Rating: 
Summary: A work of art
Review: This book was obviously written with great care, "not forced into existence like a chicken that goes from egg to slaughter with its feet never touching the ground," like many of today's best sellers. This is one of the best books I've read this year. Michael Cunningham is a God.
Rating:
Summary: Cursed by the weight of the Pulitzer Prize
Review: Okay, I gave it five stars, now I'm going to blast it. This is a well written book, an enjoyable read. It's a pity it won a Pulitzer though, because it can't live up to that honor.Imagine a Hollywood Producer handing a talented screenwriter a copy of Mrs Dalloway and saying, "Here, write an updated version of this that audiences can relate to," and you've got The Hours. It's not just an homage to Virginia Woolf, it's a rewrite. But a good one.
Rating: 
Summary: Tired
Review: Frankly I am tired of this kind of "seamless masterpiece" which is so seamless that none of the characters were ever developed to the greatest extent possible. I have read Mrs. Dalloway, I know Virginia W., but I was disappointed in this Pulitzer Price winner. I expected more.
Rating:
Summary: Pultizer Prize disappointment
Review: I learned of this book when the Pultizer Prize announcement was made. This small book seemed like a tiny jewel. However, the attractive presentation and hype seemed overdone to the subject matter itself. The writing was world-class yet the work was not inspiring. My high expectations were not met. I am left wondering still about what criteria the Pultizer Committee uses in making its awards.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece well deserving of critical accolades
Review: The Hours is a true masterpiece, a modern sequel to Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway". It's as if Virginia Woolf was reincarnated through Mr. Cunningham. Absolutely spell binding. I didn't want this book to end. If you love Virginia Woolf, then you have to read this book!
Rating:
Summary: He's No Virginia Woolf
Review: An interesting premise but the book doesn't live up to its ambitions. The characters remain opaque, and one is too conscious of the author being clever. Again and again one notes: "oh yes, he's alluding to that bit of the Woolf's Mrs Dalloway" or "ok, another item checked off: having a character repeat language from Woolf's suicide note verbatim." Although his writing is good, the end result is that Cunningham seems pretentious to have attempted to speak for Woolf, catty, and glib.
Rating:
Summary: Not that impressive
Review: I read this book because it said it was a Pulitzer prize winner, so I went in with high expectations. There is much comparison to Virginia Woolf's work, which I have read none of. However, I found this book within a book and overlapping characters nothing special. It's been done. The over analysis of the dissassociation of the characters to their world was interesting, however, also not especially brilliant. I expected more. It was mildly entertaining at best.
Rating:
Summary: A good imitation...
Review: This book is beautifully written and is a very good homage or imitation of Virginia Woolf's language and style. I found the portions about her life to be the most complex and interesting; the prologue was especially moving. However, I couldn't help but notice that Cunningham wasn't as good at writing like Virginia Woolf as Virginia Woolf was. It made me want to just reach for "The Waves" or "To the Lighthouse" instead.
Rating:
Summary: A 'Hamlet' book
Review: I found this work a 'Hamlet' book in terms of thought vs. action (too much of one and not quite enough of the other). Cunningham dives the undercurrents of the most mundane of events to divine the essence and meaning of life as we know it. While very strong stylistically, fluent and well-written, the book seems to dip into the 'tell' as opposed to the 'show' region now and then. The characters tend to lay their thoughts open to us, straight as railroad tracks, utterly sure of what they mean; at such times, they turn into vessels for Cunningham's philosophy rather than realistic characters in their own right. Therefore, I found it a little too contrived and self-aware; but still, a thought-provoking and insightful read.
Rating:
Summary: Streams Ahead
Review: The Hours is a beautifully written novel, inspired not only by the work of Virginia Woolf, but also by events in her life. Michael Cunningham has constructed a tripartite piece that simultaneously snapshots events in the lives of three very different women, Virginia Woolf among them. Cunningham eloquently intersects Virginia Woolf, the author, with her creation, Mrs Dalloway, and then parallels this with the lives of two readers who are heavily influenced by Woolf's work. With careful attention to detail, and beautiful prose, Cunningham creates an echo of "stream of consciouness" writing that successfully celebrates Woolf's own style and pace. This book was an unusual choice for our bookclub, and we were impressed with it's simplicity, depth and beauty. However, apart from one enthusiastic reader, we were somewhat bemused by this work. We wondered where the inspiration for this piece came from? And, how many books on and by Virginia Woolf you would have to read to get to this place? And, would it have helped if we had read "Mrs Dalloway"? One of our readers summed it up best: "This book takes our club to a new level..."
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