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trisha_thomas's review against another edition
1.0
This book was more of a great struggle through torture than enjoyable reading.
I kept trying to marry the Title "The children's Book", to the storyline. I even tried marrying what the flap said about a child being found in a museum gets to see the secrets of a family as a outsider and stranger and these hidden secrets are told in the Mother's story books.
What? Did the person who wrote the info on the cover even read the book?
First, it's a story of 4 or 5 different families and their friends. WHich means, you have about 15-20 (or 30) different people to keep track of. Each family also has more kids as the story continues, and those kids have more kids or their friends. The gaps between talking about one group and learning their adventure meant that by the time I went to another person's story, I had to try to remember who's family they belonged to and who their friends were (and their story so far) because the authoer didn't give an intro to refamiliarize yourself with them. And, the shift to them didn't happen with each chapter heading but in the middle of chapters (and most times in the middle of paragraphs!)
This book had little to do with Children's stories. A better title, to warn anyone who tries to read it might be "the Sexual Escapades of 4+ families"! The pointless sexual situations all through-out the book were, more often than not - tasteless and unnecessary. I was tired of hearing girls of 11-16 ~ that all they wanted was sex! Really?
If I had known what I was getting into before reading this book, there is no way I would have started it. But, since I have this need to finish what I start, I skimmed the last 100 or so pages just to call it done.
Awful. I'm glad I can move on to another book.
I kept trying to marry the Title "The children's Book", to the storyline. I even tried marrying what the flap said about a child being found in a museum gets to see the secrets of a family as a outsider and stranger and these hidden secrets are told in the Mother's story books.
What? Did the person who wrote the info on the cover even read the book?
First, it's a story of 4 or 5 different families and their friends. WHich means, you have about 15-20 (or 30) different people to keep track of. Each family also has more kids as the story continues, and those kids have more kids or their friends. The gaps between talking about one group and learning their adventure meant that by the time I went to another person's story, I had to try to remember who's family they belonged to and who their friends were (and their story so far) because the authoer didn't give an intro to refamiliarize yourself with them. And, the shift to them didn't happen with each chapter heading but in the middle of chapters (and most times in the middle of paragraphs!)
This book had little to do with Children's stories. A better title, to warn anyone who tries to read it might be "the Sexual Escapades of 4+ families"! The pointless sexual situations all through-out the book were, more often than not - tasteless and unnecessary. I was tired of hearing girls of 11-16 ~ that all they wanted was sex! Really?
If I had known what I was getting into before reading this book, there is no way I would have started it. But, since I have this need to finish what I start, I skimmed the last 100 or so pages just to call it done.
Awful. I'm glad I can move on to another book.
ankertjes's review against another edition
4.0
good book! story about several families. really interesting. also bit of history in it. correct history, not all fictional. life death and everything in between! prepare to laugh and cry.
duaabbasrizvi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
enelvee's review against another edition
3.0
Byatt's editor did her no favors here. Someone needed to refuse to publish this doorstop until she cut this book in half, using a hatchet. There is just no reasonable excuse for the unending detail on glazes and whatnot. It serves no purpose other than to prove that Byatt spent a lot of time on research.
nguyen_vy's review against another edition
3.0
Warning: Đừng tin tên sách và nghĩ nó là truyện (cho) trẻ con
Một cuốn sách hay và sẽ cực kì hấp dẫn nếu người đọc có kiến thức về các giai đoạn của lịch sử Anh và 1 phần lịch sử thế giới giai đoạn Thế Chiến I. Mình thì lại dốt Sử nên đó là lý do mà bối cảnh truyện tầm đoạn giữa giữa là nó trôi tuồn tuột khỏi đầu mình như lươn và chỉ khi đến gần cuối truyện (IV. Thời đại Chì, đúng rồi đó tổng cộng 4 Phần và 55 Chương) nó mới bắt nhịp trở lại thì đã hơi muộn màng. Thêm nữa, kì vọng ban đầu của mình là 1 cuốn Fantasy dảk dảk thời Victoria nhưng cuốn sách này là 1 cuốn Historial Fiction và không có cái gì Fantasy gì ở đây cả.
Truyện trẻ con nhưng không phải sách cho trẻ con, không có fantasy hay cái kết đẹp như cổ tích trong cuốn này.
Một cuốn sách hay và sẽ cực kì hấp dẫn nếu người đọc có kiến thức về các giai đoạn của lịch sử Anh và 1 phần lịch sử thế giới giai đoạn Thế Chiến I. Mình thì lại dốt Sử nên đó là lý do mà bối cảnh truyện tầm đoạn giữa giữa là nó trôi tuồn tuột khỏi đầu mình như lươn và chỉ khi đến gần cuối truyện (IV. Thời đại Chì, đúng rồi đó tổng cộng 4 Phần và 55 Chương) nó mới bắt nhịp trở lại thì đã hơi muộn màng. Thêm nữa, kì vọng ban đầu của mình là 1 cuốn Fantasy dảk dảk thời Victoria nhưng cuốn sách này là 1 cuốn Historial Fiction và không có cái gì Fantasy gì ở đây cả.
Truyện trẻ con nhưng không phải sách cho trẻ con, không có fantasy hay cái kết đẹp như cổ tích trong cuốn này.
adinab's review against another edition
3.0
Stiam inca de acum o saptamana ca trei puncte o sa ii dau, dar daca tot imi pierdusem deja o saptamana cu ea am zis sa o si termin... Primele vreo 400 de pagini sunt placute - istoria foarte complicata a unei familii numeroase de pe la sfarsitul vietii reginei Victoria. Zeci de imbarligari amoroase si familiale, pretioase detalii de epoca, prelegeri despre arta decorativa, literatura si teatru si whatnot.
Restul de 800 de pagini au din pacate tot mai putin antren, pana cand se ajunge la capitole interminabile despre politica de prin 1910 condimentate cu pasaje tot mai scurte despre personaje si viata lor. Mi se pare evident acum, la sfarsit, faptul ca Byatt si-a dorit mult mai mult sa tina un curs despre viata de la inceputul secolului 20 decat sa scrie un roman despre niste oameni de pe atunci, ma intreb de ce n-a facut-o.
Trei puncte ii dau pentru primele cateva sute de pagini si pentru ca Byatt stie sa scrie despre coagularea dorintelor si ideilor adolescentilor. Dar e o carte pentru oameni cu timp carora nu le scoate peri albi batutul indelungat al apei in piua.
Restul de 800 de pagini au din pacate tot mai putin antren, pana cand se ajunge la capitole interminabile despre politica de prin 1910 condimentate cu pasaje tot mai scurte despre personaje si viata lor. Mi se pare evident acum, la sfarsit, faptul ca Byatt si-a dorit mult mai mult sa tina un curs despre viata de la inceputul secolului 20 decat sa scrie un roman despre niste oameni de pe atunci, ma intreb de ce n-a facut-o.
Trei puncte ii dau pentru primele cateva sute de pagini si pentru ca Byatt stie sa scrie despre coagularea dorintelor si ideilor adolescentilor. Dar e o carte pentru oameni cu timp carora nu le scoate peri albi batutul indelungat al apei in piua.
mepresley's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spanning from 1895 to 1919, the novel is set against the backdrop of late Victorian and Edwardian England and, of course, World War I (near the end of the narrative). Divided into 4 parts, "Beginnings," "The Silver Age," "The Golden Age," and "The Lead Age," The Children's Book delves deep into the socio-cultural issues of the time period, particularly regarding class and gender. Byatt clearly spent time doing her research and some of the historical names and events, the different groups of socialists and anarchists and feminists, the political players, can get a bit overwhelming. However, it's also fascinating and I had a good background for the novel, as someone with a PhD focused in Victorian literature. In addition to England, we spend time in France and Germany.
It is, as well, the story of stories, with a focus on both mythology and narratives written for children. Also taking center stage at various points are puppetry and ceramics. Our main family is the Wellwoods. The matriarch, Olive, writes fairy stories for kids. Olive and her husband, Humphrey, have 7 children. When the novel begins, Tom is 13, Dorothy is 11, Phyllis is 9, Hedda is 5, Florian is 3, Robin is a baby, and Harry is not yet born. The patriarch, Humphrey, is a banker turned journalist. Olive's sister, Violet, lives with them and helps to care for the children.
Other characters include Humphrey's brother, Basil, his wife Katharina, and--more centrally--their children, Charles/ Karl and Griselda; Prosper Cain, curator at the museum where our tale begins, and his children, Julian and Florence; Philip Warren and his sister, Elsie; the famous potter Benedict Fludd, his wife Sarah-Jane, and their daughters, Imogen and Pomona; theater director/ playwright August Steyning; puppet-master Anselm Stern and his sons, Wolfgang and Leon; author Herbert Methley and his wife, Phoebe; and school-mistress Marian Oakeshott and her son, Robin.
As is usual for Byatt, the novel plays with form. Within its pages, for instance, we see various pieces of Olive's fiction writing as well as poetry by Julian Cain. We also see many, many theater performances, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, a puppet version of Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Olive's own Tom Underground.
While things do, of course, happen plot-wise, this is very much a novel of atmosphere and character. I enjoyed reading this, and was especially fond of Dorothy, Griselda, Florence, and Hedda.
It is, as well, the story of stories, with a focus on both mythology and narratives written for children. Also taking center stage at various points are puppetry and ceramics. Our main family is the Wellwoods. The matriarch, Olive, writes fairy stories for kids. Olive and her husband, Humphrey, have 7 children. When the novel begins, Tom is 13, Dorothy is 11, Phyllis is 9, Hedda is 5, Florian is 3, Robin is a baby, and Harry is not yet born. The patriarch, Humphrey, is a banker turned journalist. Olive's sister, Violet, lives with them and helps to care for the children.
Other characters include Humphrey's brother, Basil, his wife Katharina, and--more centrally--their children, Charles/ Karl and Griselda; Prosper Cain, curator at the museum where our tale begins, and his children, Julian and Florence; Philip Warren and his sister, Elsie; the famous potter Benedict Fludd, his wife Sarah-Jane, and their daughters, Imogen and Pomona; theater director/ playwright August Steyning; puppet-master Anselm Stern and his sons, Wolfgang and Leon; author Herbert Methley and his wife, Phoebe; and school-mistress Marian Oakeshott and her son, Robin.
As is usual for Byatt, the novel plays with form. Within its pages, for instance, we see various pieces of Olive's fiction writing as well as poetry by Julian Cain. We also see many, many theater performances, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, a puppet version of Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Olive's own Tom Underground.
While things do, of course, happen plot-wise, this is very much a novel of atmosphere and character. I enjoyed reading this, and was especially fond of Dorothy, Griselda, Florence, and Hedda.
lcgerstmann's review against another edition
3.0
This is a "slice of life" novel in the sense that there is no particular plot, only a look into the life of a wealthy British family spanning 1895-World War I. The story centers around the Wellwood's, compromised of Olive, a children's book author, Humphrey her wayward Fabian husband, her spinster sister Violet, their many, many children and practically everyone else they know! And all of their secrets. There are SO many characters the author was said to have kept a spreadsheet to keep them organized during the writing process. Well, I needed a spreadsheet to keep them organized during the reading process, not something I enjoyed having to do. I was however, somewhat entranced by this selfish, hedonistic, artistic family and all of their depraved friends. The story is said to be loosely based on the life of 19th century British children's author, E. Nesbit and the author has said "I started with the idea that writing children's books isn't good for the writers' own children....", that pretty much sums it up. This idea was also intriguing to me and that is what drew me to the book in the first place. However, I have no familiarity with the art movement or politics of early 19th century Britain and was often bored by it and at almost 700 pages, it was sometimes a chore to get through. But because I do enjoy a little depravity and the dynamic of a seriously messed up and complicated family, I hung in there and mostly enjoyed it.
newishpuritan's review against another edition
5.0
This is a remarkable book, which I didn't fully appreciate first time around. It's the culmination of Byatt's admiration for nineteenth-century writers like George Eliot, in that it borrows from them an omniscient viewpoint, now out of fashion, including summary overviews of cultural trends, and indeed many similar overviews of character biographies, or long interludes in character lives between the dramatized scenes, which are spread out over many years, from 1985 to c. 1919. It also has a great deal of description of materialities, some of which I admit I found a little tedious. It has Byatt's usual use of intertexts, fragments of books, or (in this case) ekphrastic accounts of visual art (pottery jewellery) and performances created by the characters (puppetry and theatre). The literary examples of this, the childrens' stories composed by Olive Wellwood, are actually fairly disciplined, without the sprawl and threat to take over the whole narrative of Byatt's previous two novels.
Its sprawl is seriously impressive: many, many characters, most of whom are fully realized and vividly drawn, and lives with full, complex arcs.
It is a pretty grim condemnation of patriarchy: the (adult) men here are all either feckless or abusive, usually both to one degree or another, aided and abetted by a culture of unquestioning acceptance of male authority within the family (and it's one of the strengths of the novel to explore how this applies even within Fabian and supposedly progressive circles). None of the characters can even bring themselves to acknowledge the novel's dark heart, which is only represented indirectly. But discourses of liberation can also be cover for abusive behaviour, as was also the case in Byatt's account of the 1960s.
The most daring aspect of the book's structure is its extreme acceleration towards the end. The 1890s are richly described at length; as is the first decade of the twentieth century. But after 550 pages of this, the First World War destroys this entire world, and many of its male characters, in 70 pages of casual summary, with very few isolated dramatic scenes, as if history itself has simply swept half the pieces off the board with an abrupt and violent gesture. This book, with its loving commitment to the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, cannot encompass Dada or modernism, the aesthetic responses to the war: its only recourse can therefore only be this curt brutality.
It's looking like this may be the last major novel we get from Byatt. I hope not, but if so, it's a great achievement.
Its sprawl is seriously impressive: many, many characters, most of whom are fully realized and vividly drawn, and lives with full, complex arcs.
It is a pretty grim condemnation of patriarchy: the (adult) men here are all either feckless or abusive, usually both to one degree or another, aided and abetted by a culture of unquestioning acceptance of male authority within the family (and it's one of the strengths of the novel to explore how this applies even within Fabian and supposedly progressive circles). None of the characters can even bring themselves to acknowledge the novel's dark heart, which is only represented indirectly. But discourses of liberation can also be cover for abusive behaviour, as was also the case in Byatt's account of the 1960s.
The most daring aspect of the book's structure is its extreme acceleration towards the end. The 1890s are richly described at length; as is the first decade of the twentieth century. But after 550 pages of this, the First World War destroys this entire world, and many of its male characters, in 70 pages of casual summary, with very few isolated dramatic scenes, as if history itself has simply swept half the pieces off the board with an abrupt and violent gesture. This book, with its loving commitment to the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, cannot encompass Dada or modernism, the aesthetic responses to the war: its only recourse can therefore only be this curt brutality.
It's looking like this may be the last major novel we get from Byatt. I hope not, but if so, it's a great achievement.