Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Las horas by Michael Cunningham

1 review

mmefish's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

C'est la merde, forgive my French.

I was in at the beginning, thinking the prose beautiful, but once M. Cunningham started inserting paragraphs from the actual "Mrs. Dalloway", it became clear (I'm yet to read it) that he has tried and failed to imitate Woolf's style.

The characters themselves are insufferable (Woolf's portrayal feels almost insulting, and I don't even consider myself her admirer); they're incredibly vain and whiny, overthinking every little thing because, clearly, the have nothing better to do. There's no depth, just vanity topped with some cursing (that emerged suddenly after more than 50% in) and expressions like "worshipping his ass", "fucking him sensless", " ...some force between them [aunt and her 5yo. niece], a complicity that is neither maternal nor erotic but contains elements of both". Cheap.

And, of course, women constantly think of how beautiful they/other women are or aren't, how they're getting older, how their breast touch other woman's breasts, how they desire another woman, how "she has kissed her sister, not quite innocently..."

I would probably LOVE this as a teenager. Now, thankfully, I know better.

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