The reviews on this one weren't as food as some of Cunningham's other novels, but it remains my favorite. The first time I read it I read the last page, closed the book and my eyes for a few minutes to just let it all wash over me, and then I opened it back up to the first page and started it all over again. Cunningham gives you no choice but to love, and understand, and empathize with characters that are flawed and imperfect and sometimes pretentious. The theme of striving (and often failing) to create beauty is something that resonated deeply with me, and if you loved the richness of language in The Hours, this is a wonderful choice. This and Olive Kitteridge are the best novels I've encountered thus far this year. I read The Hours a few months ago, and while it has the same pointed, beautiful prose that appears in By Nightfall, the former seems like a polished creative writing exercise. In contrast, By Nightfall depicts the ordinary uncertainties and outer posturings that characterize aspects of adulthood, parenthood, and marriage, and it does so believably. Like The Hours, this story is controlled, but it feels less enamored with its own design and framing, more interested in what it means to be alive and mortal. One gauge of a book's power might be the reader's longing to return to it again, and in this case, that longing is here.
What do You think about By Nightfall (2010)?
The reviews on this one weren't as food as some of Cunningham's other novels, but it remains my favorite. The first time I read it I read the last page, closed the book and my eyes for a few minutes to just let it all wash over me, and then I opened it back up to the first page and started it all over again. Cunningham gives you no choice but to love, and understand, and empathize with characters that are flawed and imperfect and sometimes pretentious. The theme of striving (and often failing) to create beauty is something that resonated deeply with me, and if you loved the richness of language in The Hours, this is a wonderful choice.
—istvan
Aww. This book could have been a lot subtler, but that's sort of its charm. What I've always liked about Michael Cunningham is how earnestly he tackles the Big Truths. Sometimes his prose feels a bit clumsy and overwritten as a result (too much of the undergrad creative writing seminar), but occasionally you get these perfect gut-wrenching moments. Plus who doesn't love a good slightly angsty "beautiful young guy/artsy older man" pairing (with a side of emotionally complex female characters)?
—HaileyMae
I have been away from Michael Cunnningham for too long...what beautiful writing. Now I want more...
—magicalsparks3721
Oh, the beauty of drug addicted youth... It can rock our boat when we are old and unhappy.
—sanusha
