Thoughts For someone considering "possession" by A.S. Byatt?

[waryan]

I've heard of Byatt and have even read the story "the thing in the forest" and would like to read her most famous work "possesion" because it seems to romantic and imaginative but I'd love it if others who know her work could let me know if they enjoyed her works or perhaps that they also thought this and were disappointed?

many thanks to all!

[kratsayra]

I read it, and I always feel like I should like Byatt more than I do. I feel too frustrated by the lengthy quotations (sometimes pages long) from other literary texts. If you are into that sort of thing, you might like it. But it wasn't really my thing. I enjoyed the novellas in Angels and Insects a lot more.

[SleepyWitch]

I found the plot very interesting because it had many twists in it. she kinda plays with the reader's expectations.
But I didn't like the lengthy quotes from other (fictional) sources of literature. E.g. one of the 19th century main characters writes endless poems about weird stuff like a beatle collecting naturalist. So he tries to adopt the beatle collector's point of view and writes about the bloody beatles for pages and pages. The 19th century lady's poems are even worse, in my humble opinion (but I don't know the first thing about 19th c. poetry, so maybe they would have been considered good back than).
Like I said, the story of the 19th century characters is good. But it's best not to read the book cover to cover. Just skip the poems etc. if they bore you.
What also annoyed me is the whole way that Byatt is a literary studies scholar who writes books about literary studies guys for literatry studies guys. It does make for a good framing story, but it's ever so slightly annoying.
On the whole, I'd say: sure, read it. But if you want a shorter, more beautifully written, post-whatever book with lots of meta-stuff that deals with the 19th century, try The French Lieutenants Woman by John Fowles.

[amalia1985]

It was very interesting, well- written, and I would agree with the friends who talked about the lengthy quotes, it was a bit annoying. It provides good insights on how the literary search is carried out, and the plot never becomes boring. It is romantic, but this theme is given another light, and doesn't become mellow.

[waryan]

thank you everyone for your feedback- I will continue reading some of her shorter works and eventually pick up possession

[Pecksie]

I agree with what other members have said: I absolutely loved the storyline and the idea, but skipped the fictional poets' "work", which I found dense and boring. But it should be pointed out that the book can perfectly be read and understood without reading those parts, and it's an ultimately beautiful novel.