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60th out of 693 books
—
848 voters
Flesh and Blood
In "Flesh and Blood," Michael Cunningham takes us on a masterful journey through four generations of the Stassos family as he examines the dynamics of a family struggling to "come of age" in the 20th century. In 1950, Constantine Stassos, a Greek immigrant laborer, marries Mary Cuccio, an Italian-American girl, and together they produce three children: Susan, an ambitious...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
May 1st 1996
by Touchstone Books
(first published January 1st 1995)
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I liked this book, but I kept feeling like I had read it before. Surely, I'm not that addled post-pregnancy, but there were certain scenes that just felt completely familiar whereas I had no recollection of other scenes or characters. I had read & loved The Hours many years ago, and there are similar themes, so maybe that's it? At any rate, the book is well-written as I would expect from Cunningham, but the family's saga seemed to have everything but the kitchen sink thrown in - immigrant be...more
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Though Cunningham writes beautifully, he hasn't quite figured out how to balance his heavy subject matter with his wildly descriptive prose. The book becomes bogged down by the extreme familial drama that Cunningham creates for his characters. This book is a good read, but you'd be better suited to read "The House," where Cunningham's voice is fully realized.
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Everything that is trite and heavy-handed in novels is present here: there's an aging patriarch, kleptomania, lots of long descriptions of the way twilight moves across a neighborhood, self-mutilation, child abuse, questions of immigrant identity, questions of gender identity, questions of sexual identity, a whiff of incest, death, AIDS, drug abuse, New York, the suburbs, tract housing, class conflict, shifting American demographics, paeans to urban space, roiling hatreds in families, love, gene...more
Sometimes you just need to read a good book. I don't mean a juicy mystery or something with ghosts or vampires. I mean a well-written story about real people and real problems. I mean a (gasp, gag) literary novel. And Flesh and Blood is just that.
Cunningham had a big problem in writing this; he had to begin at the beginning, and the beginning wasn't necessarily the most interesting place to start. In fact, the first third of the novel is less than extraordinary, detailing the lives of a Green i...more
Cunningham had a big problem in writing this; he had to begin at the beginning, and the beginning wasn't necessarily the most interesting place to start. In fact, the first third of the novel is less than extraordinary, detailing the lives of a Green i...more
1935-2035.Cento anni.Dal passato al futuro.E,tra i due,le vite delle persone.Ognuna diversa;ognuna chiusa in se stessa e aperta agli altri per quel tanto che la sua natura gli permette;ognuna sublime e disperata insieme;ognuna invincibile e impotente insieme;ognuna che avanza,e mentre avanza cambia,e mentre cambia si avvicina alla fine.E Cunningham,queste vite,ce le fa conoscere tutte.E ci fa conoscere il desiderio e il bisogno estremo dell'individuo di realizzare se stesso,al di là delle conven...more
"Jamal viveva in lui. (...) Non era amore, non quello che aveva immaginato fosse amore. Assomigliava di più a come aveva immaginato fosse il cancro, quello che aveva portato via la signora Marshall della casa accanto, una palla di cellule impazzite che, come diceva sua madre, l'avevano divorata. Come un cancro era lui e non era lui. Lo mangiava e sostituiva ciò che aveva mangiato con un'altra dose di se stesso."
Il secondo romanzo di Cunningham si presenta come un avvincente saga familiare sullo
...more
So you think you have a dysfunctional family! Try this book on for size. It is a fascinating tale of a family which plays out over several generations. This gives the readers a real sense for how and where family dynamics come from.
It is a book that will appeal to many different groups of readers. Gay readers will embrace some of the affirming gay characters not to mention the endearing transvestite.
This is a book that speaks about love and forgiveness. This lends the book a spiritual dimension....more
It is a book that will appeal to many different groups of readers. Gay readers will embrace some of the affirming gay characters not to mention the endearing transvestite.
This is a book that speaks about love and forgiveness. This lends the book a spiritual dimension....more
This is my absolute favorite kind of book. It tells the story of a family over three generations, basically. I love the way the author is able to show the dysfunctional nature of the family, by going into each characters' head and describing their often conflicting thoughts. It's very realistic in that way, one minute a person feels one way, the next minute another, and then you see how they decide to act on their feelings.
I related to the story quite a bit, I am one of three siblings, born arou...more
I related to the story quite a bit, I am one of three siblings, born arou...more
Picked this up at Gay's the Word (the UK's only LGBT bookstore!) I've loved most of Michael Cunningham's other books, and this was good but definitely not my favorite. It's an American family epic in the same vein as Middlesex or The Corrections, but it doesn't have the cohesiveness that those books do. The story isn't driven by plot so much as the evolving relationships between family members over three generations; as such, it often seems to stutter and lose momentum. The thing that sustained...more
Mar 25, 2010
Marsia
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
nobody
Recommended to Marsia by:
nobody
Shelves:
family-sagas
FLESH AND BLOOD took me a long time to read because I put it aside and read two other books, then came back to it, determined to finish it.
Unless I'm mistaken, this was Cunningham's second novel, and I count myself among his fans, and there were several good moments, but generally it's a family saga about a group of characters for whom I just couldn't work up much enthusiasm or interest. From the first chapter, set in 1935, through 1995--plus a final chapter set in the future--it follows Greek...more
Unless I'm mistaken, this was Cunningham's second novel, and I count myself among his fans, and there were several good moments, but generally it's a family saga about a group of characters for whom I just couldn't work up much enthusiasm or interest. From the first chapter, set in 1935, through 1995--plus a final chapter set in the future--it follows Greek...more
I hate to think that Michael Cunningham is writing the same book over and over, because really, he isn't, but this one seemed like it had his "stock" characters. Strong, but quirky women, a gay man with some guilt over his sexuality, etc. Depressing at the end. Still a fairly decent book, but go pick up At Home At the End of the World for a much better read by him.
On a few occasions when I went to hear Michael Cunningham speak, all the questions from the audience were about The Hours and A Home at the End of the World. Why does Flesh and Blood get so little airtime? This is a beautifully written and totally engrossing family saga that I didn't wanted to end. I love Cunningham's depth of empathy for his characters.
Well, what a difficult book to review...after the first 50 pages I was completely swept away and thought this was going to be one of the best books I'd read in years. The description, the characters and the tension, I was totally drawn in. Strange then that nothing else in the book ever quite delivers to that level. I had moments where I loved everything about the story and couldn't wait to find out what more was going to happen to the different family generations and their inter-relations. I al...more
This is the fourth of Michael Cunningham's novels that I have read. It is probably the most traditional--following three generations of a family steadily through time. In fact each section is labeled with the year. It is an exploration of an American family in the second half of the 20th century--the move to the suburbs, the 2.6 kids, the generational disconnect, divorce, forming of non-traditional families.
I have rated the book four stars but it may be graduated to five. I really like the story...more
I have rated the book four stars but it may be graduated to five. I really like the story...more
This book has been on my shelf for a long time. I've been looking for "a good story" with "great characters" for a long time. Oh, look, it works.
I enjoyed the first third of this book immensely. The characters were wonderful and rich. In the second third the characters settled into more two-dimensional stereotypes, but they were still originally written (if not original characters) and enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book became tedious. A lot of the major plot points were very...more
I enjoyed the first third of this book immensely. The characters were wonderful and rich. In the second third the characters settled into more two-dimensional stereotypes, but they were still originally written (if not original characters) and enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the final third of the book became tedious. A lot of the major plot points were very...more
Basically there are two kinds of novels, those that detail a specific event (a love affair, a tragedy, etc) and those that just ramble hither and yon telling no specific story. As a rule, I'm not a big fan of novels that ramble. "Flesh and Blood" is a ramble. However, I was totally enthralled from start to finish. This is the story of the Stassos family. It begins in 1939 and ends in the present day. This is the most intimate portrait of a family I've ever read. Each of the characters is fully r...more
Това е от тези книги, които те карат да си казваш ‘Брррр’ и да тръскаш глава като мокро
Куче още в началните страници. Но не от отблъскваща силна, а от странните неща, които се подават от страниците, и които ти досега не си поглеждал в лицето.
През повечето си време не разбираме нищо от живота и прищявките му. Движим се в някаква си линия, която смятаме за правилна, докато не се появява нещо, което изкарва живота ни от пътя му. Живеем в мъничкият си, затворен и приветлив свят. Такъв, какъвто сам...more
Куче още в началните страници. Но не от отблъскваща силна, а от странните неща, които се подават от страниците, и които ти досега не си поглеждал в лицето.
През повечето си време не разбираме нищо от живота и прищявките му. Движим се в някаква си линия, която смятаме за правилна, докато не се появява нещо, което изкарва живота ни от пътя му. Живеем в мъничкият си, затворен и приветлив свят. Такъв, какъвто сам...more
i have no words, and so many, for this book.
like his magnum opus The Hours, this is a novel that tugs at my soul and makes me feel present and really there, and experience the elegiac and the fierce chaos of life. if it has joys, which is possible, you will find it in the shadows cast by a flower pot on the windowsill or by taking a book in a park in a warm summer day of March, something as iridescent as that. Cunningham exposes his characters' deepest inclinations and their bottomless pain and...more
like his magnum opus The Hours, this is a novel that tugs at my soul and makes me feel present and really there, and experience the elegiac and the fierce chaos of life. if it has joys, which is possible, you will find it in the shadows cast by a flower pot on the windowsill or by taking a book in a park in a warm summer day of March, something as iridescent as that. Cunningham exposes his characters' deepest inclinations and their bottomless pain and...more
This was a really easy book to get into; it's compelling, tragic and completely human. Flesh and Blood follows the lives of one family from 1935 to 2035. Constatine is a Greek immigrant in the United States who marries second generation Italian American Mary. As their lives unfold throughout the years and they raise three children, the reader sees moments in their lives filled with love, passion, violence and sometimes acceptance. The book is about the outsider trying to fit into American societ...more
Personality of characters were similar to those in the Hours (which I enjoyed reading), but in this book, they began to get on my nerves. Book dragged on for tooo long, but I stuck with it until the end, and overall was glad I finished it.
A gorgeous writer. Can't get enough of how he writes. Will probably read everything he's written. Have almost done so. This is a multigenerational family story, with different chapters told from different characters' points of view. Exactly what I'm trying to do. And often it made me gasp at what he's able to pull off. Technically. But in the end, he loads this family down with too many sorrows, his book with too many hot-button issues. Spoilers: AIDS, drug addictions, shoplifting, affairs, comi...more
I don't know if I liked this as much as "The Hours," but I just love Cunningham's writing style. His word choice is so beautiful. I know a writer has done a wonderful job when I look at sentence after sentence and think, "Man, no way I could've said it that well." As far as the content, there were some very uncomfortable themes--light to moderate incest being the most unsettling to me--but it was an interesting sort of discomfort. The pacing was a little drawn out in some of the character's arcs...more
Il secondo romanzo di Cunningham si presenta come un'avvincente saga familiare sullo sfondo della società americana del '900. Cento anni raccontati attraverso tre generazioni. Una famiglia, ed una miriade di personaggi diversi, con le loro storie, i loro pensieri, le loro ossessioni, paure, angosce. I loro amori traditi, quelli finiti, e quelli sopravvissuti. Pur essendo il romanzo che mi piace di meno - la prima parte, relativa all'odioso capofamiglia, mi ha annoiato - è una grande prova di cap...more
Un romanzo densissimo, popolato da personaggi estremamente vivi, sofferenti, dolenti. Una famiglia, di origini miste (greche e italiane), la sua lotta per diventare americana a tutti gli effetti, le lotte individuali per emergere nella vita e rincorrere i propri sogni. Cunningham scava nella psiche dei personaggi in modo tormentoso (e a forza di scavare emerge ben poco di positivo) e affronta moltissime tematiche interessanti: l'abuso in famiglia, la morte, l'omosessualità, l'AIDS...Appassionant...more
Splendido romanzo lungo un secolo, pieno zeppo di quelli che Hornby nell'introduzione di "Una vita da lettore" definisce "meccanismi del cuore e della mente". Cunningham non solo ci fa entrare nel cuore e nella mente dei personaggi, ma ci fa sentire come se fossimo stati sempre lì e lo avessimo sentito da sempre l'eco di quei pensieri e di quelle emozioni che in quel momento magari non sono nostre, ma che potrebbero esserlo, forse fra un giorno, forse fra trent'anni, forse in un'altra vita.
Mary,...more
Mary,...more
I really enjoyed "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham so had high hopes for this book. Talk about a dysfunctional family - a hot headed Greek father, a prissy socially ambitious mother, a daughter that unhappily lives the "good" life with her lawyer husband, a gay son and a drug addict daughter. And that's just the family - even with these assorted personalities, the book most of the time seemed dull. The writing is good but the story never gels and the ending - good grief - it seems like the autho...more
I remember really loving The Hours by the same author, so when I saw this one on sale, I snatched it up. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it. The characters are rich and interesting, and the story isn't predictable.
The one problem I had with the book was Cunningham's writing style, which I mostly really liked .. but often his descriptions of character emotion were a little too flowery or obscure for me. Brief little sentences that were more prose than anything else. Those moments were sometimes...more
The one problem I had with the book was Cunningham's writing style, which I mostly really liked .. but often his descriptions of character emotion were a little too flowery or obscure for me. Brief little sentences that were more prose than anything else. Those moments were sometimes...more
Powerful narrative saga of a family. A Greek immigrant marries and Italian-American woman and they have 3 complex children. It is often jagged, but brilliant.
"Let me finish," Momma said. She took the brush from Susan and forced it through Zoe's hair so hard that buried thoughts were pulled to the surface of her brain. Zoe let her eyes water, let the thoughts boil She didn't make a sound.
The characters have much more complex thoughts and emotions than I do. i found the story very interesting.
"Let me finish," Momma said. She took the brush from Susan and forced it through Zoe's hair so hard that buried thoughts were pulled to the surface of her brain. Zoe let her eyes water, let the thoughts boil She didn't make a sound.
The characters have much more complex thoughts and emotions than I do. i found the story very interesting.
I knew Michael Cunningham could write a great novel, especially one that could be adapted to the screen, like A Home at the End of the World and The Hours, but I didn’t know how great of a novel he could write! This book definitely belongs in the Top 5 Books I’ve read in 2012. It also counts towards my Mount TBR Challenge and officially puts me over 75% on my 2012 challenges! (It’s also the last book my boss gave me to read almost exactly a year ago.)
This is the story of the Stassos family over...more
This is the story of the Stassos family over...more
no. this is it. i'm not reading any more multi-generational books set in nyc & surrounds and touching on big relevant issues (aids, 9/11) of the 00s/90s/80s and exhaustively chronicling complex family dynamics. i've read three now and I cant distinguish between them - this by michael cunningham, one by jennifer egan, and claire messud's the emperors children - all intelligent books but lacking heart. it's a niche genre I've somehow stumbled into, and all i can say is, i've finished each book...more
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize), and Specimen Days. His most recent novel is By Nightfall. He lives in New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/autho...more
More about Michael Cunningham...
Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize), and Specimen Days. His most recent novel is By Nightfall. He lives in New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/autho...more
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“. . . he felt himself entering a moment so real he could only run toward it, shouting.”
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“Constantine, eight years old, was working in his father's garden and thinking about his own garden, a square of powdered granite he had staked out and combed into rows at the top of his family's land.”
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