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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I read Angels & Insects because I quite enjoyed the mid-90's film of the same title, based on the first of the two novellas featured in this book.
Now that I've finished both novellas I feel like I've just returned from a battle. Fatigued, limping, bleeding (if I were smarter I would make an ant analogy here; but I'm not).
This has been quite an unusual experience...whenever I thought I couldn't go on, something would appear and pick my interest enough to go on. I'm talking mainly about The Conjugal Angel here, the 2nd novella. I nearly abandoned the thing cca the first third in.
Morpho Eugenia is a pleasant enough story, quite easy to read, apart from the excerpts from the written work of the characters. I suppose it ads a little...colour, but for me, too little to merit their inclusion.
I saw someone point out in their review, that especially Matty's fairytale towards the end absolutely annihilates the flow of the story. I suppose I do see why the author included it, but at the same time I definitely could have done without it, let alone some those philosophical bits preceding it in the novella (let's just say our hero wasn't a very riveting author...).
The Conjugal Angel was a less enjoyable experience. Reading it I periodically went through bouts of interest and despair. I didn't find the style of the prose (actually different to the one used in ME) easy at all, had to re-read passages and sometimes go way way back.
You see, I'm not a native English speaker. I know of Tennyson, but never read any of the poems (and can't say I'll be hurrying to do it now, to be honest). Hallam I'd never even heard of until this book, and for a while got confused and thought he was Tennyson's brother, and not Emily's. So a mess, partly brought on by my ignorance, partly because the style didn't exactly help people like me, who had barely any knowledge of the basic facts it was referring to.
A note:
But good on Byatt for sneaking some gay into this book. Yay for gay.
Now that I've finished both novellas I feel like I've just returned from a battle. Fatigued, limping, bleeding (if I were smarter I would make an ant analogy here; but I'm not).
This has been quite an unusual experience...whenever I thought I couldn't go on, something would appear and pick my interest enough to go on. I'm talking mainly about The Conjugal Angel here, the 2nd novella. I nearly abandoned the thing cca the first third in.
Morpho Eugenia is a pleasant enough story, quite easy to read, apart from the excerpts from the written work of the characters. I suppose it ads a little...colour, but for me, too little to merit their inclusion.
I saw someone point out in their review, that especially Matty's fairytale towards the end absolutely annihilates the flow of the story. I suppose I do see why the author included it, but at the same time I definitely could have done without it, let alone some those philosophical bits preceding it in the novella (let's just say our hero wasn't a very riveting author...).
The Conjugal Angel was a less enjoyable experience. Reading it I periodically went through bouts of interest and despair. I didn't find the style of the prose (actually different to the one used in ME) easy at all, had to re-read passages and sometimes go way way back.
You see, I'm not a native English speaker. I know of Tennyson, but never read any of the poems (and can't say I'll be hurrying to do it now, to be honest). Hallam I'd never even heard of until this book, and for a while got confused and thought he was Tennyson's brother, and not Emily's. So a mess, partly brought on by my ignorance, partly because the style didn't exactly help people like me, who had barely any knowledge of the basic facts it was referring to.
A note:
But good on Byatt for sneaking some gay into this book. Yay for gay.
Morpho Eugenia: 2/5. Enjoyed (the naturalist) parts of it, but the twist was unexpected, perhaps even unnecessary???? after reading other reviews, why are people so taken by it??
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is extraordinarily well written especially considering it’s time. If I hadn’t known better I would’ve thought it was a true Victorian gothic novel. The first novella I was more interested in plot wise, the second I’m sure I would have been more engaged with if I was in a different headspace but I just couldn’t concentrate on something so intellectual and convoluted. I also wasn’t as interested in the poetry in the second and I didn’t feel like I knew the history of the poets well enough to understand.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quickly skimmed the first page of the other reader reviews of this book and discovered that my opinion in comparing the two novellas that comprise it is opposite of most readers. It seems most readers (from the top page, at least) prefer the first novella, "Morpho Eugenia" (the "Insects" section) to "The Conjugal Angel" (the "Angels" section).
For me, "Morpho Eugenia" was a little disappointing. I don't always need to be surprised by what I read, but the characters in this novella were a bit too derivative, the family secret incredibly obvious... well, actually, the whole plot and most of the characters were either obvious or one-dimensional. While I am utterly in awe of Byatt's ability to replicate Victorian prose debates about science and religion, I have to admit that, unlike her equally brilliant (but also beautiful and highly readable) faux Victorian poetry and fairy tales, I did not want to read her faux-Victorian debates. Ultimately things felt too simplistic; the story just didn't hang together for me.
So why the four stars? Well, part of it has to do with "The Conjugal Angel," which I'll get to in a minute. But part is that, despite my problems with the plot of "Morpho Eugenia," I have to admit that much of the imagery of the story has stuck with me. Especially the parts where human and insect sex and reproduction are compared. Ew, but also very haunting.
"The Conjugal Angel" I thought was completely brilliant. This could be my own personal bias in favor of stories about spiritualism, but in any case, I really loved it. It was different from any story I've recently read about spiritualists, in that it takes the idea seriously. To make it that much better, one of the main characters is Alfred Tennyson's sister... so there's lots of poetry and interpretation to boot, plus a beautifully imagined inner life of several historical figures. This novella, to me, approaches the achievements of Possession more nearly than the first; it is a gorgeous meditation on grief and love, the burdens of the past and how we idolize the dead, and how what is unseen to others can strangle us. Plus, lots of commentary on poetry and wordplay, and I love getting lost in Byatt's twisty sentence structure.
For me, "Morpho Eugenia" was a little disappointing. I don't always need to be surprised by what I read, but the characters in this novella were a bit too derivative, the family secret incredibly obvious... well, actually, the whole plot and most of the characters were either obvious or one-dimensional. While I am utterly in awe of Byatt's ability to replicate Victorian prose debates about science and religion, I have to admit that, unlike her equally brilliant (but also beautiful and highly readable) faux Victorian poetry and fairy tales, I did not want to read her faux-Victorian debates. Ultimately things felt too simplistic; the story just didn't hang together for me.
So why the four stars? Well, part of it has to do with "The Conjugal Angel," which I'll get to in a minute. But part is that, despite my problems with the plot of "Morpho Eugenia," I have to admit that much of the imagery of the story has stuck with me. Especially the parts where human and insect sex and reproduction are compared. Ew, but also very haunting.
"The Conjugal Angel" I thought was completely brilliant. This could be my own personal bias in favor of stories about spiritualism, but in any case, I really loved it. It was different from any story I've recently read about spiritualists, in that it takes the idea seriously. To make it that much better, one of the main characters is Alfred Tennyson's sister... so there's lots of poetry and interpretation to boot, plus a beautifully imagined inner life of several historical figures. This novella, to me, approaches the achievements of Possession more nearly than the first; it is a gorgeous meditation on grief and love, the burdens of the past and how we idolize the dead, and how what is unseen to others can strangle us. Plus, lots of commentary on poetry and wordplay, and I love getting lost in Byatt's twisty sentence structure.
I've given myself a day between finishing this collection of two novellas and writing a review. I'm conflicted in my overall experience, but looking back I realize just how profound it really was for me.
A.S. Byatt is a magnificent writer. I was constantly caught off guard by how shockingly beautiful many of her sentences were. This is a great book to read on an electronic reading device, unless you don't mind highlighting wonderful tidbits in your physical copy! And of course the actual plots of the stories are just as inspired.
That being said, I found myself quite distant from how often Byatt conveys love of writing and poetry in both of these stories. Being a writer herself, you can see she's passionate for what she does for a living. This is beautiful in it's own way, but I found it tangling with my desire to carry on with the actual plot lines. And while I do have a place in my heart for poetry, when it's dispersed throughout the story it tends to take me out of that specific headspace I get into while reading a novel. I think I use a different part of my brain to process it. This is what pulls my review down to three stars instead of four, for it happened often enough to become frustrating for me. This happened less in the first story, which if I were to separate them, I would give four stars.
All in all, I did truly enjoy the visual and passionate moments of both stories. Byatt is a fantastic writer and I plan on reading more of her work.
*I also remember really enjoying the movie adaptation, which I'm excited to watch again after reading the book!
A.S. Byatt is a magnificent writer. I was constantly caught off guard by how shockingly beautiful many of her sentences were. This is a great book to read on an electronic reading device, unless you don't mind highlighting wonderful tidbits in your physical copy! And of course the actual plots of the stories are just as inspired.
That being said, I found myself quite distant from how often Byatt conveys love of writing and poetry in both of these stories. Being a writer herself, you can see she's passionate for what she does for a living. This is beautiful in it's own way, but I found it tangling with my desire to carry on with the actual plot lines. And while I do have a place in my heart for poetry, when it's dispersed throughout the story it tends to take me out of that specific headspace I get into while reading a novel. I think I use a different part of my brain to process it. This is what pulls my review down to three stars instead of four, for it happened often enough to become frustrating for me. This happened less in the first story, which if I were to separate them, I would give four stars.
All in all, I did truly enjoy the visual and passionate moments of both stories. Byatt is a fantastic writer and I plan on reading more of her work.
*I also remember really enjoying the movie adaptation, which I'm excited to watch again after reading the book!