Books
by Michael Cunningham
|
By Nightfall |
Set in Manhattan, a mid-forties couple, Peter and Rebecca seem to have everything: the career, the money, the loft in Soho and the happiness. But then Rebecca's younger brother, Mizzy, shows up - just back from rehab - and everything changes for them. A very good read.
(Laurence Martin Euler - bwl 59 Winter 2011) |
|
|
Specimen Days |
I started Cunningham's new novel with great expectations - I must admit I'm a fan - but I was puzzled at first: this book is so different from his previous ones. And then I was captivated by his old charm. The section 'In the Machine' haunts you a long time after you finish it and the difference to his previous books is the unease and horror that characters experience. There may be hope but it's far away.
(Laurence Martin Euler - bwl 31 September 2005) |
|
|
The Hours |
Cunningham's style so emulates Virginia Woolf's in Mrs Dalloway that it seemed almost distasteful at first. However The Hours is more than a homage to VW and he settles into his own very moving study of three women in three different decades, each undergoing a crisis and questioning whether they can carry on. Like Mrs Dalloway, it most effectively shows how the impressions of everyday life interact with our consciousness and motivation.
(Victoria Grey-Edwards - bwl 18 April 2003) |
|
|
