Fiction

Possession

Possession

  • Downloads：4125
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-11-18 09:53:23
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：A.S. Byatt
  • ISBN：0099800403
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Reviews

Susan ，

Wanted to love this book， too contrived。

DaniLanglie ，

I read this back in undergrad as part of my English major， and I remember liking it well enough。。。 I held onto my copy and now， almost ten years later picking it up again， I find myself loving it more than I thought I would。The language is lush and gorgeous and just totally takes you in， the contrast between the modern （1980s） sections and the 19th century stuff is noticeable but honestly everything has that same heightened Romance-y kind of style that I love when done well， and this is done so I read this back in undergrad as part of my English major， and I remember liking it well enough。。。 I held onto my copy and now， almost ten years later picking it up again， I find myself loving it more than I thought I would。The language is lush and gorgeous and just totally takes you in， the contrast between the modern （1980s） sections and the 19th century stuff is noticeable but honestly everything has that same heightened Romance-y kind of style that I love when done well， and this is done so well。This sounds sort of facile to say， but this book has so many Relatable Female Characters。 Like。。。 between Maud and Christabel and Beatrice and Ellen and even Leonora and Val， I just felt such a sense of feminism and a rich culture of these different women with these different ways of thinking about the world。 I was totally taken in by all their different stories and perspectives。Also I just。。。 love the collective caring that humans can do， the way they all have this passion for finding out more about these literary heroes of theirs。 The scene at the end when Cropper goes inside with everyone else， and they all sit around and experience the end of the story together， just hits the spot in such a huge way。 That's what knowledge and scholarly research and the search for truth should be。 Not。。。 not the grave robbing， of course， although I can't say I don't understand the temptation。 More just that collective moment where despite their varying legal claims and avaricious desire for the objects and the information both， they all come together， and they give Maud the gift of reading it out。 And then Maud being the descendent of both poets is just such a lovely and strange way of ending this lovely and strange book！I don't know， I just。。。 really loved this。 Especially Ash and LaMotte's letters， and the slowly unraveling story of their love。 。。。more

Marilyn ，

A creation so densely layered， and truly felt， that it shines: at once a literary detective mystery， a historical and modern romance， and a wry twist on 1980s British and American academia， but most importantly， a tale of ideas， and their power。A connection between Victorian poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte is uncovered by meek modern scholar Roland Mitchell and LaMotte expert Dr。 Maud Bailey。 All contend with desire and loneliness in their quest for scholarship， in a way。 The rid A creation so densely layered， and truly felt， that it shines: at once a literary detective mystery， a historical and modern romance， and a wry twist on 1980s British and American academia， but most importantly， a tale of ideas， and their power。A connection between Victorian poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte is uncovered by meek modern scholar Roland Mitchell and LaMotte expert Dr。 Maud Bailey。 All contend with desire and loneliness in their quest for scholarship， in a way。 The riddle of the inviolate egg that is her life， that LaMotte describes to Ash， is echoed again， not least in Ash's later poem Swammerdam。 The need for possession creates the novel's conflict: possession of one's own self， of scholarly knowledge and its pull， and of power of words themselves， how they hold us in thrall。Impressions: Byatt's love of the color green （related to Garden of Eden？）， the wonderful slightly overdone feminist scholar Dr。 Leonora Stern， and the use of emblematically named characters （the "motte-and-bailey" defenses of Dr。 Maude Bailey and 19th century Christabel LaMotte， Mortimer Cropper （who "came a cropper" near a cemetery）， and last but not least Dr。 Beatrice Nest， whose patient study of Ash's deliberately banal wife Ellen incubates the final secret， that is revealed to a surprisingly collegial collaboration of fellow scholars。 。。。more

Michael ，

An impressive book。 I admit that I did some skimming through the lengthier poetry sections， which some will say is unacceptable （and they will probably be right）， but I got sucked in otherwise。

Lorraine Knapp ，

When I read this in the 1990s I loveloveloved it and would have given it 5 stars。 I reread it just a couple of years back and I was impatient with the characters and maybe the whole pace。 So is this a book for younger people， or am I less curious now about exploring every possible dusty old folio of literature anyone could create？

Carola Janssen ，

Ik las dit boek omdat het in de Volkskrant genoemd werd als een van de honderd boeken van de afgelopen honderd jaar die je gelezen zou moeten hebben en ik had nog nooit van de schrijver gehoord。 Maar het kon me niet werkelijk bekoren。 Het staat vol met Victoriaans klinkende gedichten en dat is niet echt mijn ding。 Op een gegeven moment ben ik zeer gaan overslaan。 En omdat het de kern van het boek is is het logisch dat ik het dus ook niet echt goed kon vinden。 Het thema en de motieven rondom 'bez Ik las dit boek omdat het in de Volkskrant genoemd werd als een van de honderd boeken van de afgelopen honderd jaar die je gelezen zou moeten hebben en ik had nog nooit van de schrijver gehoord。 Maar het kon me niet werkelijk bekoren。 Het staat vol met Victoriaans klinkende gedichten en dat is niet echt mijn ding。 Op een gegeven moment ben ik zeer gaan overslaan。 En omdat het de kern van het boek is is het logisch dat ik het dus ook niet echt goed kon vinden。 Het thema en de motieven rondom 'bezeten' vond ik wel mooi， maar ook het verhaal in zijn geheel was toch te gekunsteld。 。。。more

Kabir ，

Amazing book。 Literary mystery， love story and academic satire。 Most noteworthy is the way Byatt is able to create plausible Victorian poetry， diary entries and letters。

Karen Watson ，

Masterful。 Visually evocative， deliciously parallel times and pairs of researcher/poets。

Minerva The Owl ，

This book set my brain on fire in a good way。

Cay ，

Waaay too long。 I almost gave up during the interminably long section of letters back and forth between the two Victorian poets where nothing happened， nothing happened， nothing happened until *finally* something did。 Yay！ And then there are the poems…some of them go on， and on， and on as well。 I found myself wondering about the author who could generate all of these pages of STUFF。If you can made it to the middle of the book， the second half is easier to read。 I did finally finish it and have t Waaay too long。 I almost gave up during the interminably long section of letters back and forth between the two Victorian poets where nothing happened， nothing happened， nothing happened until *finally* something did。 Yay！ And then there are the poems…some of them go on， and on， and on as well。 I found myself wondering about the author who could generate all of these pages of STUFF。If you can made it to the middle of the book， the second half is easier to read。 I did finally finish it and have to say that the ending was pretty good。 I’m just not sure it was worth all the work to get there。 This might be three stars for a reader who is interested in poetry and the Victorian era。 。。。more

Mary Beth ，

To tell the story of a secret love affair between Victorian poets， Byatt creates a voluminous record for her contemporary scholars to uncover—poems and stories and diaries and letters， letters， letters—which， along with the periodic narration， comprise the giddily overstuffed novel。 It’s interesting but a lot， and the modern （well， 1980s—Possession was published in 1990） drama with the warring academics feels rather silly， in a way that feels deliberate （there’s satire there） but tiresome noneth To tell the story of a secret love affair between Victorian poets， Byatt creates a voluminous record for her contemporary scholars to uncover—poems and stories and diaries and letters， letters， letters—which， along with the periodic narration， comprise the giddily overstuffed novel。 It’s interesting but a lot， and the modern （well， 1980s—Possession was published in 1990） drama with the warring academics feels rather silly， in a way that feels deliberate （there’s satire there） but tiresome nonetheless。 Still， Ash and LaMotte are fascinating characters， and Byatt’s own flair for poetry and fairy tale brings their work， as well as their relationship， to vivid life。 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge （unbound to year）33。 A book set in two different time periods。 。。。more

Susan ，

One of my all time favorite books。 Written with mystery and wonderful characters， the book comes to mind frequently and I read it every five or ten years， loving it as much as the first time each time I go back to it。

Elena Vasileva ，

Филологический детектив。 Только уликами служат не окурки и отпечатки пальцев， а тексты！ Любовный роман。 Причём в двух разных эпохах， красиво закольцевавшихся в конце。 Мне ещё очень жаль， что я не могу в полной мере оценить этот роман， так как читала не в оригинале и к тому же плохо знакома с английской поэзией， а текст буквально кишит отсылками к ней。 Представляю， сколько удовольствия получили англоязычные знатоки викторианской литературы。

Joanna ，

Wybitna powieść！ Wielowątkowa， intertekstualna， wyjątkowo swobodnie splatająca realne osoby i wydarzenia z fikcyjnymi。 Nie mogę wyjść z podziwu nad ogromem wiedzy， researchu i ogółem pracy jaki Byatt musiała włożyć w tworzenie tej powieści。 A wreszcie i sam talent pisarski Byatt wywarł na mnie piorunujące wrażenie， chylę czoła！To fikcja historyczna z najwyższej półki！ I ta forma i konstrukcja - zjawiskowe！ W “Opętaniu” liryczne poematy przeplatają się z baśniami， listami， pamiętnikami jak i z tr Wybitna powieść！ Wielowątkowa， intertekstualna， wyjątkowo swobodnie splatająca realne osoby i wydarzenia z fikcyjnymi。 Nie mogę wyjść z podziwu nad ogromem wiedzy， researchu i ogółem pracy jaki Byatt musiała włożyć w tworzenie tej powieści。 A wreszcie i sam talent pisarski Byatt wywarł na mnie piorunujące wrażenie， chylę czoła！To fikcja historyczna z najwyższej półki！ I ta forma i konstrukcja - zjawiskowe！ W “Opętaniu” liryczne poematy przeplatają się z baśniami， listami， pamiętnikami jak i z tradycyjną narracją obejmująca dwie - rozdzielone kilkunastoma dekadami - płaszczyzny czasowe。 A wszystko to utrzymane w aurze tajemniczości， napięcia i pożądania。„Opętanie” mnie opętało！ Jednak nie powiem， że to miłość idealna， bez komplikacji - bowiem były i kryzysy。 Ale tu muszę uprzedzić， że moje zarzuty są wyjątkowo subiektywne i w żadnym stopniu nie wpływają na końcową ocenę książki， a i innym te problematyczne dla mnie kwestie nie powinny przeszkadzać w pozytywnym odbiorze powieści。 Osobiście wybitnie nie przepadam i unikam jak grafomaństwa Kasi Michalak powieści epistolarnych oraz pamiętników， a „Opętanie” właśnie w 1/3 z takich fragmentów się składa。 I przez to w trakcie lektury doświadczyłam i momentów， kiedy z powieścią walczyłam， przymuszałam się do czytania podglądając ile jeszcze zostało mi do końca tych korespondencyjnych dłużyzn。 Aż mi głupio， że trochę narzekam， bo to powieść absolutnie genialna， perfekcyjna， a samo zakończenia to już w ogóle wciska w fotel。 Mnie z nawiązką wynagrodziło wszystkie nieliczne mankamenty。 To był istny wulkan emocji， napięcie aż rozsadzało strony！ Dla takich ostatnich rozdziałów warto było trochę się pomęczyć na przegadanych fragmentach。Wiem， że znalezienie „Opętania” w ludzkiej cenie do najłatwiejszych nie należy， ale uwierzcie mi - ta książka jest warta swojej wysokiej ceny。 Nawet gdyby kosztowała 10 razy więcej - nadal byłaby warta każdego wydanego grosza！ Wielka powieść， dzieło kompletne。instagram | blog | facebook 。。。more

Drew ，

I love Byatt's prose。 Honestly， the poetry？ I could have done with a little less。 Yes， I'm a philistine。 I love Byatt's prose。 Honestly， the poetry？ I could have done with a little less。 Yes， I'm a philistine。 。。。more

~Calyre~ ，

"Un écrivain ne devient un véritable écrivain qu'en s'exerçant à son art， en faisant de constantes expériences avec le langage， comme un grand artiste avec la glaise ou la couleur jusqu'à tant que le matériau devienne une seconde nature， modelable par l'artiste selon son désir。" "Un écrivain ne devient un véritable écrivain qu'en s'exerçant à son art， en faisant de constantes expériences avec le langage， comme un grand artiste avec la glaise ou la couleur jusqu'à tant que le matériau devienne une seconde nature， modelable par l'artiste selon son désir。" 。。。more

Elizabeth Guider ，

I was dusting my bookshelves this morning and pulled a few novels out in my futile attempt to be thorough。 I was not surprised that this tome in particular appeared covered in dust。 Because it probably has to languish in order to be picked up again， it being such an extraordinary--by turns maddening and moving--utterly devastating work of fiction， and one that has seemed to divide readers so radically over the years。 Thirty since she wrote it？ I flipped through my copy， and found I had underline I was dusting my bookshelves this morning and pulled a few novels out in my futile attempt to be thorough。 I was not surprised that this tome in particular appeared covered in dust。 Because it probably has to languish in order to be picked up again， it being such an extraordinary--by turns maddening and moving--utterly devastating work of fiction， and one that has seemed to divide readers so radically over the years。 Thirty since she wrote it？ I flipped through my copy， and found I had underlined or circled passages， left question marks at certain lines in the long poems， and penciled comments here and there。 And toward the very end of the book， which I now remember where I was sitting in the house and how dark it appeared to be getting and yet I could not take the time to get up to switch on a light， I must have been overcome。 There are tell-tale signs of my tears on those last few pages。 Hardly a review， right？ I loved the time-shifting from modern day academia to Victorian times， I loved the wit of the dialogue， the bravura of the prose， the hidden clues in the poems， the slow-build and burn of the love affairs。 And on and on。 At 555 heady pages， it is not a work for the faint-hearted， and， in my case， it will require a month or so on an island of tranquility to tackle it again。 I hope to do so。 I had underlined these lines of Byatt on page 512， perhaps fortuitously: "Now and then there are readings that make the hairs on the neck stand on end and tremble， when every word burns and shines hard and clear and infinite and exact， like stones of fire， like points of stars in the dark--readings when the knowledge that we shall know the writing differently or better or satisfactorily， runs ahead of any capacity to say what we know， or how。" 。。。more

Sofia ，

I loved this book so much。 It was the perfect light academia aesthetic for fall。 It makes me want to be a literature professor in England and never leave academia。 The combination of two sets of love stories between poets separated by centuries was also incredibly well done。

Therese ，

I guess romances are not my cup of tea。 I did not care for the characters。 No amount of literary devices was able to get me interested in this story。

Lauren Coffey ，

This is my desert island book， and nearly my favorite of all time。 I think A。S。 Byatt should be President， not because she has some exceptional grasp on policy， but because someone this smart deserves power。 I’m glad they gave her the Booker， but she deserves way more than that。 Possession is one of the most challenging works I have ever read， but it was a labor of love。 The metafiction structure constantly pushes you to read between the lines。 Byatt does not once hold your hand through this boo This is my desert island book， and nearly my favorite of all time。 I think A。S。 Byatt should be President， not because she has some exceptional grasp on policy， but because someone this smart deserves power。 I’m glad they gave her the Booker， but she deserves way more than that。 Possession is one of the most challenging works I have ever read， but it was a labor of love。 The metafiction structure constantly pushes you to read between the lines。 Byatt does not once hold your hand through this book。 You are thrown in as an observer and learn slowly through the novel， so by the middle you become the detective for the story yourself。 Every piece of knowledge you gain feels like a win， because it was not given to you in an explanation， but rather you gleaned it through deep-reading。 Byatt writes for the intelligent reader， and if you are not yet there， she will drag you chapter by chapter to get to that point。 My favorite themes were the idea of repeating themes in all stories， feminine mystery， and solitude， but there are countless more。 Eventually I had to just flip to the blank back pages and start writing all the themes and symbols。 That’s what this book does: it makes you an active reader， investigator， and it gets your brain sparking。 It is so hard to try and describe this book in so few words， but the way Byatt dispersed information is one of the things that make this book awe me。 You read journals and letters and poetry， waiting to see if it will reveal anything， but thankfully （because this is fiction） it does。 When you get these juicy bits， the story cracks wide open， making it a thriller even though it has nearly zero “thriller” elements。 As far as a “romance，” I think Byatt did a great job at meeting and subverting the genre。 The examination of passion and relationships was so unique， and the constant both lack of pay-off and more than gracious pay-off the in the relationship arcs were rewarding and baffling。 You could read this book from a million angles a million times -- and I intend to get in as many reads as I can。 No book yet has ever made me so awestruck at the creativity of the human mind and the vastness of history that we can pull from and create out of。 What a world we live in that something this sublime can be written。 This book made me feel so small， but also a part of a rich pool of history。 It made me awestruck at how much literature and stories there are out there。 Nothing I could put into words could capture what this book did to me。 The best books are the ones that make you start thinking of the world and your life entirely differently， and Possession did this ten-fold for me。 。。。more

Ana ，

This book serves as a very useful litmus test for the question of whether you should do a PhD （apparently I should not！）

Jeremy Neal ，

A fantastic read with some caveats。A very engaging story， extremely well written， part romance， part detective story， part historical fiction， put it all together and it does work although it takes some perseverance to really get into the literary groove of this novel which contains a great many literary references。 This referential bent - which if you haven't read the quoted works（ironically Faust especially， which I have just completed also） - comes off perhaps as marginally pompous twaddle。 S A fantastic read with some caveats。A very engaging story， extremely well written， part romance， part detective story， part historical fiction， put it all together and it does work although it takes some perseverance to really get into the literary groove of this novel which contains a great many literary references。 This referential bent - which if you haven't read the quoted works（ironically Faust especially， which I have just completed also） - comes off perhaps as marginally pompous twaddle。 Sometimes， this novel does suffer from a pompous tone perhaps， it's very highbrow in places and that is occasionally off-putting。The major flaw - for me - is the invention of two Victorian poets: Christabel LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash who are supposedly based upon Robert Browning and Christina Rossetti。 The narrative tension is good， the story works， but what rings false for me is the poetry。 It seems a rather audacious move to write your own 'classic' pre-Raphaelite poetry as though it were the real deal。 This is the entire problem， AS Byatt is a decent writer， but she is not a pre-eminent Victorian poet。 Her poetry is decent but not magnificent， so it is a hollow thing in the text， and fails to convince。But if you can get past that， some of her writing is sublime nonetheless， and I really enjoyed this very much。 。。。more

Deidre ，

One of my favorite novels ever。 Every。 Single。 Word。 Is necessary and important。 When I finished it I went back and started all over again。

Isa ，

I’M UTTERLY BROKEN AGAIN。 WEEPING。 ThiS BOOK。This is my first revisit since uni and I feel like I’ll just coming back to it 😭😭😭 Like wow just…？ I need to sit down。 The words， the wonder。 There are just so many things to get swept away in。

Micha ，

UGH。 I love literature; but life is too short and this read is just too dry， stuffy， and convoluted to invest in。 My want to read list is long and there’s not enough time。

Laura ，

I really enjoyed this literary mystery and the questions abut scholarship， love， obsession， and ownership that it considers。 A little too long， but worth hanging in for the ending。 The audio was well done， which I listened to in tandem with the print。 A good fall read- poetic， brooding， enigmatic， self-mocking。 This review nails it:https://www。google。com/amp/s/amp。theg。。。 I really enjoyed this literary mystery and the questions abut scholarship， love， obsession， and ownership that it considers。 A little too long， but worth hanging in for the ending。 The audio was well done， which I listened to in tandem with the print。 A good fall read- poetic， brooding， enigmatic， self-mocking。 This review nails it:https://www。google。com/amp/s/amp。theg。。。 。。。more

Jameson ，

2。5/5。 A giant， largely unfulfilling， occasionally amusing， clever， bloated， self-absorbed slog。

Sorcha O'Dowd ，

Ellen deserves the whole world and more。

Rhiannon ，

I definitely didn’t finish it。 I don’t like it。

Sidharth Vardhan ，

To be honest， the fault is probably mine。 I'm unable to care about things owned by people who died long ago even if they were great artists。 I might make an exception for someone like Kafka， I might read his letters some day because they are already published and wanting to know the author more， I don't think I would spend even my lunch money to get possession of original letters， leave alone care about his toothbrush （except maybe with purpose of making money by auctioning them）。 I just can't u To be honest， the fault is probably mine。 I'm unable to care about things owned by people who died long ago even if they were great artists。 I might make an exception for someone like Kafka， I might read his letters some day because they are already published and wanting to know the author more， I don't think I would spend even my lunch money to get possession of original letters， leave alone care about his toothbrush （except maybe with purpose of making money by auctioning them）。 I just can't understand people caring about possessions of others that way - I can't myself even for those of my dead family members。 It is thus doubly difficult for me to care about Ash， who is not only imaginary but also dead long ago within the world of imagination。Moreover， it seems strangely limiting to critic a work based on life of its author。 At best， it offers one of many lenses through which you can look at a book and it is never the most important lens。 I have read Milan Kundera and Nabhokov voice similar opinions too。 And Flaubert basically wanted to ensure that people won't scavenge his belongings the way they did with Dickens。 And if author wanted a book to be analyzed in light of something that happened in their lives， they should enter that detail in their work。 Now Byatt really doesn't have to agree with me， but she should be able to sell me her perspective at least a little after hundreds of pages。There is a class of literary critics who make a living of such trivia。 This book is about such scholars。 The whole thing stinks of nacromania and， really， the highlight of the book for me was the moment when they all decided in the end that it was okay to dig grave of a centuries old couple just to appease their curiosity。The thing about ad-author interpretation is that even if you avoid it while reading a single work， you can't help it when you are reading multiple works of same author。 After a few works， you develop a particular notion of mind of the author - their values， their tastes etc。 If nothing else you start noticing repeated motifs， themes etc。 In the beginning of Possession， Roland discovers letters of Ash in the beginning and they bothered him because he thought he already understood perfectly how Ash's mind worked and now here were letters contradicting his understanding。 In this far， I could have related to him。 But then， instead of screaming and announcing his surprise to the world like any genuine literature lover would， he instead decided to play detective about it。I think most of us would be shocked if we actually met writers we admired most like Roland was after his discovery。 It's probably true for all scholars of literature too。 So exactly how would you analyze a thesis on authors？ Val's thesis which in light of discoveries made within the book would seem most insightful was rejected while others were accepted。 This turned Val into a bit of cynic so I liked her （the only character I did） as you know I have a thing for sick， cynic and psychopaths。I didn't like the verses in the novel much either， so couldn't relate to the characters who admired the two poets so much。 That maybe another reason why I failed to enjoy the work。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Possession

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Possession&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Possession&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0