf zelf, Laura Brown en Clarissa Vaughan. Gescheiden door de tijd, maar elk leveren ze dezelfde strijd tegen sociale normen, hun sexualiteit en het moederschap of ambities.

Cunningham wisselt af en toe knap van perspectief dat laat zien hoe goed de vrouwen erin geslaagd zijn een beeld te scheppen dat hun neerzet als succesvolle vrouwen waardoor hun omgeving vaak geen idee heeft wat er werkelijk in hun omgaat. Wij als lezer zien die wel, en dat laat mooi zien hoe iedereen zichzelf af en toe existentiele vragen stelt en daarop een antwoord moeten geven.

Uiteindelijk is het dan Virginia Woolf zelf die er de brui aangeeft. Ze laat haar genialiteit en roem achter zich en sterft zonder het besef dat ze voor generaties vrouwen daarna als voorbeeld zal dienen - alhoewel ik me na het lezen van dit boek afvraag of haar dat tot troost had gediend. De twee andere vrouwen nemen elk hun eigen beslissing.

We stellen ons af en toe allemaal wel eens de vraag of 'dit het is' en hoe het zou zijn als we in een ander tijdsperk hadden geleefd. Zelden wordt dit op zo'n mooie literaire wijze samengevat als in dit boek van Michael Cunningham.

Update 21 Februarie: zojuist de film gezien en die is ook schitterend. Het weet de essentie van het boek goed te pakken met schitterende rollen van Meryl Streep, Julian Moore en Nicole Kidman.

ساعت ها با سه داستان موازی روايت مي شود.زندگی وولف،لورا،کلاریسا که دوست ریچارد(پسر لورا)است. اما در واقع همه این افراد به وسیله وولف خلق شده اند و البته او نزديك ترين شخصيت به خود را كه مردی به نام ريچارد است و قرار است جايزه ادبی مهمی به او داده شود،در داستان خود مي كشد،چرا كه"با مرگ يك نفر دیگران قدر زندگي را بهتر مي دانند" و اين جمله ای است كه وولف در جواب همسرش كه در مورد ضرورت وجود مرگ در رمان می پرسد،بیان می كند.ريچارد و وولف كمبود هويت و عقده ندارند و به همین دلیل جايزه"يك عمر فعاليت هنری" را عملی كليشه ای می دانند.در حقيقت این دو نفر آنقدر رشد كرده اند كه نياز به تقدير ندارند و آنها را ارضا نمی كند.ريچارد شريك افتخار شدن را"جهالت محض"می داند..
شباهت های فراوان اين سه داستان از قصد و به دلیل يكسان و یک شدن مضمون و به تصوير كشيدن و معرفی بيشتر شخصيت ويرجينيا وولف وخودكشی اوست
فضاهای طراحی شده خانه وولف بسیار سرد و تاريك است كه نشان از روح غمگین او دارد.ريچارد كلاريسا را محكوم مي كند كه مهمانی هاي او براي پنهان كردن سكوت و افسردگی او هست.همان سكوت و غم مرموزی كه سرانجام داستان را رقم مي زند.در سكانس تشييع پرنده مرده می شنويم كه"هر كس یک زمانی مي ميرد.به نظر می رسد اکنون نوبت پرنده هست" و در زمينه تصوير وولف ايستاده هست و گویی نوبت خود را انتظار مي كشد. خوابيدن وولف کنار پرنده مرده و كلوزآپ از چهره او و پرنده در فیلم میتواند مقدمه و نشانه پر كشيدن پرنده روح او در پایان داستان باشد.
شاید وولف از زندگی خود خسته شده و در واقع می توان گفت که تلاش او برای خودكشی برای دفعه سوم به نوعی جست وجوی حيات و زندگی و معناست.او از زندگی توخالی بيزار است و ترجيح میدهد كه نباشد تا اينكه به روزمرگی،بی محتوایی،بی معنایی و پوچی تن دهد.وولف جايی سخن خود را از زبان ريچارد به نقل از كلاريسا مطرح می كند؛كلاريسا مي گويد كه ريچارد معتقد است او به زندگی معمولی خو گرفته و عادت کرده.وولف با وجودی كه زن ها را به تعبیر خود"كمرنگ تر" می داند،باز هم ترجيح میدهد كه قهرمان زن داستان او زنده بماند و ريچارد بميرد.
در پايان میخوانیم ( می بينيم) كه با وجود رضايت همسر وولف در مورد رفتن او به لندن باز هم وولف آرام و قرار ندارد و به نظر مي رسد لندن هم ديگر او را راضی نمی كند.او می خواهد به سفر دورتری برود،شاید به همان جايي كه از آن آمده ،چنان كه در پاسخ آن كودك راجع به مفهوم مرگ نيز همين پاسخ را می دهد.وولف خواهان آزادی انتخاب و تصميم گيریست و شكل گيری ماهيت انسان را در اين مسئله می داند و مي خواهد هر طور شده پوسته دور خود را پاره كند و برود.او از آن دسته آدم هايیست كه در چارچوب ها و ساختارها نمی گنجد و مطابق ميل ديگران رفتار نمیکند و می خواهد خود را بازآفرينی كند و تولدی دوباره بيابد.
خودكشي هر دو نويسنده را شايد بتوان سرانجام نبود عشق به ديگری تفسير كرد، چنان كه حس سردی،افسردگی و دل مردگی در تمام فضای فيلم حضور دارد و سنگینی می کند.مفهوم زمان در اين فيلم دگرگون می شود.هم در شیوه روايت فيلم و هم در ديالوگ های کاراکترهای داستان.
پشيمانی وولف از كشتن لورای افسرده و در عوض كشتن شوهر او كه بسيار اميد به زندگی دارد و شادمان و خوشبخت هست و همچنين پسر لورا (ريچارد) همه تناقضهایی هستند كه در زندگی واقعی نیز وجود دارند. اين مسئله مي تواند اشاره به مفهوم سرنوشت و تقدير و كنترل آن توسط نيرويی برتر نیز باشد.وولف با مرگ خود زندگی هاي پوچ را نقد میکند،زیر سوال می برد و زنده ها را تشويق به زيست و زندگی آگاهانه،با معنا و به دور از روزمرگی می كند.
ساعت ها در مورد عمر محدود، فرصت و زمان اندك و گذرايی است كه هر انسانی در اختيار دارد و چگونگی و كيفيت آن.ويرجينيا به عنوان يك انسان،یک نویسنده و در نهایت یک زن نگران است و دغدغه های بسیار دارد و مرگ را بر میگزیند اما مرگ ويرجينيا وولف پايان زندگی او نيست همان گونه که خود او نیز در آخرین جمله هایش در پایان فیلم نیز خطاب به لئونارد می گوید:
" لئونارد عزیز،همیشه به صورت زندگی نگاه کن! همیشه! به صورت زندگی نگاه کن و زمانی که آن را خوب شناختی آن را رها کن. لئونارد! همیشه میان ما لحظهها حضور دارند…همیشه…عشق…همیشه…ساعتها!"

I'll write a better review later, I want to collect all my thoughts (and all my feelings), but I have been out all day and I just want to go to sleep right now BUT I do want to write about this marvellous book. Undecided whether to see the movie before or after, I opted for watching parts of it (I divided it into thirds) and after reading the related parts. I think it was the right choice, because it helped me dilute the book and therefore savour it, and compare the two of them. The book is so much better thought. I could say that the movie is quite shitty, but that is not true it's a nicely done movie, but it's a shitty transposition of the book. Early feelings? I loved loved loved it.

I've actually never read any Virginia Woolf. I remember I tried to one time when I was like 15 but I gave up after two pages for some reason. I feel like I should try again after reading this book though. I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing and I loved the pacing and I love the vibe and tone and themes. This is just the kind of book that happens to appeal to me the most and I'm really glad I picked it up.

I hesitated between 3 and 4 stars for this book. It was beautifully written and has a somewhat unexpected (and yet unsurprising) ending. The references to Virginia Woolf are omnipresent as she also comes to life under Cunningham's pen along with Mrs Brown and "Mrs Dalloway". Yes, it did relight a flame in me to read the primary Woolf works (Orlando, Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, The Waves) and reminded me of the one I did read (A Room of One's Own), but still, something about it felt a little superficial. Was it the length (just 220 pages) and the relative ease with which I read it (less than 2 hours)? Or perhaps the heavily laden sentences that perhaps dipped low towards being pretentious? No, I have never seen the movie. And, yes, perhaps I should. But as a standalone novel, I have a hard time understanding why this one was chosen for the Pulitzer in 1997. There are interesting (if somewhat obvious) parallels between the three parallel lives described - and of course a palpable presence of Virgina herself as one of them. Not having read the runner-up (Cloudsplitter by Russel Banks about abolitionist John Brown), I have read or The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver about the Belgian colonization of the Congo and felt it was a far more deserving choice and a real masterpiece. And yet, the Pulitzer committee settled on this short novel (nearly a novella).

Personally, I was not blown away by The Hours, but perhaps will read Flesh and Blood by this author as suggested by another reviewer here on GR.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

The bursts of bright, sparkling descriptions of a perfect moment in a perfect day, the moment that makes everything clear for just a second, that is what kept me going through a story full of sadness and regret.

The sentence and story structure and the microscopic observations of everyday life gives us a story of three women who grapple with their befuddled lives and struggle to get through expectations of lovers, husbands, children, and society. Life is full of doubt, regret, death, and sickness. “Heaven only knows why we love it so.”

There is no doubt that with this book, Michael Cunningham has done a beautiful job at interweaving the lives of Virginia Wolff, the author, and Clarissa Dalloway, one of his most famous fictional characters. I was constantly surprised when reading through the 180 pages because I kept finding relations and connections that I hadn't seen before. Even though I have watched the movie starring three of my favourite actresses, I think that the books gives you SO much more of an insight into these hidden gems and connections, and because of that I wasn't bored at any point despite already knowing the overall story.
I think that you have to have read "Mrs Dalloway" in order to fully understand and appreciate this story. However, I also think it's possible to read it without having read "Mrs Dalloway", but to me personally, it was such a joy to be able to see the heavy intertextuality. I found it beautiful the way that Michael Cunningham not only interweaves the lives of fictional characters, but also the lives of real characters, and somehow it all made sense after all.
I had some minor problems with the writing style. I didn't like that most of the dialogue was written à la "he said", "she said", because I felt like it ruined the beautiful flow of the overall story. But when it comes down to it, I'm very pleased with this impeccable piece of work, and I highly recommend it.

Prevod je nažalost ispao najveća bruka NK, ali nisam imala uticaja na izbor prevodioca... Preporuka: čitajte je isključivo u originalu dok se ne pojavi neki nov prevod na srpski... ili čitajte hrvatski prevod

honestly the only reason i wanted to read this book is because it was included in a really pretty edition of Mrs. Dalloway.

also, because i read this immediately after reading Mrs. Dalloway, and in fact in the exact same book as i had read Mrs. Dalloway in, i feel pretty confident in saying that just about everything good about this is pretty much Mrs. Dalloway.

have i said Mrs. Dalloway enough yet?

bottom line: the tragedy of retellings. the best bits are always just the source material.