Rating: 
Summary: Much Overated!
Review: This book was a selection of my book club of university women about a year and a half ago. The reaction was overwhelmingly negative. A couple of women of 20 liked it. The major complaint were the flashbacks from one generation to the next. I finally read all of the first, all of the second and all of third separately. The writing was good but my feeling for the characters was non-existent. I'm sorry I bought the book. I hope the movie redeems it. Gloria S. Hampton
Rating: 
Summary: best new novel I've read in years
Review: I'm stunned to discover that there are people who had trouble reading this book or thought it was only for snobbish literary types. I read it while sick and feverish just after reading a wild thriller by Carl Hiason ("Native Tongue") and had no trouble at all figuring it out: it swept me forward, though at times the languare was so stunning I wanted to reread and savor a paragraph here and there. Though I agree that the '40s bored housewife wasn't as well drawn as the other two women, over all I was amazed that a man could depict the inner life of women so well. So many lauded, prize-winning new novels just leave me cold and I mostly read "classics," but this book just blew me away.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I kept considering purchasing this book, but since I never read anything by virginia wolfe, i kind of strayed away. finally, i got it, and i am so glad. the book kinda grew on me...it was very well written, and had a lot of common themes. if i was a student of literature, i'd write how each story line had many, many, common threads. i really enjoyed the themes in the book. i highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: You may want the companion book
Review: Cunningham's book reminds us that we should take the time to appreciate the time that we have. Life is a beautiful thing and should be cherished.His story is well written and is framed within Virginia Woolf's book "Mrs. Dalloway." Within this book, three women's lives are being discussed in parallel. The writing is engaging, so the book can be understood on its own. However, character names and events parallel the life of Virginia Woolf and the heroine of her book. By reading this first, like a companion text, characters, situations, and ideas become more apparent and lasting. Even if the story was not interesting, watching the way Cunningham weaves his book with Woolf's is worth the reading. I would recommend reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written book...
Review: I had to choose a book to read for a book report for my high school english class. I went to Borders and started to look around. The Hours soon caught my eye, and I decided that it seemed like a good choice. I first heard about this story the first time anything was said about the upcoming movie in Entertainment Weekly, me being an entertainment fan and all. I was familiar with the story, so I had a slight idea of what it was about. At first it was just something to get through, to finish for my book report. A few pages into it, I realized what an outstanding book it was and actually wanted to read it. It is an amazingly descriptive book filled with beautiful writing, and I soon found it impossible to put down. I kept imagining Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman as the main characters, being that they play them in the movie. They connect so well with these characters that you can't really help but admire their characters in a way. When I did my book report for the class, people seemed interested in what I had to say, and I got a lot of questions afterwards. The movie just opened, and I plan to go see it. It looks just as amazing as the book was. I can honestly say that this was probably the best book I have ever read. If anybody asked me what a good book to read was, I would immediately tell them to read The Hours.
Rating: 
Summary: If it was there, I missed it.
Review: Well, needless to say I was not too impressed with this novel. I understand it won the Pulitzer, and has been raved about from here to Timbucktu. However I just didn't find "THE HOURS" that entertaining. As a novel it was slow and laboring reading. However like all reviews I try to find the silver lining and here is this novels saving grace(TO ME). M.C. the author was able to show the inner feelings of depression, the internal silent screams so to speak,that we each feel each day. He instilles in he characters those thoughts of shear bleakness of which we call life. Yet many of these characters like the rest of us face our demons day in and day out, till we are withered with age. It is at this point that we reflect on our years and wonder was it all worth it? Thats what the Hours relized for me.
Now, "The Hours" is not a clear cut novel, it doesn't answer all of it's questions cut and dry, it is actually left up to the reader's interpretation on how they should deal with them. Kind of like life, where we don't know why other people behave the way they do, as well as ourselves for that matter. Enough of that topic.
Don't let my thoughts on this novel ruin your wanting to pick it up to read, I think that this novel has alot to say, but I guess I wasn't the right audience for it's words
Rating:
Summary: Boy I'm glad I'm finished reading this book
Review: No fancy verbiage here, only helpful info for other average, avid readers, that don't have bachelors, masters or PhDs in English or Literature, who read to relax and enjoy. Probably the majority of us. This book was extremely confusing and totally lacked continuity until the last dozen or so pages. Have you ever dropped your book and lost the page you were on, then picked it up and started reading in the wrong place? That's what it was like reading this book! So much space was wasted by the author displaying his vocabulary, and supersaturating the reader with descriptions that added little to the story. I am surprised by the high ratings by other reviewers.
Rating:
Summary: An Existential Delight...
Review: I found this novel to be haunting and beautifully written. Mr. Cunningham clearly loves his characters. Some of the passages were so moving, so searingly true they took my breath away. One of the best books I've ever read, one that will stay with me for many hours to come...
Rating: 
Summary: Left me cold
Review: The book is beautifully written. Cunningham is clearly an outstanding writer. But the subject matter of the book is cold and as I was reading it, I kept thinking to myself - "who cares?" I never developed even the slightest empathy for the characters, whose lives I found totally uninspired.
Rating:
Summary: The Hours: Most Overrated Novel of the 90s?
Review: In a word: vacuous. Content: Does Cunningham add anything to the plot of "Mrs. Dalloway" except for reflexive criticisms of traditional lifestyles? This novel is like a bad cover version. And, to paraphrase Elmore Leonard, Cunningham seems to specialize in writing the type of passages which people "skip over." Style: Cunningham is a blandly elegant writer. He makes the serious mistake of quoting passages from "Mrs. Dalloway." Now, I am not convinced Woolf's writing is always completely successful, but she is undoubtedly highly original and thoughtful in her prose style and is brimming with things to say. The contrast was seriously damaging to Cunningham. That this novel won the Pulitzer Prize shows that the prize has become an entirely pr-driven affair. I actually picked up the book because I wanted to read it prior to seeing the new movie. Now, I'm not going to the movie anymore.
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