Jesse’s Reviews > The Hours > Status Update

I read this when I was a teenager and it had a major impact on me, mainly because it was my introduction to Virginia Woolf. It's the book that got me interested in her and inspired me to read her work. Now, she's one of my favorite writers. I would like to re-read this at some point. It's been many years since I read it.

The film adaptation was my introduction to VW as well, and I immediately read Mrs D. and several other of her novels before getting around to Cunningham's novel (thus I can credit it as mediating one of the major influences my whole intellectual life). I know The Hours itself tends to provoke rather polarized responses here on GR, but I think it's a major achievement in its own right, and even more importantly I've often found myself turning to it during moments of trauma and melancholy, though it's been a while since I last read it as well. I'm finding it just as beautiful and resonant as ever.

Caitlin wrote: "I read this when I was a teenager and it had a major impact on me, mainly because it was my introduction to Virginia Woolf. It's the book that got me interested in her and inspired me to read her work. Now, she's one of my favorite writers. I would like to re-read this at some point. It's been many years since I read it. "