The Hours

Michael Cunningham's novel The Hours is an interesting book. On the one hand, I enjoy it a lot. The simplicity that Cunningham uses is a nice change of pace from the previous books we've read. On the other hand I don't enjoy it at all. It feels like Cunningham doesn't have enough creativity or originality to create a novel of his own. In my opinion if you can't come up with something original then don't write at all.
Mrs. Brown is by far my favorite character. This is probably because she is the most original character. Mrs. Vaughn follows much of the same pattern that Clarissa Dalloway followed in Mrs. Dalloway. Mrs. Woolf is too similar to the real Mrs. Woolf, however Mrs. Brown is this totally new character. The best part of Mrs. Brown is that she doesn't really conform to your typical 1940's housewife. On the outside Mrs. Brown has this perfect life, her husband is perfectly content with everything he does, she has a son and another child on the way, she bakes cakes and buys perfect presents. But on the inside she's so independent and non-conforming. She would rather read in bed than be this perfect little housewife. She would rather not think about her imperfect cake, she has no idea if she's a good mother or even how to be a mother. To me all of this show a level of independence. However, the way that Cunningham writes Mrs. Brown is sort of depressing. He has this undertone of pity and stereotypical beliefs. It's like he's saying that Mrs. Brown should be perfectly content with her life, he writes kind of like a sexist.
For the most part I really like The Hours, the sexuality that Cunningham explores in all of his characters is sad, exciting, and funny all at once. The way that Cunningham delves into Woolf and the other Mrs. Dalloway does shed new light on old characters. However, I believe that the original Virginia Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway the way she did becuase that's the way she saw her. I don't think that Woolf wanted Dalloway to be the lesbian character and for this reason I think that Cunningham is kind of butchering Mrs. Dalloway.