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Possession - A S Byatt . . . anyone read it?

30 replies

claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 07:13

Now I know that it won the Booker Prize and people do love it but I am currently on pg 310 and WHEN DOES IT GET GOING?

Sigh . . . is it me or did anyone else find it very slow going? I am enjoying some of it and but find Maud and Roland irritating as hell. Quite like the Victorian stuff but find Randolph Ash unattractive.

Maybe I just like thinks with a bit more oomph. But my friends have raved about it.

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claudiaschiffer · 04/07/2008 23:27

Expat is 'The Game' also by A S Byatt? What's it about?

I need something else to read now.

Like the story of how you were given the book.

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expatinscotland · 04/07/2008 23:24

A lover gave it to me years ago before he became my lover.

He was much older, far better educated, a learned professor so I devoured the book. I was in awe of him.

So it always reminds me of him.

I liked 'The Game' better, however.

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claudiaschiffer · 04/07/2008 23:22

I've finished .

Actually now it's all over I quite liked it. Definitely worth sticking with, the ending, well last 150 pages are pretty good. And the ending itself is tragic but satisfying.

Still found Roland and Maud to be dull.

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moonpigdotcom · 03/07/2008 17:36

I liked the modern stuff but not the Victorian parts. A little self-indulgent?

Raxacoricogizmopatorius · 03/07/2008 16:25

I haven't got an English Lit degree and loved it. Which is odd, considering I don't go a bundle on slow moving plots generally.

Top tip: skip the poetry. It's not worth the wait.

OrmIrian · 03/07/2008 13:33

Loved it. One of my favourite all time books.

I don't mind slow. Was brought up on the Classics.

Scarletibis · 03/07/2008 13:32

Have not read Possession but I have read Virgin in the Garden and Still Life. I think she writes really well and I did enjoy them (struggled/got bored with Babel tower) but I fully admit to a lot of the literary allusions going whizz over my head.

I think you need an English Lit. degree to fully appreciate her (which I haven't got!)

cyteen · 03/07/2008 13:29

I've read it a few times and loved it. The first time I read it was for my English degree though, so all the skill of the fake Victoriana and the humour of the academic bitching really shone out for me. It does seem to be a bit of a Marmite book - I've had disappointing reactions from people I really thought would love it.

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claudiaschiffer · 03/07/2008 05:42

I used to work at Sussex University back at the end of the 80's / early 90's and all that fanatical in-fighting of academics over apparently insignificant bits of research and mad feminist/marxist analysis in the book makes me laugh.

I wonder if academics are still exactly the same?

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welliemum · 03/07/2008 00:45

I like it. It comes together when you get to the end, and then you want to go back and reread it to spot all the clues.

Or I did, anyway! [weirdo emoticon]

I agree though, the pace is not very snappy and it's quite show-offy.

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claudiaschiffer · 03/07/2008 00:15

Hurrah, glad i'm not the only one. Flossie that's EXACTLY how i feel about it. Rather like Antonia is showing off. But then wonder if I am just a philistine.

Am sticking with it. And now enjoying it, like the fat American lesbian - find she injects a bit of energy into simpering dull academics. Also like rakish Fergus Wolff if only because he is rude to Roland.

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daffodill6 · 02/07/2008 22:48

Tried years ago - but... God ...its ...slow

FlossieTCake · 02/07/2008 22:26

I seem to remember skimming all of the pastiche thinking, "yes, yes, you're very clever, Antonia - now where is the plot??"

I can see how one might get bogged down if one took a more careful approach to things As it was, I quite enjoyed it...

TheFallenMadonna · 02/07/2008 18:44

Oh I liked it. Don't think it ever does really 'get going' though.

Atonement

UnquietDad · 02/07/2008 18:41

And I fell asleep reading "Atonement". Literally. In fact, I feel a bit drowsy now just thinking about it.

UnquietDad · 02/07/2008 18:40

Read it years ago. Quite enjoyed it but skipped over most of the faux-Victorian poetry...

jette · 02/07/2008 18:39

Stick with Possession - its all about the slo-o-o-w Victorian heartbreak..

DiornaNoble · 02/07/2008 12:08

I have tried to read Possession twice and failed both times. I find it unnecessarily wordy.

EffiePerine · 02/07/2008 12:07

yes, her short stories are more snappy, but still atmospheric

theyoungvisiter · 02/07/2008 08:21

Michelle de Kretser - Australian writer. She is not very well known over here but I like her writing.

I loved Atonement too! Birdsong is not quite as good imo, but still very enjoyable.

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claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 08:20

sorry tyv - just re read your earlier message. Michelle de Krester . . . of course!

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claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 08:18

Who wrote The Hamilton Case theyoungvisitor?

Have read The French Lieutenant's Woman - thought it was great.

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claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 08:16

I must add, I LOVEDLOVEDLOVED Atonement tho.

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theyoungvisiter · 02/07/2008 08:16

oo maybe save birdsong for a lighter moment then! It's definitely more heart-tugging than Atonement so if you cried during that...!

The Hamilton Case is good though - and not particularly sad. It does have a weird change of narrator/pace halfway through, which is a bit of a jolt. It's best if you are a fan of detective novels as that's the literary form it's steeped in.

Trying to think of other similar ones you might enjoy... The French Lieutenant's Woman maybe, if you've never read that? That's sad but not in such a weepy way.

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claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 08:10

ooo Birdsong is another of those books which i've always meant to read but have put on hold whilst pregnant (ie hormonally MAD ) as I thought I would blub uncontrollably. I find the 1st World War does this to me. I was wracked with sobs throughout Atonement - much to dh annoyance .

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