Title: Good but claustrophobic
Product review: Take three extremely self-absorbed people. Throw in a few parents, one lover. Speaking from the interior voices of the four main characters gives a wonderful look at how these people perceive and process the world. But even though they live in a working-class Latino neighborhood in New York, you never ever get a sense of place or that other people exist, which made me lose patience for the lost opportunity and richness. And well I guess I know a few too many people who lead the same kinds of insular lives. I stopped caring about these characters after awhile.I also found the characterization of Bobby lame--his words in conversation with the others didn't ring right.Michael Cunningham has great gifts with his prose--I'd be jolted by a description of someone's "moth-colored pajamas." I'm now reading The Hours and am pleased to see that he's been able to make his characters' world much less insular. This book hints at the genius of the Hours.
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