Possession

Rating:
Summary: BYATT'S BARF...
Review: Read this on our trip to Florida. This book was like the trip: long and tedious

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary; brocade language and believable characters
Review: A.S. Byatt's The Possession is one of the best modern novels in several years. Her language is immediately involving and passionate, without distracting from the novel itself. She does not, however, have to rely upon beauty of diction; her plot and characterizations are up to the task of supporting her linguistic arias. Ms. Byatt gives a lovely and accurate vignette of academic life, Victorian and modern, as well as writing what is simply a fine romance, in the modern or medieval sense of the word. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in mystery, magic, history, love, or plain good tales.

Rating:
Summary: Complex and charismatic.....
Review: Having read a collection of short stories by A.S. Byatt, I was already a fan. However, it was for the work of director Neil Labute that I went to see the movie, "Possession", and only then did I realize it was based on what is purported to be Byatt's most important work. I wondered what could make LaBute leave his sardonic field of original screenwriting and adapt this book to a screenplay...and I must say, with some sadness, that his film was only adequate. However, as he must have, I found the plot was truly unique and the concept of possession so interwoven in each character, amazing. And then, the relationship between the two 19th century poets was so moving, I decided to tackle the novel.

It is exquisite.

First, Byatt, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, discards the concept of a "novel" and subtitles it, "A Romance". Whether she realized it or not, this would result in many "romance novel" readers trying to tackle her 1990 masterpiece, only to discard it as "too long and boring". But Byatt persisted in the classification of a "romance" after taking the meaning of the prose of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote:

"When a writer calls his work a Romance....while as a work of art, it must rigidly subject itself to laws, and while it sins unpardonably so far as it may swerve aside from the truth of the human heart -- has fairly a right to present that under circumstances, to a great extent, of the writer's own choosing."

Here, Byatt boldly invents two 19th century writers. Stunningly, she juxtaposes their existence with real writers of the period...Lord Tennyson, Goethe, Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Crabb Robinson, etc. She creates long passages of their work, both prose and poetry (some of it epic) and their letters to each other. It is if she gets inside of their heads and has written, disembodied, as each in the language and the culture of the times. Moreover, she instills their work with passages that clarify what was the mystery of their romance. Passages that only become clear when modern day scholars discover the romance, and can attribute the commonality and beauty in each of their works to their love for one another. Most readers will assume that Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, really existed, and will only realize they are fictional after checking search engines carefully!

Many others have outlined the plotting here - the parallel story of two modern-day scholars following an inexact trail of evidence they unearth, to document a love story that takes the literary world by storm. Both the modern day and the Victorian romance are between participants (Maud and Roland in this century, Ash and Christabel in the 19th) who are somewhat aloof from the world, imbued by their studies and crafts, and content with solitary existences...almost afraid to give themselves to another in a relationship. Byatt skillfully uses dialogue, the content of letters and poems, and symbolism...the dissection of sea creatures by Ash on his journeys, the stark yearning for the "solitary, empty white bed" that Maud and Roland both desire.

The very creation of this work, which won the UK's Booker prize in 1990, and the lasting regard with which it is held, will make it a classic. So, too, will the richness of Byatt's writing and research, and the thrill of the mystery that surrounds Ash and Christabel...and how it is finally solved by the modern day seekers. It is compelling in its second half, beautiful, though somewhat difficult to read in its first. If you must skim the letters and poems in your first read, be sure to read them carefully when you finally pick up the book again (and you will!) because elements of mystery, relationship, manners and morals will all reveal themselves to you, enhancing the story. Think, too, on the layers and layers of "possession" or obsessiveness that are shown by both major and well-sketched minor characters in both time periods of the book.

A timeless book, with some sardonic wit that pokes fun at academic society, the somewhat boorish mannerisms of Americans abroad, and the clash between the world and the feminist movement...this is a gem, to be treasured and kept on bookshelves forever.

Highly recommended for serious readers.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written book
Review: This novel truly is a work of art. The book tells the story of a young scholar - Roland Mitchell - who learns that Randolph Ash, the author he has spent years studying, may have had a secret affair with poet Christabel LaMotte. Ash was married - thought to be a caring, devoted husband - and LaMotte was believed to be single her entire life. Roland digs through all sorts of correspondence all while dealing with personal problems with his own girlfriend and the difficulty of working with another scholar - a woman named Maud Bailey - who is difficult in her own right.

The book is beautifully written, particularly the poetry and other passages "written" by Ash and LaMotte. It almost makes you wonder if the two people existed in real life! That said, the book was a little bit too cerebral for me. I wished at times that there was more action and less thought/conversation. I appreciated how well-written the book is but did find my attention lagging at certain points.

Rating:
Summary: Succeeds on Three Levels
Review: This book is beautifully and artistically written, it's mentally stimulating and a page turner. It may be the first time I have found all three in a book. Get it, read it, love it.

I also bought the reader's guide. I have to say I didn't find it necessary to enjoy the novel. However, I did enjoy the background on the author and the additional insight into the book.

This novel is truly an inspiring work of art.

Rating:
Summary: A complex and difficult book
Review: This book is very hard to rate because, although I found it tedious reading, I also recognize its literary merits. It is, as another reviewer said, a book for intellectuals. It is filled with poetry and difficult, convoluted sentences, yet the premise of the book is an interesting one. Two researchers of Victorian poets, Roland and Maud, discover some letters which indicate a previously unknown affair between the two authors which they are researching. Through painstaking investigation, they begin to slowly uncover the mysterious relationship, so long hidden, between the two authors. Eventually the news of their discoveries leaks out and they are forced to protect their interests in the letters they have found. This is a multi-layered book with romantic themes running throughout. It is not a book I can say that I enjoyed reading, but it is interesting and complex.

Rating:
Summary: an unusual novel
Review: Some of the learned reviews are better than the book. Judging from the number of used copies available, I'd say that not everybody loved this book, but it should appeal to the literary reader. The novel reminds me of Thomas Wolfe not only in that it combines poetry and prose but in that it seeks to include absolutely everything that happened. The poetry is better in Wolfe; the prose better in Byatt. The story line gives a strong boost to the book, but don't expect what you saw in the movie. The movie handles the mystery much better, and it shows rather than tells the past story glimpse by glimpse. If you like the parallel story of two romances, one present and one past, you'll also like Tears in the Rain and the novel Always, although Always has more action and more suspense.

Rating:
Summary: I won't give it 5 stars, but it's my own fault
Review: "Possession" is british author Antonia Susan Byatt's magna opus. It received many awards, the most prestigious of them the coveted Booker Prize, the highest literary award in the United Kingdom. In my opinion, deservedly so. Anyone can see that "Possession" is a great novel, different, a blend of many literary styles and tendencies. What many people won't understand is the density and depth of such a work.

The story behind possession is a sort of "tresure hunting", but this time the treasure is literary. In the novel, Roland Mitchell and Maud Bailey are two scholars, obsessed by their subjects of study, respectively the 19th century poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Roland is a low-profile, slow guy that suddenly and unwittingly discovers some ancient papers that hint a possible connection between Ash, the highly steemed poet and model-husband of the victorian-era and the lesser known poet LaMotte, a veiled lesbian, now a role-model and idol of the feminists. Together, Roland and Maud, with the help of the old letters, retrace what can possibly be a love story that may rock the foundations of their literary world.

"Possession" is divided in two settings: one tells the story of the search by Roland and Maud. This part is intriguing, as it can be described as a thriller about literature, something I only have read in Arturo Perez-Reverte's work "The club Dumas". But Reverte has a more thrilling aspect, while Byatt gives her readers a smooth ride through her "detectives" finding. The second part of "Possession" is given through the writings of Ash and LaMotte, and this part is impressive. Byatt created a large amount of victorian letters and poems as if both their fictional poets have written them. It's a dense, slow reading, and I can only blame myself for not fully understanding and appreciating it.

"Possession" is a remarkable work, but it's so complex that only the most experienced readers will completely enjoy it.

Grade 8.2/10


Rating:
Summary: A book to read again and again
Review: I had read all of A.S. Byatt's work, but avoided "Possession" because it was a bestseller, and I somehow thought that meant it would be a lesser work. I was mistaken. This is a masterpiece. When I finished the last page I just *embraced* this book. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

Rating:
Summary: A Novel for Academics
Review: A.S. Byatt's POSSESSION is an intellectual's book. Its most tangible passion is for the acquisition of knowledge rather than for the depths of the love stories it contains. Roland Mitchell, a young and floundering scholar, uncovers two unsent letters written by the Victorian poet he is studying, Randolph Henry Ash. Instead of declaring them to the staff of the London Library, he slips them undetected into his belongings - and sets in motion a literary detective story. The letters suggest that Ash may not have been entirely faithful to his wife, and Roland's attempts to uncover the identity of the woman lead him to Maud Bailey, a feminist scholar and a descendent of, and expert on, the poet Christabel LaMotte, the probable woman in question. As the two scholars work together to uncover the truth of the relationship through letters, journals, poetry, and retracing the movements of their respective poets, they find themselves unwilling to share their discoveries with the outside world. As other, more powerful academics are alerted to their suspicious research, the two become even more insular, to the detriment of personal relationships and careers. Everyone, it seems, wants sole possession of the information they have since it threatens to challenge everything previously written about the two poets.

The "Romance" part of the title is misleading, for Byatt uses the term in the Victorian, and not the Harlequin, sense. Yes, the romance between Ash and LaMotte is uncovered, and yes, something simmers between Roland and Maud, but the overriding story involves intellectual sparring and academic adventure. If you do not like formal poetry, don't even bother opening this book, as Byatt fills it with lengthy, Victorian-style poems that she expects the reader to interpret as artistic proof of the poets' relationship. Large sections of the book are also filled with the correspondence between Ash and LaMotte, the intentionally bland journal of Ash's wife Ellen, the journal of LaMotte's live-in lover, and excerpts from a biography written by the archrival of Roland's advisor. While the piecing together of this evidence is both ambitious and clever, the result is a diluted narrative drive. Passion - and possessiveness - is never as strong when described to another as it is in action, and Byatt's approach leaves little room for lively interaction. Instead, she relies on the reader's intellectual curiosity, hoping he cares about the fate of literary legacies as much as she does. The strongest, most vivid passages are written in the more traditional storytelling technique of limited third-person, allowing the reader to see through the eyes of various characters, most notably, near the end, of Ellen Ash, who finally comes alive. The closing pages, also written this way, are powerfully realized.

I can understand why many readers cannot finish this novel, as the formal and often ornate prose feels cold even with Byatt's keen eye; however, readers who like their fiction on an intellectual plane will find much to admire. I recommend this novel only for serious, and tenacious, readers who enjoy both prose and poetry and who are willing to forgo emotion for the sake of intellectual satisfaction.