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.

OP posts:

theyoungvisiter · 02/07/2008 08:09

Or someone less well-known - try Michelle de Kretser's The Hamilton Case which is written in similarly beautiful prose with lots of literary layering. AS Byatt is a big fan of hers, but the book is a lot shorter than Possession!

theyoungvisiter · 02/07/2008 08:07

I really like it but she is slow and wordy and detached. It's just her style I think - it gets a bit more emotional towards the end but I wouldn't say ever becomes a page turner.

You've probably read it, but what about Birdsong for a similarly multi-layered but somewhat more snappy novel?

northernrefugee39 · 02/07/2008 08:02

I read it years ago and remember I liked it, but that it was one of those slow unravelling stories.

Original poster

claudiaschiffer · 02/07/2008 07:48

Did you enjoy it Effie?

I like the way she writes - her language is lovely and I love the 'multi-layered' nature of the story but lummy, I could put a rocket up the plot!

I guess her short stories are snappier?

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EffiePerine · 02/07/2008 07:15

It is quite slow (and looong). If you are feeling a bit fed up, why not try some of her short stories instead?

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