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A review by ktrain3900
Possession by A.S. Byatt
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I read this book once before, many years ago, possibly in college--there are passages underlined dealing with curiosity, particularly that of women in myth & folktale, which was something I studied in college--or possibly in the years following, when that topic was still very much of interest to me. I loved the book then, and I still love it now. There is a lot here, exquisitely written, fully engaging, with wit and formality and fidelity, if perhaps a tad British, and starting to be a tad dated, for a contemporary American reader.
I don't recall specifically what I loved so much when I read it previously. I'd guess the love story, and the romance of discovery & research & academia, and the rich detail & atmosphere, the travel, museums, books, writing. Now, I see better the craft of the writing. Neither time period is favored, but wonderfully navigated and moved between, as is the poetry with the prose. The book is of each time and every place which it both inhabits and is inhabited by. The characters are full, flawed, strange, each distinct, yet also a bit cliched, enlarged, never overwhelmed by the plot, nor is the plot overwhelmed by them. There is a delicate balance maintained throughout.
In this reading, I paid more attention to the title, and to themes of possesion. One can be possessed by love, and possess (and be posssessed by) a lover. This veers to obsession, ownership of person as property, belonging to someone and thus off limits for all others, or the possession of a child by parents. There's the possession of actual property, of intellectual property, of the fine line of the law in regards to all forms of possession. There is spiritual possession, the belonging of the soul to the body as well as to other souls. Perhaps most importantly there is self-possession, belonging to oneself, being free and independent, and truly oneself. And this book touches on all of these themes with skill, poise, and a beating heart.
I don't recall specifically what I loved so much when I read it previously. I'd guess the love story, and the romance of discovery & research & academia, and the rich detail & atmosphere, the travel, museums, books, writing. Now, I see better the craft of the writing. Neither time period is favored, but wonderfully navigated and moved between, as is the poetry with the prose. The book is of each time and every place which it both inhabits and is inhabited by. The characters are full, flawed, strange, each distinct, yet also a bit cliched, enlarged, never overwhelmed by the plot, nor is the plot overwhelmed by them. There is a delicate balance maintained throughout.
In this reading, I paid more attention to the title, and to themes of possesion. One can be possessed by love, and possess (and be posssessed by) a lover. This veers to obsession, ownership of person as property, belonging to someone and thus off limits for all others, or the possession of a child by parents. There's the possession of actual property, of intellectual property, of the fine line of the law in regards to all forms of possession. There is spiritual possession, the belonging of the soul to the body as well as to other souls. Perhaps most importantly there is self-possession, belonging to oneself, being free and independent, and truly oneself. And this book touches on all of these themes with skill, poise, and a beating heart.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide