1. A complex woman whose complexity shows in her writing.
2. There is a reason Ann Page has so many books on her, it means she has written something meaningful and powerful. (Not always the case with writers with so many books on their life)
3. Choosing a path many women were not expected or viewed to follow at her time, she produced an Emily Dickinson like piece of work. Complicated to read at times and hard to understand, but upon true understanding opens the door to celebration upon understanding and gives you the feeling of invincibility as a reader.
3 reasons to read The Hours
1. A "How to read Mrs. Dalloway for Dummies," a softer user-friendly book that helps allow a reader understand Woolf more.
2. It is based on and has the same characters of Mrs. Dalloway, but does not seem like a series or a cheap knock-off.
3. A woman wrote this? Cunningham captures the female view brilliantly. His name on the book is the only giveaway that it was written by a male.
Decisions, decisions, which to read first
I agree with Meghan that when reading this two novels on should take the read, read, re-read approach. Reading Virginia Woolf first is frustrating, it is one of the hardest books I have read writing and content wise. Though it's not a series reading Cunningham first is like drinking water before eating something spicy, it defeats the purpose. Yah Woolf is spicy makes your tongue and mouth burn, but Cunningham is the cool relief after the burn. Re-reading Woolf after reading Cunningham, allows the reader to walk away with a better understanding of Mrs. Dalloway.
...well done, Kim! articulate and analytically insightful. this will be useful for your paper. ann page
ReplyDeleteKim,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on your Woolf #3. There is an element of celebration when you realize you've figured it out, and you do feel some sort of triumph as a reader for having been able to dig through her (at times) difficult writing.
And I agree with your Cunningham #1, too - it is sort of an easier version of Mrs. Dalloway, addressing the same issues, but doing so in a much more approachable way.
I think your analogy about spicy food and water is perfect for these two books... reading the Hours first is sort of just a wasted effort (to a degree - it certainly has merit as it's own work, but for comparison purposes it should come second), where as reading it second is very enlightening, not just because of the content of The Hours, but because it helps us to understand the content of Mrs. Dalloway too.
Nice work!
Abby