Help! Torn between Byatt and Levy

[kandaurov]

Well, basically my English Literature teacher has given us the choice of reading and studying one of these two for the upcoming test. They are:

A. S. Byatt's The Game (1967)
Andrea Levy's Never Far from Nowhere (1996)

Which did you like the most? Or, in case you didn't read it (a more likely scenario), which would you choose?

I don't expect much feedback, for these novels aren't the classical ones that people use to read. However little your knowledge is of these novels, it will be appreciated. I trust the refined tastes of LitNet members more than you would think :)

Thanks in advance

[Jay]

I haven't read either so I looked the books up on amazon and after reading the reviews, I think that personally I'd go with Levy given the choice. Good luck with your assignment!

[kandaurov]

Great, that's what I'm talking about: an opinion, no matter how much you know or don't know about the authors. If it were you, Levy? Right, thanks, Jay! I'm tilting to Levy's side now :)

Any more suggestions are more than welcome.

[kathycf]

Never Far From Nowhere


Two sisters, Olive and Vivien were born in London to Jamaican parents and brought up on a council estate. They go to the same grammar school. Vivien's life becomes a chaotic mix of friendships, youth clubs, skinhead violence, A-levels, discos and college. Olive, three years older and a skin shade darker, has a very different tale to tell!
The Game

Cassandra, an Oxford don, and Julia, a best-selling novelist, are sisters who share disturbing memories of a bizarre childhood game - and of Simon, who loved them both. The memories re-surface when they see Simon on a television programme, and their relationship is played out to a fatal finish.
So, I see a common theme in both that they explore different perspectives and experiences between sisters. The former seems more of a modern day setting, while the latter seems to incorporate fantasy elements. Unless of course Never Far From Nowhere has that too and it isn't described in the synopsis. To me The Game seems the more intriguing of the two, just because I like the spooky aspect of it...just who is this Simon guy?

The Game is the most psychologically complex Byatt novel I've read. It is about two sisters who as children have a kind of medieval fantasy game they play with one another -- a private imaginative universe not so different from the girls in the film Heavenly Creatures, minus the racy references to lesbianism and homicide. The sisters have a falling out over a man named Simon, whom they construct as a kind of mythological hero. One sister, Julia, 'wins' him, but the other, Cassandra, loves him. They grow up disparately: Julia becomes a mother and a successful 'mid-list' writer of modern domestic dramas. Cassandra becomes bitter, a medievalist at Oxford, withdrawn into a rarefied existence.

Well, I am glad to know of these two books, they both look like books I would enjoy reading. My local library is connected with towns all over my region, so I am sure one of the branches will have copies of The Game.

[kandaurov]

Thanks, Big K :p Really helpful sinopses! Now I want to read them both :p

[kathycf]

Thanks, Big K :p Really helpful sinopses! Now I want to read them both :p
Oh, yeah...you wanted to narrow your choice down. My bad! :lol:

Well, when is the assignment due? Maybe you can read one for work and later on read the other for pleasure.

[kandaurov]

Hey, the "really helpful sinopses" comment wasn't sarcastic at all! Indeed, I found them enlightning, and now they seem less of an obligation to read and more of a leisure activity.

I'm still torn, but whichever I choose in the end will be a good choice, I think. It's due to the end of the semester... you see, I must read at least 5 huge novels for this class. It includes Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, which is great, but I'm way behind schedule because Sense and Sensibility is a pain for me :mad:

[kathycf]

Oh, I was just teasing you, Mr K ;) :D.

It seems you have your work cut out for you. If you are having trouble with Sense and Sensibility, I think the forum has a few resident experts on that book who would be glad to help with questions you might have.

[kandaurov]

I don't need no stinkin' experts, I need someone to read the dang novel for me :D

(haha, Mr K :p)