My rating:

add to my books

Babel Tower (The Frederica Quartet #3)

by A.S. Byatt

3.77 · rating details · 1,090 ratings · 79 reviews

At the heart of Babel Tower are two law cases, twin strands of the Establishment's web, that shape the story: a painful divorce and custody suit and the prosecution of an "obscene" book. Frederica, the independent young heroine, is involved in both. She startled her intellectual circle of friends by marrying a young country squire, whose violent streak has now been turned ...more

Paperback, 640 pages

Published June 24th 1997 by Vintage (first published 1996)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Book Titles Based on Lines from the Bible

54th out of 178 books — 26 voters

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Butterflies

119th out of 141 books — 61 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,718)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 12, 2007

Feather Stolzenbach rated it

· review of another edition

Probably my favorite of the four - intense and fun to read.

From the Publisher
At the heart of the novel are two law cases, twin strands of the Establishment's web, that shape the story: a painful divorce and custody suit and the prosecution of an "obscene" book. Frederica, the independent young heroine, is involved in both. She startled her intellectual circle of friends by marrying a young country squire, whose violent streak has now been turned against her. Fleeing ...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Sep 20, 2007

Carol rated it

This is a very ambitious book, weaving together about 5 storylines on subjects as diverse as domestic violence, snail biology, educational reform, Britain in the '60s, and the question of obscenity in literature. It is painfully literary in spots, rather dull in others, and slightly snigger-inducing from time to time (the fantasy novel-within-in-a-novel did not work well for me). However, I ended up finishing all 600-some pages, and that says something, because I'm not one to finish a book that ...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Nov 04, 2007

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

AS Byatt is a goddess of language. This book was sharp and dangerous in its exploration of human desire, education, language, love, and power. It was a bit of a shock after Still Life, in which the language was warm, full, sonorous - Still Life was complete and still, like Stephanie; Babel Tower is edgy and driven like Frederica. Jude Mason's book was difficult to read, but Byatt makes you believe in its value. If ever there was a book that encompasses everything that is important, I think this ...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Jan 22, 2009

Lea rated it

· review of another edition

This novel is dense, and is full of literary reference, but for those of us who are not so well-read, we do not miss out. The story enthralls and holds, as it looks at power and evil against a backdrop of the beginning of the psychadelic era of the late fifties & early sixties. Two stories are written in tandem - the fanciful tale of a group of people who set out with high hopes of creating utopia, and the disturbing decay of this society. This story is written by Jude, one of the characters in ...more

· see review

Nov 09, 2009

Emily rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2006

One of the targets of my ongoing self-indulgent re-reading spree has been A.S. Byatt's novel Babel Tower. This is the third book in a tetraology that also includes The Virigin in the Garden, Still Life, and A Whistling Woman and that takes place in the England of the '50s and '60s. I used to like the earlier books better than the later ones, but perhaps this wasn't fair of me; each book seems to improve as I get closer to Frederica's age in it.

The first two books followed all three chi...moreOne of the targets of my ongoing self-indulgent re-reading spree has been A.S. Byatt's novel Babel Tower. This is the third book in a tetraology that also includes The Virigin in the Garden, Still Life, and A Whistling Woman and that takes place in the England of the '50s and '60s. I used to like the earlier books better than the later ones, but perhaps this wasn't fair of me; each book seems to improve as I get closer to Frederica's age in it.

The first two books followed all three children of the Potter family, but the second two are really only about Frederica, the middle child, who in this book is unhappily married to an uncultured, brutish nob, whom she would leave if it weren't for their small son.( Her reasons for marrying him are hard to explain without spoiling the second book of the series, but it seems that their relationship was based on sex and his apparently unique ability to stand up to her daunting intellect.) Once they are married, he expects her to stay home and do nothing while he works and travels. After a series of "marital disputes" which culminate in Nigel throwing an ax at her, Frederica disappears back to London, where she finds various scraps of work thanks to her plugged-in friends. She files for a divorce and Nigel counters by seeking custody of their son.

In the meantime, Frederica "discovers" a new author, well-read but personally repugnant, who has written a book called Babbletower. The blurb on my paperback describes this as either "an exercise in Sadeian pornography or a corrosive fable of the consequences of pure freedom" (which is better than anything I could come up with). The publication of this book and the ensuing obscenity trial unfold alongside Frederica's attempts to understand her marriage and explain (to herself and the courts) why she has to escape it. The novel, therefore, is preoccupied with the fine line between strong love and cruelty; the ways people inflict pain on each other, either intentionally or inadvertantly; self-abnegation in relationships; and the attempt to reconcile the differing goals and methods of love and lust.

This is the first book in the tetraology that Byatt wrote after Possession, and it contains the same sort of interpolated texts (in this case, Babbletower and an adventure story for children) but without the academic dryness that undermined Possession for me. Here, Byatt more convincingly blends the life of the mind with everday life. The layers and "laminations" and stories build up in rather baroque fashion, but there is something seamy, complicated, and visceral at the heart of this novel, unlike the previous two, that I don't think I could approach the first time I read this (when I was barely out of high school).(less)

· see review

Jul 28, 2011

Kristen Coppess added it

Stunning. The depth and research that went into this book boggles the mind. Byatt is a literary critic who obviously loves the work she studies (and finds conflict with Blake, Foucault, Sade, etc.) and this is evident in her interlacing of literary quips throughout the text. The protagonist, Felicia, was absolutely captivating. She was intelligent, strong, flawed, and representative of the changes to the 1960's domestic household when the wife is Oxford educated. Richly developed historical back...more

like 1 like

· see review

Dec 21, 2011

Madelynp rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Lucy, Don, Anna

Shelves: what-i-own, litera-chah-darling

Great book, although it's difficult to get started. Very much about the lyrical value of language, which sounds pretentious, but only because it matches the pretension in the book. Frederica, the heroine, is at once likeable and disagreeable, and yet you cheer for her throughout. Within the book, you have two trials--one of Frederica's divorce, the other involving a book called "Babeltower" which is on trial for obscenity. Many references are made to the Lady Chatterley's Lover tri...moreGreat book, although it's difficult to get started. Very much about the lyrical value of language, which sounds pretentious, but only because it matches the pretension in the book. Frederica, the heroine, is at once likeable and disagreeable, and yet you cheer for her throughout. Within the book, you have two trials--one of Frederica's divorce, the other involving a book called "Babeltower" which is on trial for obscenity. Many references are made to the Lady Chatterley's Lover trial. On top of this, you have Frederica's "Laminations," which is a collection of pertinent and not-so-pertinent quotes, letters, and vignettes that seem to be collected in something of a common place book.

One of the reasons that I was drawn to this book in the first place was the beginning, where Byatt introduces the novel in several ways (and as someone who is unfamiliar with the rest of the series, none of them made sense at the time). I didn't really know where she was going, but the prose is excellent, and when I got to Hugh Pink's thoughts on pomegranates, I was hooked.

Because of Byatt's ability to write so well, there are parts of the book that are really difficult to get through. For example, the very descriptive domestic violence was hard to read, although I appreciate that the most brutal act of violence is not described in such detail. I don't like to think of myself as a prude, but I was also repulsed by the description of break-through bleeding and her love-making with Paul (or was it John?) Ottakar.

I would highly advise this to a) a professor of English, looking for something to analyze; b) a 20-something with academic dreams (me!!!); or c) a retiree with a great deal of patience. Otherwise, the book requires a great deal of time and effort to get through (see: I read the book with a dictionary at my side). That said, I ended up passing this book on to one of my neighbors (he fits into the retiree with a great deal of patience category) and then handed it off to one of my more precocious high school students. Based on her emails, I believe that she is enjoying the book quite a bit, although the domestic violence gave her some trouble.(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Jul 03, 2009

Jesse rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If you picked this up and read it in 1998 when it was first published, it may have had more relevance to you. But by 2009, the themes of 60s events, 60s poor-me feminism, education and the life of intellectuals are so dry and played out, Babel Tower has nothing left to offer.

Byatt's Babel Tower gains two stars for the sheer scope of it. Unfortunately, most of the sub-stories, and in particular the defenses of children's education and the tedious court room dramas, were so dry that I...more

· see review

Apr 23, 2009

Brigid rated it

· review of another edition

Really this should have three and a half stars, since parts of this book were tedious and/or (to me) pointless. BUT - the rest, especially Frederica and her marriage and relationship to her son were so compulsively, grippingly compelling and realistic that they were almost unbearable to read. Those sections, so full of emotional truth, redeemed the rest of the book for me.

I was unaware when I read it that this is the third novel about these characters, something I wish I had known w...more

· see review

Jan 17, 2010

Mag rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Mag by: Cristina

Shelves: british, fiction

It is a novel of ideas. It was a pleasure to read, and I could go back to the beginning right away, start reading again and still find interesting issues to think about. It reflects and discusses issues which were topical in the 60s, like women's rights, new trends in education, changes in what was designated obscene and sexual revolution. It is also paradise for those who like literary analysis, and discussions in philosophy and ethics. It is dense with ideas on and from Nietzsche, Blake, Fouri...more

· see review

Jun 26, 2011

Caroline Donaldson rated it

· review of another edition

I read this a long time ago and liked it a lot.

It is concerns a woman embroiled in two law cases: a painful divorce and custody battle and the prosecution of an 'obscene' book. The woman's personal and legal crises mirror the age she lives in (1960s England).

It is a bit of a tome at 600-odd pages and plays around with post-modernism a bit. But it is readable nonetheless and has been called "a gripping story, a literary masterpiece, and a moral analysis all in one"...more

· see review

Dec 05, 2011

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

This is a later installment in the same series starring A.S. Byatt's literature maven Frederica Potter--a story told in tandem with another cruder, sexier, dark fairy tale about what happens when you idealize human instinct and pleasure beyond the point of sanity. Except that true insanity would let those characters off the hook. She's a phenomenal writer, in both senses of that word--the language is so precise, so crafted, that you do not see the seams. Part of the pleasure of reading Byatt, un...more

· see review

Sep 06, 2010

Momarriott rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

· see review

Sep 07, 2010

Rowland Bismark rated it

· review of another edition

While Babel Tower continues the story of Frederica, begun in The Virgin in the Garden and continued in Still Life, it readily stands on its own. It is a large book, and its sprawl is not necessarily inviting. It does not offer itself as easily to the reader as, say, Possession did, and so our praise comes with the warning that this is not for everyone. The setting is the 1960's, and it is a novel about that decade -- though from a very intellectual point of view (a vista that has not provided ma...moreWhile Babel Tower continues the story of Frederica, begun in The Virgin in the Garden and continued in Still Life, it readily stands on its own. It is a large book, and its sprawl is not necessarily inviting. It does not offer itself as easily to the reader as, say, Possession did, and so our praise comes with the warning that this is not for everyone. The setting is the 1960's, and it is a novel about that decade -- though from a very intellectual point of view (a vista that has not provided many insights into the decade, as even the intellectuals preferred to pretend they were mucking about as everyone else was). Intertwined are the stories of Frederica and her messy divorce from her completely unsuitable husband and Babbletower, a book from which we are presented extensive excerpts.

Babbletower is written by the obscure Jude, a man who lives at the fringes of society and whom Frederica befriends. Frederica is to some extent responsible for getting the book published. It is soon banned on grounds of indecency, and a sizable portion of the novel is devoted to the court proceedings. (Another courtcase, over custody of her son, is also a prominent part of the novel).

Byatt is at her best when she devotes herself to questions of literature and art. Her arguments, interjected forcefully into the novel as a record of the court proceedings, are well-reasoned and interesting, though not all readers enjoy such debate in the pages of their novels. Her characters, though rich, also have some unsatisfactory voids. Worse is that Byatt spends considerable amounts of space on certain characters and they then just fade away, without our knowing what comes of them. Perhaps they'll reappear in the next volume ?

We enjoyed the book, but it can try one's patience. It is well written, and it is a thoughtful book. It is an important contribution as a picture of the 60's (really -- we haven't seen this particular view so well presented previously). It is also a book that is very well constructed -- she is a clever writer -- and it lends itself to a second reading, to enjoy the pleasure of uncovering all the connections she has artfully built in.
(less)

· see review

Apr 28, 2010

Our Intrepid Heroine rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: england, clever-ladies, old-friends-in-binding, realistic-fiction, book-within-a-book, reviewed

This is the only book to cause me to miss my stop on the train. I was so engrossed that I blew right past my station and had to call my mother to come pick me up.

Possession will always be my favorite of Byatt's - partly because it was the novel to introduce me to the author, partly because it's a masterpiece - but this is one that really spoke to me the second time around. I somehow missed the unifying dissertation on language last time, only vaguely connecting spoken thought (or the...more

· see review

Aug 15, 2007

Wade rated it

Recommends it for: idealists

My ethics professor, Dr. Gabriella Lettini, suggested this book to me -- suggesting i need a better understanding of how desire can harm -- after reading my paper on the ethics of queer religious leaders publicly speaking about their sex lives.

this book is certainly about that, about desire and freedom, the limits of utopian freedom, the sort of intellectual space between Charles Fourier and the Marquis de Sade -- about whether indulging in human desires is liberative or destructive,...more

· see review

Jul 20, 2009

Jessica rated it

This remarkable third entry in the Frederica Potter series finds Frederica married and miserable, in the country home of her wealthy and controlling husband. It is now 1964, and the Frederica who wanted the life of an intellectual is virtually imprisoned in her home, with only her deep love for her small son to sustain her. As her relationship grows violent, her Cambridge friends help her and the boy flee to London, where she slowly creates an expanding circle of friends who involve her in art, ...more

· see review

Nov 14, 2010

Brian rated it

· review of another edition

I did not like this book quite as much as the others in the pseudo-series (The Virgin in the Garden and Still Life). It was great to continue with the characters, and I was fascinated by the legal issues of obscenity trials and divorce/custody issues in the 1960s, but these last two parts of the book felt overdone to me. Byatt seems to really enjoy writing in many styles and voices, and for me, I sometimes start to miss her main narrative prose. Nevertheless, I'll still read the next book.

· see review

Aug 23, 2010

laura rated it

· review of another edition

the language that byatt utilizes in this third book of the quartet is meticulously paired with the images that she creates. the book deals with such themes (amongst others): literary mertit; pushing the limits of societal constraints or norms in order to attain personal happiness or sense of freedom; the consequences of actions past and present that determine thought process and future actions; and exploring the "human condition" relationships encountered. in this tale, byatt empolys...more

· see review

May 04, 2009

Karl Steel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: postmedieval_fiction

You get:

* Charles Fourier vs. Sade (in the novel, babbletower, within a novel)
* An affectionate send-up of the medievalism and attractions to Apocalyptic Blake in 60s counterculture (and a perhaps less affectionate send up of the countercultural psychology of Laing and Marcuse)
* A wondering exploration of the 60s developments in pedagogy
* a harrowing feminist account of domestic violence
* TWO courtroom dramas (first divorce, and then an obscenity charge, durin...more

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 13, 2010

Lisa Mahan rated it

· review of another edition

LOVED IT! I actually didn't know until I was over halfway through that this is the third book in a set, but it didn't matter. The characters are so well developed in this book alone that I didn't feel like I was missing information. It made me wish I was in school again so I could discuss it in class. I loved the way it was written-it was very clever and the books within books always surprise me. I would read it again for sure.

· see review

Jul 06, 2008

Siria rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, british-fiction

Babel Tower is an immensely pleasurable reading experience. Not because it's a particularly cheery book—god, it's not—but because it demands such intensity, such devotion of the reader and repays it all with interest. The intertextuality of it all is such a delight—books within books, Babbletower hidden within Babel Tower, the stories, the letters, the references to other novels—all giving rise to a level of introspection which feels organic rather than forced. Her characters are all incredibl...more

like 1 like

· see review

Nov 25, 2011

Jonfaith rated it

One of my friends, who maintains amazing literary tastes, told me two years ago that Babel Tower was unreadable. I now agree. The familial and educational contexts of the first two novels are gone in this one. What is left is simply ugly. Byatt hopes to make sense of the 60s with a pastiche method and pair of court cases. I deign she fails.

like 1 like

· see review

Jul 24, 2011

astried marked it as till-next-time · review of another edition

Let this book shimmer out of sight. Cleaning shelf, reducing guilt, giving it another chance another time.

------------------------------------------

with my exquisite and accurate instinct i managed to buy this 3rd book in frederica tetralogy and not the 1st and 2nd book, although i've had them in shopping cart.. during a 2SGD each second hand NLB sale... only because it would be too heavy to carry home and i couldn't imagine where to keep a growing book collection i...more

· see review

Oct 19, 2011

Meredith rated it

Shelves: dramatic

This is an interesting story that has a book within a book. The prose is well written and the multiple plot lines are interestingly interwoven. I really enjoyed the court scenes towards the end of the novel. However, as usually Byatt's tendency towards literary snobbery in her role as a literary critic comes across in the novel and you can tell she is actively pushing you towards a certain ideology, rather than letting the story speak for itself. Due to this, I am torn as to read the other n...more

· see review

Jan 01, 2010

Linda Tuplin rated it

· review of another edition

I read it quite awhile ago and only remember being engrossed by it but also somewhat confused. I do recall being awed by the research and knowledge of the author, to be able to have her characters discuss topics in such depth. It deserves a second read.

· see review

Nov 14, 2007

Betsy rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people I want to be play a mean prank on.

This gets a star for skill. It loses four for:
1. Not keeping my interest. Between it and staring at whatever is in front of me in a dingy bus, I increasingly chose the back of the head in front of me.
2. Being hard to read. And not in a good way. I read for pleasure, not sheer discomfort. Can't get comfortable in this one.
3. Neglecting threads of the three stories for far too long at times.
4. Causing me to owe the Cleveland Park Branch Library $2.50 in overdue fines. ...more

· see review

Apr 28, 2011

Cynthia rated it

Shelves: 2011

Many contemporary novelists shy away from using a big canvas. Not A.S. Byatt, so that there is a retro sort of pleasure in reading her books, as if there was one more Eliot or Forster work that turned up. BT is wonderful brain candy in its many explorations of language--not only the what and the way something is said, but what it can and cannot accurately reveal about the speaker or writer.

That sounds utterly dry, but the book certainly isn't. Frederica is still exasperating, but ve...more

· see review

Jul 11, 2011

Jack Coleman rated it

· review of another edition

Not as good as some of her other work.It is a well crafted literate romp
through the ideas that have developed western thought in the mid twentieth century.
This authors poetry and succulent choice of words keep me coming back for more!

· see review

May 19, 2011

Maryn rated it

· review of another edition

I loved this book. The sprawl of it. The sheer literary-ness. Characters I found lovely, distasteful, and above all human and complicated. I struggled to put it down, plus it made me think. The best A.S. Byatt I've encountered so far.

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 57 58 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

Literature

9 users

Historical Fiction

8 users

European Literature > British Literature

8 users

Literary Fiction

4 users

Novels

4 users

Contemporary

4 users

Realistic Fiction

2 users

Womens

2 users

Literature > English Literature

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About A.S. Byatt

A.S. Byatt (Antonia S. Byatt) is internationally known for her novels and short stories. Her novels include the Booker Prize-winning Possession, The Biographer’s Tale and the quartet, The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman, and her highly acclaimed collections of short stories include Sugar and Other Stories, The Matisse Stories, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye,...more

More about A.S. Byatt...

Books by A.S. Byatt

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Babel Tower

3 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Groups That Shelved Babel Tower

Around the World in 80 Books

329 members

last activity 22 minutes ago

shelf: read

title link	preview: Babel Tower
avg rating	preview: Babel Tower Goodreads rating: 3.77 (1090 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/462444.Babel_Tower?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320500729m/462444.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/462444.Babel_Tower?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Babel Tower by A.S. Byatt[/url]

Babel Tower (The Frederica Quartet #3)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website