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.
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.
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