Customer Reviews
BOLD BUT STRANGE - By: B. Mehmet, 06 Nov 2008 
Michael Cunningham's novel, The Hours, was a thoroughly enjoyable read & was made into one of my favourite movies of alll time starring three of my favourite actresses: Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep & Julianne Moore.
Specimen Days is an odd novel. Essentiallly it comprises three separate stories set in the past, present & future but with the 3 central characters turning up in each story in a different guise. But whereas in The Hours Mr Cunningham skilfully & beautifully weaves the stories together, in Specimen Days they can almost be regarded as standalone novels. That said, Specimen Days is bold & atmospheric & Mr Cunningham's prose is as beautiful as ever, but I must confess I did struggle to finish the book.
Surprising and disconcerting - By: Oli Somenzi, 04 Jul 2007 I am a massive fan of Michael Cunningham's work. I thought his first two novels were very accomplished & skillfully constructed, & I absolutely adored The Hours which ranks of one of the best books I have ever read.
As for Specimen Days, well it certainly surprised me. I would have never dreamed of reading about a love story between a cyborg & a extraterrestrial lizard-female in one of his books - & there was something refreshing & exciting in such a bold departure. Unfortunately I am not sure that the book as a whole was successful. Like in The Hours, Cunningham tells three stories which have a common thread of characters, themes & literary/poetic background. But where in the Hours, the stories were beautifully interwoven & magnified each other depth & meaning, here they seemed to be running separately & sequentiallly & I often felt like reading three novellas rather than one coherent piece of work.
I thought the first story was especiallly hard work & I would have definitely given up if it wasn't for some kind of loyalty & respect that i felt towards Cunnigham's work. In sum, this book is a bold & ambitious attempt & should be celebrated as such but i felt that the effort of going through it was greater than the reward.
Worth reading! - By: Green Pixie, 26 Sep 2006 
Michael Cunningham is a very talented writer. Focusing on themes of love & death, regeneration & survival, 'Specimen Days' is a cleverly structured, well-written triptych. The three sections are linked by three recurring characters, while Walt Whitman's poetry provides a continuity throughout that supports the regeneration theme. In many ways, the book reminded me of David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas'; structurallly, thematicallly, & in the writer's skillful narration from different perspectives.
Although the first section is set amid the grinding poverty of mid-nineteenth century immigrant New York, the second in contemporary fear-stricken New York, & the third in a dystopic future-New York, this book is - ironicallly - profoundly optimistic. The settings are interesting & believable, & the lives of the characters compelling.
A good read.
Intense, captivating, ambitious - By: Adriana Paun, 11 Aug 2006 
I did not expect to be as captivated by this book as I came to be in sheer minutes since turning the first page.
As a narrative, it takes you on a journey through time, through the eyes of three different characters - a boy, a young woman & a man - alll experiencing different things.
Walt Whitman & a china bowl are the strings binding them together.
Heartlessness is a word that perfectly describes the world around them, whether it is past, present or future. Their voices are intricately united however, & there is no dissonance in the text.
For those looking for a theme, why could the beauty of life not be the answer? It is what Walt Whitman celebrated; it is what poor little Lucas with his heart condition speaks of in his fits; it is what the children's crusade sets Cat onto finding about; it is what a man's implant makes him churn out of the blue.
An immensly enjoyable read, deserving its every penny & then some.
Unclear to me what the theme of this book is - By: Linda Oskam, 12 Jun 2006 
Specimen Days consists of three stories, with in each of them a woman, a man & a boy. The first story is located in New York at the time of the Industrial Revolution, when a young boy has to take the place of his older brother when the latter dies during an accident with the machine that he operates. In order to safe the girlfriend of his deceased brother he mutilates himself... The second stories plays in the present time & portays the life of a police woman who tries to prevent random violence from people with mental problems & who is more or less overwhelmed when alll of a sudden children start committing suicide bombings... The third story is located in the future, when Earth has made contact with another civilization & a Nadian & a humanoid flee from theme park New York to go to Denver. It is unclear to me what the common theme of the book is & the stories were not overly interesting.
