821. Possession

Possession
A.S. Byatt
1990

Around 510 pages

Here on this blog, we are Team Margaret Drabble all the way, so I wasn't really looking forward to this read. She comes across to me as a duller version of other writers, like Donna Tartt and John Fowles. 510 pages were not necessary for this work.

Literary scholars Roland Michell and Maud Bailey find that the socially antagonistic relationship between Victorian era poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte may have concealed a secret connection as lovers. Michell and Bailey form their own bond as they race to be the first scholars to spill this tea.

A large part of this book is devoted to the poetry that dutifully captures Victorian era melancholia, which I'm sure is pleasing to the romance crowd. This is too sentimental and saturated for my tastes, although I expect Umberto Eco would be impressed.

None of the twists are all that exciting, and I don't find her writing style particularly engaging. Next!

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Written in response to The French Lieutenant's Woman.

Adapted into a 2002 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart.

UP NEXT: The Midnight Examiner by William Kotzwinkle

698. The Virgin in the Garden

The Virgin in the Garden
A.S. Byatt

1978

Around 430 pages

Iris Murdoch was her mentor, so A.S. Byatt already had a heavy advantage coming into this List. Unfortunately, I found this to be bloated and difficult to get through, but I know Byatt has better novels down the pipeline.

In Yorkshire, the Potters (the non magical ones, sadly) are preparing to celebrate Elizabeth II’s coronation. Stephanie is tired of their overbearing father and resolves to marry the local curate. Marcus gains a crazy new teacher and suffers increasingly disturbing visions. And Frederica has a love affair with a young playwright.

I had to look up where Byatt went to school, because I just knew it had to be Oxford or Cambridge. Turns out, it was both, which I didn't think was legal in England. She writes exactly as a university student would. While I appreciate allusions as much as the next nerd, it does feel like she is trying to impress her professors. I would want to impress Iris Murdoch too, so I get it.

We were almost getting into Umberto Eco territory with how much work that was to read. Looking forward to better Byatt to come!

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

In a 1998 interview with Philip Hensher, published in The Paris Review in 2001, Byatt commented on a piece which John Sutherland had written in The Bookseller claiming that The Virgin in the Garden was "completely unreadable, and that he and a colleague of his and mine at University College had a bet about whether any of them could finish it and none of them could! He actually published that. So I'm always deeply surprised when anyone says anybody is reading it."

UP NEXT: Yes by Thomas Bernhard