(Dos semanas después, los personajes me siguen rondando y pienso en ellos con nostalgia y cariño).
Este es un libro que se puede abarcar desde distintos intereses o perspectivas: psicología, inmigrantes, homosexuales/transexuales, sida, autenticidad, décadas 60s a90s en Estados Unidos, expectativas sociales, miedos e instintos cuando uno es niño; entre tantos otros aspectos, y todos dignos de estudio (por la profundidad a la que pueden llegar).
Me provocó muchas emociones. De hecho, peor enojo al autor me dan ganas de ponerle una mísera estrella; me hizo sufrir mucho, y de manera muy "linda", si así se podría decir...
No me extrañaría que Cassandra, y seguramente otros personajes, tengan nombres no puestos al azar. Y ella por su escena de oráculo ante Mary.

**SPOILERS**

Por momentos sentí que Mary se mantenía como la principal protagonista, sobre todo cuando empieza a aceptar las nuevas relaciones que asume con sus hijos (Will y Zoe), y quienes los rodean (Harry, Jamal, Cassandra). La encuentro valiente y digna de admiración, considerando su época y la mentalidad abierta que intentó mantener. Si bien en parte era para no quedarse sola, podría haber continuado como Constanze.

Lo que me molestó tanto fue que muriera Ben, antes de Zoe y quitándole su momento.
Conste que digo que me molestó como lectora, pero lo consideré una buena herramienta de romper expectativas. Y así en realidad no se llegó al momento final de Zoe, quien ya había tenido muchos años de momento final.

An excellent collection of stories! Will be writing more here when able...

Po trochu nepřesvědčivém rozjezdu se mi nakonec podařilo se pořádně začíst a nakonec se mi Tělo a krev líbilo. Trochu mi to celé připomínalo mého oblíbeného Johna Irvinga, ten to ale nebere až tak třeskutě vážně a tragicky, tím u mě nad Cunninghamem trochu vede.
Některé postavy jsou trochu schematické - cholerický řecký otec rodiny, znuděná panička v domácnosti, veselá transka a podobně. A tím, že jsou tu všemožné sexuální a jiné menšiny soustředěné do jedné rodiny, vypadají občas spíš jako sexuální většiny.
Ale napsané je to pěkně a dobře se to čte, hlavně druhá polovina knihy mě opravdu chytila a můžu myslím klidně doporučit dál.

After some thought, I think I might be ready for this review.
Right, I’ve read some of Cunningham’s novels before. Three of them. I loved two of them. The third one not that much (reread?). I loved ‘The Hours’, but ‘A Home at the End of the World’ cut too deep. I can feel it still, after all these years. (Specially when it gets really cold!!).

I started this book with a really good feeling about it. I just knew it was going to be great. I could feel it. (‘The Goldfinch’, I’m looking at you). And I was right. It was great. Epic, dare I say. So there’s this family, five people. No pets. We follow their lives. So good. Cunningham does it brilliantly. We love these people. We are there. We live the same lives.
The writing is just... Stunning. Peaceful. A sense of magic (it’s a kind of magic, magic...Magic!); when you’re going through the pages. Not magic realism, nooo... It’s a just a feeling. Peace and fear. No beginnings and no ends. Everything fits, yet everything crashes. There’s the pain, yes. But there’s beauty, there’s art, there’s family and love. New York and the sky. The light and the ocean. And then there’s pain again. And again. It hurts, yes. But it hurts so good.

Though Cunningham writes beautifully, he hasn't quite figured out how to balance his heavy subject matter with his wildly descriptive prose. The book becomes bogged down by the extreme familial drama that Cunningham creates for his characters. This book is a good read, but you'd be better suited to read "The House," where Cunningham's voice is fully realized.

4+

This is my first book since February that is:
-not an e-book
-not in English
-not a reread

This is also my Cunnigham's fourth book. Nothing will ever beat Home at the end of the World and Hours, but it was okay. He has very similar themes in all of his books. This story follows one family in the span of 100 years and while certain plotlines are good, I found most of them really boring, especially in the second half. Characters are somewhat interesting and my favorite is Cassandra the drag queen, but overall the whole story could've been better. I also really like Cunningham's writing style.

Is it okay if THIS remains (to date) the Michael Cunningham novel I most enjoyed?

I liked that book very much, the language, the story and the end. Cunningham describes the characters, how they feel, how they react and that they very often don't act the way they wish to. Some parts of the book tell of a time I myself can remember well, when AIDS came up, what people thought at the time of homosexuals. The book describes the lives of people in the 60ties, 70ties and 80ties which might not have been that different to a life in these days although many things have changed. People searching for love, acceptance, feeling home.

Ļoti ilgi turēju šo grāmatu plauktā, līdz beidzot izlasīju. Skaidrs, ka no tās gaidīju ļoti daudz. Vēl netikusi pāri 100 lappusēm, izlēmu, ka "Miesa un asinis" man patiks vairāk par lielāko daļu citu grāmatu. Turpmākajā lasīšanas procesā cerības piepildījās, un arvien spēcīgāk. "Miesā un asinīs" Kaningems izvērš šķietami klišejiskas ģimenes attiecības un tās locekļu iekšējo pasauli bezgala plaši (konkrēti, taču arī abstrakti), atklāj tik dziļas kaisles, mīlas, skumju, agonijas izjūtas, kuras, šķiet, apzināties ir teju neiespējami, taču autors pārliecina, ka katram romāna varonim šīs izjūtas ir gana apzinātas, lai veidotu viņa būtību. Katru varoni autors uzstāj tiekties izprast, pat iemīlēt un ciest par viņa ciešanām. Ģimenes locekļu gaitas cauri laikam rezultējās vienā noslēdzošā sāpīgā apziņā/atziņā, ko pārdomāt un skaudri izjust nebeigšu kādu laiku un, iespējams, kādreiz meklēšu atkal, lai vēlreiz pārdomātu traģēdijas, nelaimes, nepārliecinātības, mīlestības un vēl daudz cita mijiedarbību un likumsakarību, kas veido veselu dzīvi.

Crying in public on your bus home from work I think might be the best sign of a good book. This tore me apart and felt especially relevant what with Pride season upon us. No one can capture humans in all their ugliness and touching banality like Michael Cunningham does. I think I felt the saddest after physically feeling myself leaving the little world and atmosphere the book created. No matter how much you grasp the paperback tightly, to the point that the pages begin to warp slightly, thinking that'll accomplish everything and anything, the feelings, thoughts and impressions the story leaves you with always dissipate a bit too unremarkably for my liking.

Personality of characters were similar to those in the Hours (which I enjoyed reading), but in this book, they began to get on my nerves. Book dragged on for tooo long, but I stuck with it until the end, and overall was glad I finished it.