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A review by kqjeske
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
4.0
This book is set in England between the early 1890s and the end of WWI. I happen to really like this period of history and already know a fair amount about the larger social changes taking place during this time and some of the key social thinkers. If you are not interested in this time period or in lots and lots of historical context, politics, social thought and cultural events, then you will have no interest in this book.
The book follows characters, mostly in three families, plus others who are all connected in a sort of socialist leaning arts community. It is a large cast and it takes about a quarter of the book for the author to introduce all of the main characters and for the reader to get somewhat used to following so many of them. The central families are the Cains whose patriarch, Prosper, is a museum keeper, interested in arts and crafts at the newly created V & A Museum; the Wellwoods whose matriarch, Olive, is a very popular and talented children's author; and the Fludds whose patriarch, Benedict, is a volatile, but very well-know pottery artist. Along with their many children, other artists, teachers and members of the community this story (or series of stories) observes the growing up of the second generation who are just establishing themselves as young adults at the beginning of WWI. The author does an excellent job of making the reader feel the waste of war. You become very caught up in the lives of these characters only to read later about the many tragedies that happen to them because of the war. It's as shocking and horrifying as it should be.
I enjoyed many of the themes tackled by the book-artistic temperament, class struggles, women's sufferage-as well as the social life during this time and its subtle shifts. Again, as someone who is familiar (politically and socially) with the time period, I really appreciated the linking of various movements in arts and culture in this story. The author goes on in some detail about the cultural/historic contexts of the time and then links the art being created by some of the main characters into the story, including excerpts of stories written by Olive, poetry written by Julian and detailed descriptions of various plays and productions. In addition, the characters participate in some of the key cultural events of the time such as the Paris Exposition of 1900 and the opening of Peter Pan.
The disappointments for me relate to the large cast of characters and the likely impossibility of satisfying every readers' interest in these characters. Many events happen to the characters throughout the book , but the author doesn't always include reactions to events from characters that would have had interesting reactions. For example, Julian Cain tries very hard throughout boyhood and young adulthood to be friends with Tom Wellwood. But when Tom commits suicide, we never get any reaction from Julian, which he surely had. There are also bits of story that don't resolve. For example, Dorothy is undertaking her medical training and falls in love. She is alarmed by this and takes a break from her studies to regroup, but then the reader never hears any more about this potential romantic interest. More importantly, this reader, anyway, would have appreciated a bit more of an epilogue at the end. I followed these characters through many ups and downs for nearly 900 pages, another 10-15 at the end telling me more about how they moved on after the war would have been appreciated.
The book follows characters, mostly in three families, plus others who are all connected in a sort of socialist leaning arts community. It is a large cast and it takes about a quarter of the book for the author to introduce all of the main characters and for the reader to get somewhat used to following so many of them. The central families are the Cains whose patriarch, Prosper, is a museum keeper, interested in arts and crafts at the newly created V & A Museum; the Wellwoods whose matriarch, Olive, is a very popular and talented children's author; and the Fludds whose patriarch, Benedict, is a volatile, but very well-know pottery artist. Along with their many children, other artists, teachers and members of the community this story (or series of stories) observes the growing up of the second generation who are just establishing themselves as young adults at the beginning of WWI. The author does an excellent job of making the reader feel the waste of war. You become very caught up in the lives of these characters only to read later about the many tragedies that happen to them because of the war. It's as shocking and horrifying as it should be.
I enjoyed many of the themes tackled by the book-artistic temperament, class struggles, women's sufferage-as well as the social life during this time and its subtle shifts. Again, as someone who is familiar (politically and socially) with the time period, I really appreciated the linking of various movements in arts and culture in this story. The author goes on in some detail about the cultural/historic contexts of the time and then links the art being created by some of the main characters into the story, including excerpts of stories written by Olive, poetry written by Julian and detailed descriptions of various plays and productions. In addition, the characters participate in some of the key cultural events of the time such as the Paris Exposition of 1900 and the opening of Peter Pan.
The disappointments for me relate to the large cast of characters and the likely impossibility of satisfying every readers' interest in these characters. Many events happen to the characters throughout the book , but the author doesn't always include reactions to events from characters that would have had interesting reactions. For example, Julian Cain tries very hard throughout boyhood and young adulthood to be friends with Tom Wellwood. But when Tom commits suicide, we never get any reaction from Julian, which he surely had. There are also bits of story that don't resolve. For example, Dorothy is undertaking her medical training and falls in love. She is alarmed by this and takes a break from her studies to regroup, but then the reader never hears any more about this potential romantic interest. More importantly, this reader, anyway, would have appreciated a bit more of an epilogue at the end. I followed these characters through many ups and downs for nearly 900 pages, another 10-15 at the end telling me more about how they moved on after the war would have been appreciated.