Possession

A reader might reasonably wonder, given the range of comments on this novel, whether it is worth reading or not. Possession is a favorite novel (or romance, as Byatt calls it) of mine, and Ive just finished reading it for the second time, more than two decades after the first reading, just after it was published. But, to be sure, one has to like this sort of book, so here is a kind of checklist—an odd sort of review, I do realize, but here goes: Youll enjoy Possession if you Like reading about the Victorians Enjoy poetry (but see below) Enjoy satire about academic life Appreciate meticulous, well-rendered detail Dont mind an intricate story that moves between past and present, with stops for (fictional) journal entries and poems You wont enjoy Possession if you Dislike poetry of any sort Arent much interested in academic wrangles over dusty journals and old letters tied with ribbons Have no interest in Victorian sexual mores, religious searching, and self-abnegation Want a story that moves sequentially, in straightforward fashion The novels main characters, the 19th century lovers and poets R. H. Ash and Christabel Lamotte, are fictional, as is their poetry, all of it invented by A.S. Byatt. The latter is a tour de force—pages and pages of poems, some in the manner of Browning (Ash) and some more like Dickinson (LaMotte). You can slide over this if its not to your taste, since the clues to the novels mystery can be found in the prose, as well. However, reading even part of it will carry you back into this century. The poets, in a wonderful kind of mirroring, have their 20th century counterparts in two academics, both specialists in the period: Roland Michell and Maud Bailey. The tenderness they begin to feel for one another is almost secondary to the tenderness they feel for Ash and Lamotte and for the words of these poets, which are their legacy. Despite all of the chasing down of literary clues, hidden letters, cryptic journal references, and evocative heirlooms in the novel, Possession makes clear that the real possession (and passion) lies in the act of reading. M. Feldman

This book has so many delectable layers to consume. I\’ve read it several times and I still get those moments where I just want to flap my hands wildly about my head and run around the room shrieking. It\’s a combination of incredibly engaging characters of depth and variety, wonderful humor, page turning, spine tingling mystery, Romance that can make an intellectual wriggle with pleasure – all steeped in the rich atmosphere created by Byatt\”s brilliant pastiches of Victorian poetry and dark fairy tales. And that\’s just part of it… Thank you A.S. Byatt for creating this – it\’s one of this books that just makes me relish life more while and after I read it. And continues to do so every time I re-read it.

This book won the Booker prize in 1990 that is why I decided to read it. Whether I enjoyed it or not is something of an enigma. The story is split into two different ages that of the Victorian poets, Randolph Ash and Christabel LaMotte, and that of the modern-day researchers, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey. Roland is studying the work of Ash, and Maud that of LaMotte. Their paths cross when Roland tries to investigate a reference he found to a meeting between Ash and LaMotte that suggests there was a liaison between the two. The book contains a great deal of poetry written by Ash and LaMotte in Victorian style (as they are fictional characters, it is all written by the author, Byatt). I found the poetry difficult to follow and tedious to read and I started to skip it, and then realised that I could do so without losing anything of the story. The narrative switches between the developing relationship of Ash and LaMotte and the investigative efforts of Roland and Maud. The current day part of the book also relates the rivalry between researchers in different universities and parts of the world and shows up petty jealousies and possessiveness. Apart from the poetry that heralds the change in era, the Victorian times are written about with a formality that distinguishes them from the modern 20th century parts. Byatts change in voice and her swathes of poetry are testament to her tremendous ability with the English language. I found the Victorian era passages to be more believable and enjoyable to read (excluding the poetry), rather than the modern times which felt simple and lacking in character. Perhaps that is what Ms Byatt sought to achieve. One thing I found fascinating was that this was written before email and Google and so their research efforts were arduous compared to how easily we would do things in this internet era. My assessment of this story is that it was enjoyable if I left out large parts of it. So there is the enigma. Can one be said to have enjoyed a book if one ignored a large part of it? Im sure the Booker prize was awarded for Ms Byatts dexterity with the language and the intricacy of the content.

I confess to only reading Possession because it usually on those 100 books to read before you die type of lists and its one of a few Ive not read. Context is everything in these reviews, so I must also reveal that I studied English Literature at University. However, like most of the less favourable reviews, I read for pleasure and found my BA killed my love of reading for 3 years as it became a chore and so often I felt like I was wading through turgid poetry and prose. However, unlike several of the low scoring reviews, I did read the poetry sections and I have finished it. Ill admit that this was my second attempt at reading Possession. The first time I reached the end of chapter 1 and felt that it really wasnt the type of book I needed in my life at that time. Its a dense read. Its not an airport novel, a quick holiday read but there has to be space for a whole range of genres and styles. The dismissive reviews seem to imply that if a books difficult or not enjoyable that it shouldnt exist, think of the poor reader and all that. If we had the same approach with film and theatre, with music and visual arts wouldnt the world be a less rich place to be? Should everything be populist and easy? No. The Booker prize is not the Richard and Judy book club but theres room on my bookshelf for books from both. I have read the poetry and Ive not skimmed the text and still got the plot. Surely the poems and letters all layer the work, its not a buffet, its a meal with carefully selected elements that work together for the whole. All that said, the world of academia and the presumed elitism and intellectual snobbery can and has alienated some readers. There is a whiff of A.S. Byatt showing off her knowledge and her skill and kudos to her for that. There are interesting overlaps with real life, with non-fictional characters and writers included in the work. Its taken me a while to get through it. It wasnt the most painful read Ive ever had, its well written and theres a sense that Byatt is purposefully dragging out the plot. Ive read mentions of a Da Vinci Code style scavenger hunt, the main characters following historical clues but, for me, I just didnt care very much about them finding anything out, the stakes werent very high (either the letters were looked after by the baddie of the book and money fall into the wrong hands or they go to academics who love the work and deserve it?), the characters all a bit obvious and stereotypical. Perhaps they were representing class tropes. I was glad to finally finish and it took me far longer to read than Id thought because its so turgid. The moment you land in a section set in modern day (well, the 1980s) when the pace picked up, youd shortly be landed back in florid epistles between Victorian writers or poetry written to give clues but, for me, were a challenge to switch from novel reading mode to poetry reading mode. I perked up with the journal of a young French woman but it wasnt enough for me to give a raving review. My kindle edition had several typos which was disappointing. A.S. Byatt also loves tormenting her readers with her own inimitable and boundless vocabulary. I started highlighting the words Id either never heard of in my life or when I was simply unsure of the meaning. It tripped me up, made me feel stupid, distanced me from the plot and characters and gave the impression that Byatt either just loves to show off or is so blinkered to a world beyond her own literary one that she doesnt give two hoots about communicating with her reader. Or perhaps we, the readers, do not figure at all in the process. Its clever (although it definitely slides into a mystery novel pastiche in the post storm hotel debrief scene), its long, its bound to be picked over and analysed but I was gagging to get it over and done with purely so I could tick it off my books you should read list. I bought it four years ago and kept putting it off as it felt daunting. Ill not be revisiting in and I dont care if that makes me seem like an uneducated pleb. It should probably be a 3 but for wave of relief that swept through me when I finally finished reading it Im going to smash a two star review on it. Ill finish with some (not all) of the words that totally flummoxed me: sempiternal, pellucid, hagiography, conchoidal, divagate, bladderwrack, cache-pot, silex, besprent, suttee, tisane, exiguous, revanche, odylic, actinic, exosmose, dolmen, calyx, panegyrics.

I have this in hardback, kindle and audio. It is one of my favourite books. I first read it in a borrowed paperback during what was a difficult time for me. As others have commented, I did find it a difficult book to get into; however as with Shakespeare once cracked found it really absorbing. Others have remarked on the dodgy characterisasations of those not favoured by public school & Oxbridge backgrounds, that is a common failing (Iris Murdoch, Angus Wilson) in UK literary fiction. One just has to choose whether or not to go with the flow and park that to one side, Martin Amis tries to tackle the great divide and drives me round the bend. Each to their own. I loved the poetry of this novel and was completely absorbed by the modern day academic world created in parallel to that of Victorian poetry. The ending moved me greatly and I took great pleasure in the successful outcome of the romance.

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