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Jan 17, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

Byatt is one of my favorite authors, and this is definitely a must-read. The first novella, "Morpho Eugenia," is brilliant, and was the basis for an excellent film version (called Angels and Insects). It explores the conflict between science and faith in the Victorian period, as well as themes of class and social status and a fascinating comparison between human and insect life. It also has one of my favorite fictional female characters: Matty Crompton, a marginal and liminal figure More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Diana rated it:

Hmmm. I'm really torn about this book. On the one hand, the writing was excellent. On the other, it was very bizarre. Lots of insect imagery and themes in the first story, Morpho Eugenia. I felt it was…too much, however. [return][return]Although the writing itself was exquisite, I just think I don’t like A.S. Byatt’s style very well. She has a way of telling stories that I find to be very off-putting. She’ll start the story - getting the narrative ball rolling and making me like all of th More...

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Dec 16, 2011

Ms Tlaskal added it

I read this in French and for a very literary author it was surprisingly easy to read. Could be the translation, or more likely the wonderfully clear, limpid writing that holds you spellbound. It is set in late Victorian times and deals with one of the passions of the age; collecting specimens of the natural world and classifying them as meticulously as their own society was ordered. Unfortunately for the hero William, he is pinned by poverty upon the whims of the wealthy Alabaster family who sn More...

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May 02, 2011

verbava rated it:

перша частина – «морфо євгенія» – тягне навіть на четвірку, є в ній шось дивовижно красиве й водночас цинічне, шо іноді можна знайти в маргарет атвуд, наприклад. тільки повість водночас рефлексивно-вікторіанська, й думається більше про фаулза, але це ненав'язливі такі, хороші думки.
із другою в мене не склалося, може, там просто забагато тенісона й сведенборга; хоча сама задумка альтернативної історії – от майже як повість про емілі дікінсон і волта вітмена в «стімпанку» ді філіппо – дуже с More...

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Nov 14, 2010

Emily rated it:

A.S. Byatt, though arguably a genius, does not put forth as impressive an effort in Angels & Insects as she does in Possession and The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye. Angels & Insects is comprised of two novellas, “Morpho Eugenia” and “The Conjugal Angel.” Both are set in England, in the past, and contain a certain amount of betrayal by lovers.
“Morpho Eugenia,” the tale of an explorer stuck in civilized country due to lack of money who falls in love with a woman he assumes is civilized, fe More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Kristina rated it:

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 More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Christopher rated it:

A.S. Byatt, with Angels & Insects, has created a rich and complex book comprised of two medium-length novellas set in the mid-1860s and 1870s, both of which address themes important to the people of the Victorian Era. The first novella, Morpho Eugenia focuses on the relationships between a family, its friends, servants, and the natural world around them in the English countryside. The tale pivots around the study of society and nature, and then there's the tension and struggle between theolog More...

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Apr 27, 2010

Aeron is currently reading it

I started this book in Paris, where my mother handed it down to me. I was hot on the heels of The Children's Book, and eager for more Byatt. Truth be told, I was desperate. You know how it is. Worse than drugs.

I hadn't even finished the first story, which - while interesting - wasn't as compelling as The Children's Book, when somehow the plastic glass by my bedside table developed a crack and slowly leaked out all the water over the course of the night. The sun peaked in through the More...

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Feb 25, 2011

Christopher rated it:

The book Angels and Insects is compromised of two novellas, "Morpho Eugenia" and "The Conjugial Angel." "Morpho Eugenia" is what most people think of when they think of Angels and Insects, because ME became the movie. Like all Byatt's work, it's complicated tale, this one about Victorians, taxonomy, and sex, a story in which the lives of humans look a great deal like the lives of the insects beneath their feet. I read the novella and saw the movie while I was workin More...

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May 29, 2009

RunRachelRun rated it:

Must be completely honest - I've read "Angels & Insects" halfway - just can't get through "The Conjugal Angel" it's just brutally weird. My eyes read the words but my brain goes "Aggh! Can't compute - the names, the plot, the details, aggh- they just don't work!" I do love the first story - the characters of William and Amy and Matty come through clear as a bell. Just rip the book in half, place the first half on your must-read-again shelf and the last on the may More...

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Dec 16, 2011

Paul rated it:

Very impressed. Byatt has clearly sold her soul to the devil. That said, it must be conceded that these stories are not for the impatient. Not everyone is going to be charmed by endless descriptions of ant activity, Tennyson's poetry, Swedenborgian theology, and a somewhat unremarkable fable "written" by one of the characters, but everything comes together so neatly, you finally have to stand up and applaud. Best of all, both stories conclude with happy, dare I say exuberant, endings More...

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May 29, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

I focused on the "Insects" Section of this book (will read "Angels" another time). Byatt does a great job on the Victorian sensibility of the novella, and creates suspense and strong characterization: especially with William and Matty. The lengthy arguments on religious faith and doubt, and on insects described for popular science, though, didn't work as well in the narrative. Because elsewhere, Byatt creates a strong plot drive, I wanted to (and, full disclosure, did) skim t More...

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Dec 31, 2009

Dreamybee rated it:

I stopped about half-way through, after the first novella. Mostly, I kept reading because I enjoyed the parts about the insects-I like to observe the critters in my yard, and I was interested in the descriptions of the ants and their behavior as written by the main guy and the woman he likes who isn't his wife. See? I can't even remember their names. Anyway, the woman who isn't his wife also writes a book/short story for children, and it is included in the novella, and I actually liked this, More...

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May 01, 2011

Brian rated it:

I read this one for my literature discussion group, led by our extraordinary professor who is a Victorian scholar par excellance. Byatt is obviously an excellent Victorian scholar herself, as she pulls off a novel that passes for one written by a Victorian during that era. It's actually two "novellas", the first focusing on a Darwinian insect (mostly ants) metaphorical comparison with human society; and the second focusing on the Victorian preoccupation with seances and the "spi More...

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Jan 29, 2012

Beth rated it:

It might be unfair to rate this book yet because it is in fact 2 novellas and I have only finished the first one so far. But I really enjoyed the first one so I figured I might as well review it.
If anyone had told me I would be willing to read a book (however short) where a good portion of it is about ants, I would have scoffed. And okay, yes, I did skim parts of the more intense ant paragraphs. But I really enjoyed this book.
I loved the language. I loved the intelligent questi More...

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Sep 04, 2011

Jonathan rated it:

I'd seen the film, 'Angels & Insects' a few years ago and really liked it and so when I saw the book in a secondhand bookshop a little while ago I picked it up and thought I'd read it instead of watching the film again.

The first thing is that the book is actually two novellas, the insects novella is first, 'Morpho Eugenia' and the angels novella is next, 'The Conjugial Angel'. The film is based on the first novella.

I would've given the film 4/5 but 'Morpho Eugenia' only 3 More...

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Sep 07, 2010

Rowland rated it:

Angels and Insects consists of two decent-sized novellas, Morpho Eugenia (that would be the insects) and The Conjugial Angel (more obviously: the angels). Both are set in 19th century England, and Byatt ably enters and presents that world.

Morpho Eugenia is a Darwinian tale. William Adamson finds himself first a guest of and then married into the wealthy Alabaster family. He went on an expedition to the Amazon, but lost near all his possessions and specimens in a shipwreck that More...

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Jun 08, 2011

Heather rated it:

Like other reviewers, I found Morpho Eugenia easier and more enjoyable than The Conjugal Angel, although I think had known anything about Tennyson, it would have helped with the latter.

Christopher H. is right that to read Byatt best is to read her slowly; when I could do this, my enjoyment and understanding both increased. The Conjugal Angel reminded me of Possession with the embedded poetry and texts, so I tried to be patient, remembering how worth it Possession was. After listenin More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Sarah Ryburn rated it:

actually comprises two novellas: morpho eugenia and the conjugial angel. good writing and set in byatt's signature landscape- victorian england. the second story may be a bit of a challenge for readers unfamiliar with or less enamored of victorian poetry (specifically tennyson) than byatt. entire chapters read much like expository writing on tennyson's verse which is far less off-putting than one might think. byatt's strength is her ability to place herself in the mind of the poet and to evoke t More...

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Jul 27, 2007

Alexis rated it:

I meant to pick the book, not the audio cassette. I can't see an easy way to switch it so I'll leave it as is.

I was going through marking my A.S. Byatt conquests and suddently, realizing it had been so long since I last read a new A.S. Byatt (and I have at least three waiting to be read), I couldn't remember what really made me love her in the first place.

The I remembered, I fell in love with Byatt reading ANGELS & INSECTS which contains two novellas, the first of whic More...

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Jul 22, 2009

Heather rated it:

i would give this the full five stars if we were rating it on the first story alone. "Morpho Eugenia" is smartly beautiful, and captivating indeed. i read it in two nights. After unsuccessfully attempting to read the second tale ("The Conjugial Angel") night after night after night, a few gruelling pages at a time, i finally put it aside. Had to take a breather. A month later, i am having a much easier time enjoying it. It just takes awhile to get through the overly-thought o More...

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Jan 01, 2010

Michelle rated it:

I read the first half, Morpho Eugenia, and found it predictable and pretentious. The author digresses into lengthy descriptions of insect life and inserts pseudo fairy tales, which are extremely symbolic but don't forward the plot at all. In the end it seems these passages were shoehorned into the story, which would have kept movement and flow had they been taken out. Some of the prose is gorgeous, and the characters are convincingly Victorian, but I couldn't bring myself to read the second h More...

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Sep 27, 2009

Cheri rated it:

I must confess I got only halfway through the two novellas, reading (and loving!) "Morpho Eugenia" to the exclusion of "The Conjugal Angel." The Victorian characters were vividly drawn, though the treatises on insects, faith and doubt were a bit much, and I quickly skimmed over them.

Byatt is a master storyteller, and her knife-edge observations on class and social status are brilliant. I would give it 5 stars for the first novella, "Morpho Eugenia," alo More...

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May 25, 2009

Marina rated it:

This book gave me the creeps at the same time that I admire its crafting. Ditto the movie made from it, which is actually better---a real rarity, in my experience, especially when one considers the travesty made of Fowles' "The French Lieutenant's Woman"---with excellent casting, inclduing Kristin Scott-Thomas completely convincing as the plain little ant of a governess.

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Jan 19, 2009

Ellen rated it:

I was assigned to read the first novella in this book, Morpho Eugenia for class--I'll probably get around to The Conjugial Angel someday because I liked Byatt's writing--but I have a ton of stuff to read this semester.

Anyway, good storyline, a lot of weird stuff with religion and science melded in with the story...I loved the ending...I just finished an hour ago so I don't have much more to say.

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Feb 21, 2009

Katie rated it:

I've only read the first novella - Morpho Eugenia so far, When Byatt is good she's amazing, so I found this rather disappointing. The slow uncovering of the "great evil" at the centre of the plot is a little too slow. Also I found although the secret was indeed nasty, I was so soporific from the dragging of the story that I felt very little reaction.

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Apr 03, 2010

Andy rated it:

A pair of novellas set in Victorian England, one focused on the new theories of Mr Darwin, the other centering around the then-strong craze for spiritualism. But in both cases, though the stories are rich in detail and digression (both scientific and poetic), the real treats are the characters. Almost without exception, both stories are peopled by individuals who in true Victorian fashion reveal little and have, even by the end, uncharted depths.

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Feb 24, 2010

Lise rated it:

There is a certain kind of book, dense with huge numbers of asides and footnotes and lengthy sidetracks, that I find enjoyable. This is precisely that kind of book. I realize that style is not to everyone's taste, but because I'm a snob, I tend to think that it's because most people don't have the discipline to concentrate that long. There. I've said it.

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Jul 08, 2009

Anna rated it:

I read only "Morpho Eugenia" and the first few pages of "The Conjugial Angel". The writing is flawless, but the format and subject matter was not to my liking. I am certain that the long observations that digress from the human action in the book are teeming with symbolism... but I found myself not caring.

A book written with a style and subject that begs to be TAUGHT and examined, not read.

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Dec 16, 2009

Eleanore rated it:

This book was a spin off of the research that went into A.S. Byatt's Posession. The research and information about victorian England is probably the best aspect of the book as a whole. The first story, Morpho Eugenia, cannot decide whether it is a gothic thriller of the shipwrecked variety or a pastoral. Some truly intriguing character sketches fail to be fleshed out and developed. The second story, the Conjugal Angel, delves far too deeply into the realms of poetic dialogue and mystical contemp More...

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