Possession : A Romance

Rating:
Summary: Did anyone notice?
Review: I have just finished this book...very well read as a Book-on-Tape. I have just skimmed all the other reviews and I have to side with the reviewers who felt there wasn't enough character development. I never got much into the characters; especially the modern ones. Still, the plot was very good. I only wish that that Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell, who is a genius at these double-plot type novels, could have had HER way with this story. THEN the reader would have had both the great stories AND the fascinating characters these story lines deserved! Also, as I skimmed the other reviews, I wonder that no one seemed to pick up on the dangling thread story of the maid in the Ash household who became pregnant and disappeared? I think that we were led to assume that Ash was the probable father of the baby and then...is it too farfetched to think...that Roland was descended from this baby? Did no one notice that this story, told by Ellen, just disappeared? This is why Maud and Roland were drawn together...it fits perfectly. Any thoughts on this?

Rating:
Summary: Overstated
Review: A.S. Byatt is obviously a gifted writer and intellectual. I enjoyed her ability to convincingly write in the "voice" and varied style of her different authors. My problem is that I could care less about any of her characters and the development was painful and slow. I am sorry to say that this book is clearly for those literary intellectuals. Not for everyone. My blessing to those who love it.

Rating:
Summary: The book with no ending
Review: This was an interesting novel. I found it boring in some spots because it was all poetry. I did not mind the poems at the begining of the chapters, however the poems that lasted entire chapters made me loose my concentration. I thought the postscript was an interesting ending however I did not like the ending of the novel. I felt that there should have been more with Roland and Maud. I did not like the quick conclusion and minimal information about the relationship that Roland and Maud had.

Rating:
Summary: A Tragedy Unfolds
Review: Possession is a wonderful romance novel. I was totally possessed by the beautiful poems and enthralled by the love story that unfolds. A grand literary work!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Novel!
Review: I cannot get over the voices in this book. Four separate voices (two in verse) and one would never know that they were written by the same woman. Academia, love, mystery are all inter-twined in this novel and though it is a dense read, it is engrossing. Recommended wholeheartedly.

Rating:
Summary: stunning
Review: Byatt is a former academic, and she dissects academia with laser-like precision in this novel. It's everything in one: a well-plotted mystery, an intriguing love story (times two), an academic satire, a wonderfully done historical, a clear and striking picture of the lot of women (and especially women artists and writers) in Victorian England, and an ode to the poetry of that period. How this book didn't get onto the lists of the century's best is beyond me. Stunning prose, and first class storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful...
Review: A difficult read, but well worth it

Rating:
Summary: a classic of the 20th Century
Review: As a complusive reader I consider this book one of the best I have ever read. I enjoyed it as much as "The Rainbow". I loved and was lost in "Possession", which is the gift of a great romantic, intelligent story combined with the enchantment of a fantasy. A.S. Byatt is an amazing writer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to become lost as they read.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: For me, the test of a great book is whether I become fascinated with a subject I would otherwise shun. I have no interest in poetry, much less Victorian poetry or poets, but I was completely entranced by this book. Every night, I would find an hour or so to treat myself, carefully reading each line of poetry for "clues" to the mystery. I have given Possession many times as a gift to a wide variety of women, all have loved it. I lent my copy once to a friend who returned it partway through because she wanted to buy a copy she could keep for herself. It's that good.

Rating:
Summary: Why Literature Matters
Review: I have loved this novel long and well. It has a place on my 'annuals' list just behind Jane Austen and George Eliot. When the autumn leaves begin to fall I reach for my much marked copy autmatically. Byatt has created both unique mystery and romances in Possession. The intelocking stories and the questions she raises seem larger and bolder to me each time I read it. I like that Byatt reminds readers it is important to go out in the world _and_ that it is important to sit and dream.m Or that all of modern answers do fully fit past event and NEVER will. This story always takes my breath away and I find myself referring back to it as I read other works. A great novel.