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The Hours  By  cover art

The Hours

By: Michael Cunningham
Narrated by: Michael Cunningham
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Publisher's summary

Winner of the Pulitzer prize, the Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and nominated for 9 Academy Awards, The Hours is now available in audio.

Passionate, profound, and deeply moving, The Hours tells the story of three women: Clarissa Vaughan, who one New York morning goes about planning a party in honor of a beloved friend; Laura Brown, who in a 1950s Los Angeles suburb slowly begins to feel the constraints of a perfect family and home; and Virginia Woolf, recuperating with her husband in a London suburb and beginning to write Mrs. Dalloway. By the end of the novel, the stories have intertwined, and finally come together in an act of subtle and haunting grace, demonstrating Michael Cunningham's deep empathy for his characters as well as the extraordinary resonance of his language.

©1998 Michael Cunningham (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2001

"An exquisitely written, kaleidoscopic work that anchors a floating postmodern world on pre-modern caissons of love, grief and transcendent longing. (Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"A delicate, triumphant glance...A place of late-century danger but also of treasurable hours." (The New York Times Book Review )

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What listeners say about The Hours

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Good “read”

I enjoyed the story. I do recommend reading Mrs Dalloway first (and perhaps a bit of biography on Virginia Woolf would hurt but isn’t strictly necessary.

I can see why the author’s reading is polarizing and the recording quality could have been better but I didn’t mind the voice unlike some listeners.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

Not worth the time - better for you to go and listen to the Opera instead!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narration lacks rithm

The narration lacks rithm, full of pauses.
Unfortunarelly, unapelling reading by the author. Not recommended.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

The language of this book was beautifully descriptive and led me to believe this book was going to unfold into a great story. It did not. The ending fell flat in a very disappointing way.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Narration

I've listened to so many books and this narration is one of the worst I've heard. Believe what everyone says: It's terrible. It's unbelievable how Cunningham doesn't even understand the cadence of his own prose. It's like he doesn't even understand the beauty of his own words and sentences. I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this book. I would rather have read it than listened to Cunningham butcher his own prose.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Don’t bother

Read in monotone. Unable to get into story. Didn’t live up to the cover, wish I could get my credit back on this one.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Could not follow the audio

I have no doubt that this is probably a fanstastic read. I put it in my cart just based on the number of awards it had won without knowing anything about the plot or premise. Almost an hour into the book, I still didn't get it. I don't know if it was the narration or the production, but I couldn't easily pick up on the thread switches or follow who was who. I've been an audiobook lover for over 8 years now and have to say this definitely ranks low on my list. I would suggest trying another audio version or try the physical book.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Distracting and Dull

Michael Cunningham's odd, halting narration is extremely distracting. This is one of the worst audio books I've ever listened to. This was a book club choice and I've already tried to read the book but was bored to tears. I wish I'd read the reviews before wasting my credit on this audio. Mr. Cunninham should have put his ego aside and hired a woman to record this audio. Terrible!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

good story, bad reader

Authors should almost NEVER read their own fiction. I couldn't distinguish the characters during dialogue, and in general was unimpressed with the reading as a whole.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

poor delivery

This audio book was a super disappointed. I've never asked for a refund this time I will.......

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