This book (and Michael Cunningham's prose) is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt. One of my all-time favorites.

I only sort of liked this, so I honestly don't have too much to say about it. It wasn't remarkable, but it wasn't awful.

It basically follows a set of three friends - one women, two men - and examines their relationships, both with each other, and with people from the outside world (mothers, fathers, girlfriends, boyfriends).

It reads almost a little blandly. I suppose you could say it's more of a character study and less about the plot. But then I couldn't say that it was very successful, because I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. They had their moments, but the things they felt and experienced weren't enough to move me emotionally - and I'm a pretty big sap. Even this was a little too sappy and unnecessarily dramatic for me. There's not a lot of joy in this book, so after awhile it feels like the characters are just holding on to each other out of history and obligation. They seem almost afraid to meet new people. Or maybe just lazy.

If you're determined to read it, borrow it. Or buy it used. But if you want a better examination of the dynamic between two men and one woman, read The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Also, has anyone read any of Cunningham's other works? I kind of want to read The Hours, but this makes me a little wary.

Wow, what wonderful writing. The story is told from the view-point of 4 various view different characters. Each is flawed, or socially inept in some way or another, but each is a compelling character as well. Although the book begins with some jarring, life-changing events it ends up being a sweet story about the ways we manage to love and live our lives.

One of my favorite books. Great story and so well told.

I had seen the movie, but whoa. The book allowed me to connect with these characters on such a different level. It has taken me a while to finish the book, but today when I flipped the last page... I felt like I had to say goodbye to these people I'd known for years. I don't like to give anything away in my reviews, but just know you will judge these people like they're your own friends... only to come back and love them all the same.

I'm fascinated to discover how long ago this book was published after finishing reading it.
I listened on audiobook and I think the narrators have a lot to do with why I enjoyed this book.

It reminded me a little of Miranda July All Fours in its ethereal existentialism.

Maybe not the best book to read during a pandemic. It is beautifully written. Cunningham loves his characters and fully inhabits them; he loves each of them in different ways. The story has a lot of elements to it. It is a story about how difficult for anyone who is different in any way (not just gay) to find himself and fit in when society is based around the threesome of father mother and child. But then he also flips the equation and describes the loneliness of being only defined as a member of that confined threesome cut off from all other society. And there is the theme that family is ultimately what you decide it is -- found people who love and accept you and make a home with you. In a funny twist, the found family of friends in the book toy with a family parody where they call themselves "the Hendersons." Each one has a tragic, difficult familial background story and they yearn for a kind of Norman Rockwell family while also rejecting it. And, finally, it is a story about life and death and how the dead can inhabit (and inhibit) the living.