Rating: 
Summary: Difficult but well worth it
Review: This was a difficult book to read. Not everyone in my book group got through it but those who did seemed to feel that it was worth it. The story involves two modern day scholars who uncover a romance between two Victorian poets. Byatt uses poetry, letters and diaries to reveal the story to the reader. This is a bold move for any writer of serious fiction, and Byatt pulls it off. I'm no expert on Victorian poetry, but Byatt seems to have a firm grasp of the conventions and language of the genre. She creates credible letters that invoke remarkably different voices when she is representing different authors. Byatt loads the book with symbolism, particularly in regards to the names of each character. I found it interesting to try and puzzle out why she used certain names for different characters. Oddly enough, her main male character, Roland, was inspired by the same poem that inspired Stephen King's series The Dark Tower, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," by Robert Browning. I just recently finished the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, so it was quite a coincidence to discover this link. One of the many interesting themes in this book deals with how people can love one another without possessing part of the other person. How can we be detached and still love? Many types of possession are revealed in the novel, most dealing with how we honor our great writers by trying to possess some part of them or the lives that they led. My only real criticism has to do with Fergus, a character who shows up to start trouble 3/4ths of the way into the story and then all but disappears for the finale. Other than that,it was an awe-inspiring book for me. There is a lot there. I imagine more could be revealed by a second or third reading.
Rating: 
Summary: richly deserves its Booker Prize
Review: Possession, a Booker Prize winning novel, is an investigation via faery tale imagery of the psyches of modern academics. The "possession" referred to in the title could mean many things: the possession of love, of work, of poetry and art, or a literal possession by the people and things of the past. Like the title, this novel, set mostly in the present, works on many levels. The main characters, Roland and Maud, are researching the lives of two Victorian poets, R.H.Ash and Christobel LaMotte, respectively. Roland and Maud find out that their poets were involved during their lives, and the subsequent novel is part romance (in the old sense of the word), part mystery, and part tragedy, all with a healthy dose of comedy. Byatt integrates different genres in the novel, such as poem snippets and faery tales, to enrich and enliven the text, drawing the reader into the past with the characters. I firmly believe that Byatt's personal experience in Academia is telling here. She knows what it is like. Some people have complained that the novel is very dense and is therefore rather slow reading--but, oh, the payoff is superb. If you have plenty of time to yourself to enjoy an intricate, but not overdone, novel, pick this one. It isn't a light read, but it doesn't require a PhD in literature either. If you read only one modern novel that isn't "beach reading" your entire life, make it this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Book to Reread Each Year!
Review: Some stories are made to be reread over and over, and Possession is one of them. The title is apt. A reader is likely to become possessed by Byatt's imagination. This is a mystery, a love story, a detective story, a literary romance, a perfect gem. Of course, I happen to be one of those people who is comfortable with the past and find modern life lacking. It's nice to know I am in good company. Read it. Savor it. It's a piece of art.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel to be Savored and Enjoyed!
Review: "Possession" by A.S. Byatt is a novel unlike anything I've ever read. It's so stunning and powerful. It's totally amazing. Each word should be savored like chocolate. It's rich and enticing. This book is intelligent and sensitive. Completely thought provoking and inspirational. I fell in love with the characters and still think about them. That's the sign of a fabulous book. You carry the characters with you...long after you turn the last page. Such a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Demanding Book
Review: This was one of the first books which my book club read, and over the last four years of good literature this book has held up very well. It amply repays patient reading, always holding your interest, with a sense of artistry and craftsmanship in the choice of words that can be spellbinding. Don't rush through it -- this is a book that deserves slow reading.
Rating:
Summary: Overdone, Self-Congratulatory, but Good
Review: A.S. Byatt must have written this book with Booker-Prize intentions. This is a book for people who like to be able to say they read "Literature," and like to pat themselves on the back for catching all the connections and overdone allusions. I'll agree with many that she is an extremely talented writer. But, while her books are well-written and witty, they aren't necessarily moving or of the life-altering sort. I guess I just felt she tried too hard to assure us how smart she (and we) are rather than show us a unique portrait of humanity or elicit emotional responses other than a "chuckle" for catching all the wittiness. Despite my negative remarks, I can appreciate Byatt's talent and knowledge of the romance (not the kind you pick up at the grocery store) genre. I read it for a class and it did spark quite a bit of discussion. I recommend reading it when you want to feel smart, and don't have a "must read" book on your to-read pile. Then you can say you've read it.
Rating:
Summary: A moving Romance, perhaps the best love story I've ever read
Review: There is not the slightest hint of schmaltz in this modern Romance (the caps on the "R" are important); in fact the first person I recommended it to complained that the first 100 pages were terribly dry. Once she got past them, however, she agreed with me: it's an astonishingly good read. _Possession_ starts with a discovery: an unfinished letter in a book belonging to a long-dead Victorian poet. At first the ramifications of this are unexplained, but soon it falls into place. Love and mystery, disenchantment and discovery make up this perfect novel. Several times I had to pause and catch my breath. This is one of the most significant works of the 1990s.
Rating:
Summary: Intellectually and Emotionally Stimulating
Review: My dad once told me that there was no such thing as a bad book, only bad readers. That was before I recommended that he read Possession. Granted, my dad's preference was for historical novels, being a retired Marine, but I was disappointed that he was unable to appreciate the beauty of Byatt's story and, more importantly, her prose in Possession. Don't be fooled by the cover, which states that you hold in your hands a romance novel. Possession is indeed a romance novel, but not in the vein of Danielle Steel. Possession is much more than that. Where Steel writes formula romance, Byatt has perhaps created a sub-genre, and one that is far more sophisticated than those romance novels that one finds in airport gift shops. Gorgeously written, it is the story of two academic types turned sleuth, who themselves become romantically involved, and their efforts to piece together the love affair between two poets from the nineteenth century, largely from a number of letters they discover by chance. The prose at times can be difficult, but rewarding nevertheless. A number of love letters are included in the text, and although they are beautifully written, this portion of the novel outstays its welcome; after a time they do little to move the story forward. Still, the end is worth the effort, and although I was surprised by the denouement, others have claimed to see it coming. Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize - the United Kingdom's highest literary award - I recommend Possession to all lovers of good literature.
Rating:
Summary: English lit doctoral students should enjoy this.
Review: Much of this book is a fairly gentle satire of the academic turf-wars that emerge when a bundle of letters written by a minor Victorian-era poet are discovered by a postdoctoral research assitant in London. I found these sections to be humorous, but also subtle and interesting. I thought that characters were well done, despite the occasionally overdone academic stereotypes. The fairly straightforward present-day story is punctuated by long passages written in different 19th century styles: love letters, epic poems, diary entries, and so on. Although I can appreciate the effort and intellectual talent that these parts represent, I have never really been that interested in fiction or poetry from this era, and for me, this was pretty heavy going. I ended up skimming over most of these sections, and did not have any trouble following the story (in fact, most of this material is summarized in a couple of paragraphs by one of the main characters near the end of the book, so you can skip it entirely if you're so inclined).
Rating: 
Summary: 0 stars, if I could
Review: I have found that this book tends to really draw responses at either end of the spectrum. People either hate it or love it. I hated it. Just as several other readers wrote, I could not get into the characters. It was torturous trying to finish this huge book about people I could not connect with. One other reviewer wrote that this book is for literary intellectual types. Not true. I am what most people would call a literary intellectual type, and I though this book was awful. But, I do know several people who loved it, and if you are the type who finds the ivory tower of academia romantic, then this book is for you. If you would rather read a book that deals with real life, your time will be better spent reading any Alice Munro short story.
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