Day: The stunning new literary novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham

The word Covid does not appear in this book but it a story, or several stories, of life in the time of Covid, covering two generations of one extended family over three days and three years.Cunningham's prose is exquisite and his observation of people, seen by themselves and by those closest to them, is particularly acute because we do not, of course, see ourselves as others see us, save that in this book, and with these characters, we are given that privilege thanks to the author's imagination and skill.One particularly clever device is that Robbie, a gay man on whom the book hinges, has created an Instagram storyline which is partly about him but also about someone who is a creature of his imagination. The two identities almost merge into each other and timelines go askew in ways which do not undermine an underlying insight into "real" life.

Michael Cunningham fans will be well versed to the author's technique, and this new novel doesn't disappoint. New readers may however need to adjust their minds to his acerbic prose which in times is demanding and too nuanced. However all in all not too demanding and a worthwhile read nonetheless.

As a fan of Michael's writing I can safely recommend that you don't read this book if you've not read any of his infinitely better books.He's used a slew of words that he most likely doesn't in his everyday vocabulary, which makes for a very clunky read. Also, because of deploying this ostentatious tactic, it seems disingenuous.

A gentle, very human novel about people, relationships and grief. At one point (about a third through) I feared it was a self indulgent piece about middle class New Yorkers and their very first world problems. By the end I’d decided that was exactly what it was but that it was utterly brilliant because of that. The cherry on the cake is Cunningham’s prose which is as beautiful as ever.

This "searing meditation on love and loss" from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham is brilliantly insightful but stretches credulity at times for being so self-absorbed. Or rather its characters do, all of whom live in a world where they are constantly psychoanalysing themselves and those around them in a very authorial voice whether they're 5 years old or 45. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing stuff, but every so often the introspection gets too much, and a couple of times tips over into the pretentious. Otherwise it's a fairly short and very rewarding read.

Cunningham’s previous success has gone to his head/pen. It all seems so self-absorbed as if he’s trying to prove to us what a great writer he is and woe behold any Editor who cuts out (should have!) all the waffly bits that we have to plough through to find the narrative and the nuggets giving flesh to the characters. Only finished it because I paid £££s for a hardback. I have read some excellent first novels recently and their editors/publishers would have sent this back with “good first draft, try again”.

This story has something extra. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is. Could be the eloquent descriptions and charming characters, but it’s much more than that. There is a depth to it that I think readers will relate to. For example, the author nails the pandemic with biting humor in just one sentence, which made me pause and smile about a not-so-pleasant period of time that now seems so long ago. Reaching the reader, making it relevant. As the title says, it takes place on one day. In three consecutive years.Dan and Isabel and their kids live in an apartment in Brooklyn, which they’ve recently outgrown. Dan is doing the stay-at-home dad thing while easing his way back into his former rock dude self, less for the love of music, more for the adulation he so misses. Isabel’s career as a photo editor is static, as a result, she’s checked out, spending time contemplating life while sitting on the stairs. They’re both obsessed with her gay, younger brother Robbie who lives upstairs in their attic, which they’ve asked him to vacate so their son Nathan can occupy it rather than share a room with his little sister Violet. Moving out is daunting as Robbie barely gets by on his teacher salary and he’s the glue that holds the family together. Robbie steals the show whether it’s grading essays or doling out fashion advice to his niece.When hurricane Chess blows in with her baby in tow for Robbie or Dan to care for because Garth, Dan’s younger brother and the child’s sperm donor dad, isn’t around to pick up the slack, somehow, the combo works. Until it doesn’t. But here’s the thing, I loved Robbie (and his fictional Instagram character) the most and I love Cunningham’s writing, that the story itself seems almost secondary.DAY is like a modern fairy tale with fluctuating family dynamics, how children learn to view the world. I thought it was an interesting take on life, a family facing a turning point and the toll that takes when suddenly, all the players need to spread their wings in different directions.

Without any strength! Neither literature or argument!

Eccellente

David Bowie said aging is about becoming who you really are.Extrapolating from this aging is about trying to solve the Chinese wooden puzzle of who we are.As young children the puzzle first presents. But then socialisation impedes it’s solving’s progress. To mask over aspects we discover in ourselves that we don’t like, that at getting in the way of making friends, later on partners, getting success, earning money, acquiring wealth, we make adjustments or add on behaviours that take us further from who we really are, not closer.With wisdom, and as these needs recede, the puzzle reappears but with the extra problem of unravelling all the socialisation add-ons. The need to uravel serves the ever-growing need to solve the puzzle of who we really are.This novel is about that. But with the Covid pandemic thrown in as either an opportunity to unravel or a threat to further entangle, as each character has two years of introversion thrust on them.Garth’s confusion over his love and his paternal powers get a boost from anagram holding his hair.Dan learns that’s true art must defy reason, but his corresponding unreasonable hopes of reunion with Isabel take him further from not closer to his truth.The first time Violet got a glimpse of who she really is was through the eyes of Robbie after donning the yellow dress, and with Robbie gone, she conjures his ghost in order to recreate the moment.Chess confronts her oversimplification of thinking as she foresees a troubled child without a present or reliable father figure.They all need each other to help solve their self-puzzles but the solving itself is solitary and separate and remote, emphasised by the dark loneliness suggested by the constraints of the pandemic, and embodied by the need to create a Wolfe figure through which to work at the puzzle when other avenues disappoint.

This book was so disappointing. I did like last section but most of it was generic and bland.