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meatballhead02's review against another edition
3.0
An acquaintance recommended this book to me and I thought it was lovely; a beautiful and colourful description of a era gone by.
The novel's main concern and protagonists are the Wellwood family that reside in Todefright manor. Both Humphry Wellwood and Olive Wellwood are both successful writers, who live a somewhat Bohemian lifestyle with their seven children. Over the first half of the novel, there is a sense of secrecy hanging over the family, something dark and sinister is implied, until the revelation occurs throughout the second half of the novel, and it seems the family's once picture perfect life is shattered, and the description of discontent within the Wellwood family, and in their surrounding acquaintances and friends is what primarily takes over.
All in all, Byatt has effectively written a historically accurate novel, with important events of the late 1800's and early 1900's also given much prominence in affairs within the book. These events, such as the women's suffrage movement and the first world war make their way into the protagonist's lives, and help to propel the plot of the novel.
The novel's main concern and protagonists are the Wellwood family that reside in Todefright manor. Both Humphry Wellwood and Olive Wellwood are both successful writers, who live a somewhat Bohemian lifestyle with their seven children. Over the first half of the novel, there is a sense of secrecy hanging over the family, something dark and sinister is implied, until the revelation occurs throughout the second half of the novel, and it seems the family's once picture perfect life is shattered, and the description of discontent within the Wellwood family, and in their surrounding acquaintances and friends is what primarily takes over.
All in all, Byatt has effectively written a historically accurate novel, with important events of the late 1800's and early 1900's also given much prominence in affairs within the book. These events, such as the women's suffrage movement and the first world war make their way into the protagonist's lives, and help to propel the plot of the novel.
pearloz's review against another edition
3.0
Pfft. Man. T-d-us. Listened to the audiobook and the reader's voices for women were fine but...the dude's voice were terrible. Wasn't much of a plot, and I learned too late that I didn't care all that much about any of them. Interesting to note: accidentally listened to discs 20 and 21 on shuffle. didn't even notice.
The best parts were Olive's stories, and we definitely didn't get enough of that. She probably should have just written those stories instead is this essentially boring book.
The best parts were Olive's stories, and we definitely didn't get enough of that. She probably should have just written those stories instead is this essentially boring book.
jenmcmaynes's review against another edition
I'm giving up on this one, 350 pages into it. The plot is glacially slow. This far into the book, I still have a hard time distinguishing the characters. There is a large cast, and Byatt jumps from person to person, usually for just a paragraph, in most chapters. It is very hard to identify with them when so little information is given. And finally, Byatt provides info dumps of political and social updates of circa 1900 England. They are very dry and usually have little direct bearing on the plot. All of this is disappointing, as I usually enjoy Byatt's writing and, in theory, the setting and plot should appeal to me. Also, I hate quitting books! Booooooo! :(
kel_pru's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written novel. Though it is formidable and bit slow, definitely worth it.
lindseysparks's review against another edition
Made it page 250 and just didn't care to continue.
cloranger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
moirastone's review
2.0
The line between sprawling and diffuse is a thin one. Sadly The Children's Book wandered to the latter side and stayed there. By page 300, I was impatient, by 550, exasperated. Too many threads with too little meat. A handful of wonderful characters and stories lost in the shuffle.
As a side note: I was particularly struck by how easily England's artistic and political ferment of the 1890s to 1910s can be mapped to today. Arts & Crafts = Brooklyn Artisinal. Theosophists & Fabiens = Localvores. Anarchists = Occupy Wall Street. These echoes kept me reading more than once.
As a side note: I was particularly struck by how easily England's artistic and political ferment of the 1890s to 1910s can be mapped to today. Arts & Crafts = Brooklyn Artisinal. Theosophists & Fabiens = Localvores. Anarchists = Occupy Wall Street. These echoes kept me reading more than once.
misajane79's review against another edition
3.0
If you had asked my my rating at the halfway mark, it would have been a solid 4 stars. But somewhere around the middle, Byatt just lost all control.
Yes, it's supposed to be a sprawling narrative, sweeping epic. But at a certain point, it became a little ridiculous. She would drop threads and never pick them up. "Something happened in 1907 that changed everything." Never quite figured out what that was, or maybe I just stopped caring.
But I did love the setting--arts, the threads of children's literature, the politics. It just needed to be a bit less. . .
Possession is one of my all-time favorite novels. This doesn't even come close.
Yes, it's supposed to be a sprawling narrative, sweeping epic. But at a certain point, it became a little ridiculous. She would drop threads and never pick them up. "Something happened in 1907 that changed everything." Never quite figured out what that was, or maybe I just stopped caring.
But I did love the setting--arts, the threads of children's literature, the politics. It just needed to be a bit less. . .
Possession is one of my all-time favorite novels. This doesn't even come close.
krep___'s review against another edition
Audiobook edition.
Couldn't finish it. Certainly very detailed, and the arts/academic scene in late 19th c. England was an interesting choice of setting, but there were too many characters doing too many unrelated things. Despite or because of all those characters, there was no one for me to care one way or the other about. One of the (presumably) main characters was a writer. A book about a writer always gets points taken off in my mind, as a failure of creativity, and yet that character's were the most interesting parts. The audiobook reader had a fine voice for all the women and children but made every single adult male character sound pompous and obnoxious; not sure if that was intentional or not. About 1/4 of the way through it (which would have been the complete length of many other books), I found it was not improving for me, so I gave up. The last book I didn't finish was 4-1/2 years and 200 books ago.
Couldn't finish it. Certainly very detailed, and the arts/academic scene in late 19th c. England was an interesting choice of setting, but there were too many characters doing too many unrelated things. Despite or because of all those characters, there was no one for me to care one way or the other about. One of the (presumably) main characters was a writer. A book about a writer always gets points taken off in my mind, as a failure of creativity, and yet that character's were the most interesting parts. The audiobook reader had a fine voice for all the women and children but made every single adult male character sound pompous and obnoxious; not sure if that was intentional or not. About 1/4 of the way through it (which would have been the complete length of many other books), I found it was not improving for me, so I gave up. The last book I didn't finish was 4-1/2 years and 200 books ago.