Specimen Days (Michael Cunningham)

Michael Cunningham is an odd duck. I don't mean that in a bad way. In fact, I quite admire his work. Like every other literate person on earth, I adored The Hours. A Home at the End of the World, well, no so much (see here). I say odd then because it has been more than two weeks since I finished the book as I sit to write the review and I still don't know quite what to think of it.

Did I like it? Yes. Post-modern stylings with timeless style. That's Cunningham. Much like in The Hours, he interweaves time and space. And literary characters. In the former, it was Virginia Woolf. In this work, it is Walt Whitman. The book is divided into three parts, all taking place in New York City.

1. 19th Century during the Industrial Revolution, Whitman's own age
2. Close to the present day, post-911 and alert for terror
3. The future, when androids are possible and the world is going to hell in a handbasket (Well, faster than it is now)

In each tale there are three characters: a man, a woman and Walt Whitman. They change roles and experience vastly different plotlines, all centered upon the lust for life and disdain for the mechanization of man in Whitman's work. Oh, and the freeing nature of death. Very interesting. Very different. Very successful? Maybe not.

I absolutely loved the first tale, narrated by a young boy with limited mental faculties who must begin work in a typical (dangerous) foundry. It was mystic, melancholy and foggy. The characters touched me and the events surprised me. I was thinking, "This is The Hours all the way."

Then, the second book hit with a thud for me. This one had a female narrator who was a sort of terrorist negotiator. There were parts that were excellent, including a revelation regarding the boy at the end. Yet it felt too aciton-adventure-like. Like, if it were a movie, Angelia Jolie would play the lead and Haley Joel Osment the little boy. Canned, you know? Like he didn't quite pull it off. The third book was also interesting, narrated from an androids perspective. But again, this one felt as if a Pulitzer Prize winning author was trying his hand at Sci-Fi.

I have nothing against genre fiction. Honestly. I just don't know if this book elevated itself to the realm of literary fiction. Sometime I think yes because scenes and themes from the book have been returning to my thoughts, a sure sign of a book that touched me. Yet, I also was looking forward to starting my next book before this one was done, a sure sign that something is amiss.

I don't know about this one. He took a risk and I applaud that. The literary world is a better, richer place because he took that risk. I just don't know if Evil Knevil actually cleared all of those barrels or if he missed and is seriously injured. It is as if I am a member of the crowd, waiting for the smoke to clear to see if he is still standing.

Will Specimen Days stand the test of time? I think I will have to wait for the smoke to clear.