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Possession: A Romance

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 34,910 ratings · 2,314 reviews

"Literary critics make natural detectives," says Maud Bailey, heroine of a mystery where the clues lurk in university libraries, old letters, and dusty journals. Together with Roland Michell, a fellow academic and accidental sleuth, Maud discovers a love affair between the two Victorian writers the pair has dedicated their lives to studying: Randolph Ash, a literary great...more

Hardcover, 640 pages

Published May 2nd 2000 by Modern Library (first published 1990)

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Mar 28, 2010 Paul rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: my enemies

Shelves: whats-all-the-fuss-about, novels

A honking great piece of literary self gratification, a novel about writers (all novels about writers should be given a concrete overcoat), a grand excuse for A S Byatt to dazzle us with some fancy ventriloquism, and yes you can feel the throb of the author's perfervid intelligence like a lawnmower hacking away at the tough grass at the edge of the lawn but after all of that you have to come clean and say that Possession isn't worth the thinnest novelette written by Raymond Chandler or the most...more

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Sep 25, 2009 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: brit lit (especially Victorian era) dorks

Shelves: fiction, brit-lit, po-mo, victorian-wannabes, favorites, 21st-century, grande-dames, its-the-quiet-ones, grand-opera

I do so hate to be predictable, the girl who has victorian and victorian-wannabe shelves, and shelves for regency and romance and the-aftermath, and pretty much every other category that this would plausibly be generally shelved in (except, perhaps, pretentiousness-that's-worth-it...but we'll get to that later) but I really do love this book.

I'm going to have to go even further down the disgustingly adoring path and say that this is going to be a personal classic, for me. I don't argue that it n...more I do so hate to be predictable, the girl who has victorian and victorian-wannabe shelves, and shelves for regency and romance and the-aftermath, and pretty much every other category that this would plausibly be generally shelved in (except, perhaps, pretentiousness-that's-worth-it...but we'll get to that later) but I really do love this book.

I'm going to have to go even further down the disgustingly adoring path and say that this is going to be a personal classic, for me. I don't argue that it needs to be taught in classrooms or become part of a modern canon or anything like that (though I'm certainly not against the idea), but it definitely meets the most important thing for me:

A different experience at every age/read- This is my second read through. The first time I read it was in 2002. I was 16 years old, and the movie was coming out. There was no way I appreciated this book beyond a few very shallow things. Why? 'Cause dude, there was a movie coming out with some of my favorite sexy people in it (Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehele), and duuuude it was about hot Victorians having hot sexy smart people sexy sex and their words were as hot as their hot costumes and hot modern academics (ooohmygood whoos this Aaron Eckhart, hellooo!) getting it on over books, books are so awesome... Ooh look, letters with smart people references in it that I understand, this is so cool that I get even a little of this, yay!... oh did I mention HOT VICTORIANS??

... Yeah, that was about the extent of my thoughts at the time, I think. I did cry at the end, but for the most simple of reasons, something that you could cry at a freaking Hallmark special on the Lifetime channel about.

Now? I am only 23, but I'm old enough to be mostly embarrassed for myself at 16 (though I still think parts of this book are smokin' sexy), and I do feel like I'm getting worlds and worlds more out of this book than I ever got back then, and I can see myself getting more and more as I grow older, as the characters do. There's so much in here that leaped off the page and spoke to me and both my every day little problems and the bigger opinions and feelings that I have about the larger things in life. And I know there are still vast things in here that I missed, things that I don't think I quite understand yet, or call bullshit at at the moment that I just know will be of comfort to me when I pick this book up again in ten years or so, in twenty years, in thirty years. And the fact that I know that I'm going to do that, that I expect my copy to wear out and that I'll have to get a new one before I die, well, that speaks volumes, doesn't it? This particular read I really attached onto the characters struggling to find out what to do with themselves, what they were worth, after the life prescribed by their parents and other authority figures ends, those characters trying to deal with what other people expect them to be as opposed to how they see themselves, creating the narrative of your own life, being your own person in a relationship, and the connections I keep making between this book and the ideas in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. There's a fascinating fight over spiritual beliefs that I don't have the headspace to deal with now, but is haunting the back of my head, and I expect to be obsessed with it the next time I read it.

So, yeah, that's what the good books should do to you.

There's also other things, like all the fascinating things she deals with in the book. I mean, just to rattle off a few: feminism, post-modernism, living in a post-modern world, deconstructionism, many many issues of religion and spirituality, cultural relativism and archetypes, living in a globalized world, negotiating the self in relationships, the academic life and petty infighting, etc, etc. And I do mean etc, etc, etc, because there's tons in here that I'm not even bringing up, and probably tons more that I missed. Which is why I think this book is a gold mine.

Now a lot of people say that they abandon this book because they find it too pretentious, or too self-gratifying, etc. I don't really think that's the case. I think a lot of the things that could be deemed 'pretentious' are being used by Byatt to make fun of the ridiculousness of some of the characters within who are indeed pretentious. Maybe it is just the subject matter- I don't know how you avoid pretentiousness when you're writing about overeducated Victorian people with literary tendancies. It probably does tend to go to your head, the way that all works. I can see that putting people off to begin with, but if you picked up the book already knowing it was about Victorian poets and squabbling Victorian scholars then I would think you'd be prepared for that kind of thing and be able to wade through it. Are all the full length Victorian style poems she includes pretentious? Probably. But man, if I could do that, I would want to do that too. And it isn't as if they are pointless. Most of the poems are clues to the mystery, clues to the characters themselves, especially as they get longer- they're not just there to create an ambience. Plus, we hear so much about the poems and other peoples' interpretations of them its great to actually see the real things and judge for ourselves, and fits really well into the theme about people creating their own narratives out of the past according to their present needs, and I think reflects cleverly back on the reader. For me, all of that pretentiousnes is worth it, and I find it all brilliant, that's just my response to it. I'm not saying I'm looking down on anyone for not appreciating it, I know that you can see everything I'm saying and still have that not be your cup of tea. That's just a C'est la vie issue. And that's fine- you'll find it hard going to drag me certain writers that I consider unbearably pretentious and not worth it-Eggers or Foer, for example. I usually think agree to disagree is bullshit, but when you get into literary experimentation, I think that's the only way to come out alive.

So anyway, I tore through this in four insanely obsessed days- and this on a re-read. So if you're into this kind of thing, leap right in. Leap, I tell you! It's the way to read this one.(less)

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Apr 27, 2008 Marjorie Hakala rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A while ago I said to myself, "I'm going to pay more attention to doing things that make me happy. So I'm going to cook more creatively and read more fantasy, because I keep forgetting I like those things."

Then I started reading Possession. The happiness project got put on the back burner until I was ready to emerge from the Victorian melancholia, which placed demands on my time too great to allow for preparing meals. I never cried at this book, exactly, but I frequently wept the way a lemon mer...more A while ago I said to myself, "I'm going to pay more attention to doing things that make me happy. So I'm going to cook more creatively and read more fantasy, because I keep forgetting I like those things."

Then I started reading Possession. The happiness project got put on the back burner until I was ready to emerge from the Victorian melancholia, which placed demands on my time too great to allow for preparing meals. I never cried at this book, exactly, but I frequently wept the way a lemon meringue pie weeps when you leave it out and come back to find dots of moisture on the surface.

Oh, it was beautiful, though, a book of such tangible substance that sometimes, when I was reading it while standing, I would feel as if the book were holding me up instead of the other way around. I've read and loved a couple of A.S. Byatt's short-story collections, so I knew she had a fine control of language, but Possession is on a different plane, telling the story with a multitude of voices through letters, poems, criticism, biography, and journal entries as well as the prose of the main narrative. Byatt didn't just write some poems to go in her novel, she created two major Victorian poets from whole cloth, fitted them exactly into a time and a place, and made so bold as to have a character say about one of them, "You can't understand the twentieth century without understanding him." Does that mean we can't understand the twentieth century fully, in a world where there was never a Randolph Henry Ash? This poet isn't a fictionalized Tennyson or Browning, he's a completely invented eminent Victorian. Christabel LaMotte, likewise, is something entirely new; her poems have a dash of Emily-Dickinsonian diction but with French-English, devout Christian, determinedly feminist sensibilities. I don't know if anyone calls this book a work of alternate history, but it was poignant to think about what would be different in a world that included this poetry. I wish I could visit that world, just to read the rest of Ragnarok and Melusina.

The prose itself bordered on poetry, to such an extent that sometimes I had to stop to savor a rhythm. Like here: "But he had known immediately that she was for him, she was to do with him, as she really was or could be, or in freedom might have been." (I would quote more, but I've already loaned out the copy I read.)

In addition to the new-old poetry, Possession has packed inside it a meditation on the arts of scholarship and biography; the most moving writing about celibacy I've ever come across; a critical work on the erotics of reading; and a half-lament, half-ode to the powers of time and memory and forgetting. And, as the cover proclaims, it is a romance--a set of entwined love stories written with impossible precision and believability. It is a book about books, but in such a generous way that nearly everything books can be about is in here. Reading something like this makes me glad that there is such a thing as literary fiction.(less)

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Nov 12, 2009 Jennifer (aka EM) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Grad students &/or those seeking confirmation that academia is a poor career choice

Shelves: my-contrarian-views, read-only-coz-of-gr

Too much work for too little reward.

I read somewhere that if you pick up a book, and you're not enjoying it by either: a) your age (if you are under 50); or b) 100 minus your age (if you are over 50), you should abandon it and move on. There is too much to read and life is too short to be spent reading bad books.

I think this applies particularly to books in that grey zone, where you can tell the writer is winding up to something, and the style and story has enough ooomph in it to keep you poweri...more Too much work for too little reward.

I read somewhere that if you pick up a book, and you're not enjoying it by either: a) your age (if you are under 50); or b) 100 minus your age (if you are over 50), you should abandon it and move on. There is too much to read and life is too short to be spent reading bad books.

I think this applies particularly to books in that grey zone, where you can tell the writer is winding up to something, and the style and story has enough ooomph in it to keep you powering on, despite perhaps your better judgement.

A.S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance is definitely in that zone.

It's not that Byatt is not a good writer: she is. I am enjoying her eviscerating attack on the insular, political world of academia, with its serpent-eating-its-tail kind of irrelevance. The set-up of the grad student/teaching assistant/temp couple, living in a dank basement, banned from the garden, and feeding off of each other in passive-aggressive co-dependency was ... well, pretty much perfect (and hit a little close to home!) The send-up of feminist scholarship is priceless.

But it's all a little too much to wade through for just a taste of these morsels. It's too clever, and too complicated, by half. So far, I've got two major characters, two minor characters, a slew of tertiary characters including some that we see only through the eyes of the two major ones; two poets--who are two more major characters--from each of whom I am getting internal monologue, dialogue, and painstakingly-fabricated Victorian-era poems, letters, and academic research papers reflecting all of that. And these are rife with references, allusions and imagery from Victorian and classical times, both faux and likely real, but I just can't sort it all out and right now, I don't really want to. Oh, and we're on two continents, one convincingly, and one much less so.

I've given it to p. 108, and I'm still not sure that I won't come back to it. Perhaps a different season, a different frame of mind. This novel is likely, for me, like drinking single-malt scotch in the summer: sometimes I do, but I rarely enjoy it. I need a bracing cool autumn evening, or a blizzardy night, woodfire blazing, my faithful companion, Sutcliffe, the Beagle, by my side. In other words, I need to get into a rarified connoisseur's headspace and let the experience wash over me while I noodle away at it like a crossword.

I will put this one back on the shelf and maybe try again in January.(less)

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Jan 03, 2008 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: literature nerds, romantics, people who have some spare time

Shelves: alltime100novel

O.K., I finally finished Possession! Here goes.

Possession is a highly celebrated novel by A.S. Byatt that contains two story threads. The first story could be categorized as historical fiction. We learn about the relationship of fictional poets Christabel LaMotte and R.H. Ashe through old journal entries, letters, and their "poetry" (the poems were actually created by Byatt, since the two authors never actually existed). Ashe was married, and LaMotte was in a relationship with a woman. But we co...more O.K., I finally finished Possession! Here goes.

Possession is a highly celebrated novel by A.S. Byatt that contains two story threads. The first story could be categorized as historical fiction. We learn about the relationship of fictional poets Christabel LaMotte and R.H. Ashe through old journal entries, letters, and their "poetry" (the poems were actually created by Byatt, since the two authors never actually existed). Ashe was married, and LaMotte was in a relationship with a woman. But we come to find out that the two poets had a romantic affair.

The second part of the story is a contemporary romance slash literary detective novel (think high-brow chic lit meets The Da Vinci Code). Maud & Roland are literary scholars. Maud's life's work has been dedicated to the study of her ancestor, LaMotte, and Roland, naturally, is an Ashe expert. Roland accidentally stumbles upon a letter from Ashe to LaMotte, and this sets off Maud & Roland's journey to the unraveling of the romance between the two historical poets. And, of course, a romance of their own (Yea!)

This book is a masterpiece at 555 densely worded pages. The title and the theme of Possession run throughout the book. What can we truly know about the past? Because we read letters and journals and are able to piece together what people's daily lives may have been like, are we able to actually possess their souls, read their minds and know their secrets? What do historical biographies really tell us about people? How well can you really know someone? Won't there always be a disconnect between reality & our perception of the past when it's tainted with our personal assumptions, emotions, and biases?

Maud was unclear on her emotions regarding being in a relationship. How much does our partner aim to possess us? Are we able to be a part of a relationship, yet remain free? In marriage, are there parts of our partner's souls that we'll never possess unless they choose to reveal them to us? Does being in a relationship mean that you own the other person? Is that person still a person, independent of the relationship?

The two poets dabbled in the spirit world--at one time attending a mutual seance. Are the spirits of the ones who've gone on before us capable of possessing the ones who remain behind? What of demons? Can they own us and alter our destinies when our worst nightmares have come true for us?

Also, literally and lawfully speaking, these letters and journals...who has the right to read private thoughts? What if the owners took pains to make sure things were kept hidden? Do we have the right to know? Because we stumble upon things, or they are left to us via a legacy, do we own them because we possess them? Is it our lawful right to know things that were intended to be hidden, or buried away? Does celebrity negate the right for privacy?

All of these themes make up "Possession", and so much much more. This book is for literary junkies. It's for soulful, passionate people, and people who appreciate brilliant poetry and prose.(less)

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Jan 09, 2012 Sherien rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ayu

Shelves: 20th-century

"I cannot bear not to know the end of a tale. I will read the most trivial things – once commenced – only out of a feverish greed to be able to swallow the ending – sweet or sour – and to be done with what I need never have embarked on. Are you in my case? Or are you a more discriminating reader? Do you lay aside the unprofitable?"

I have never encountered a novel such magnificent and beautifully written as this. A.S. Byatt undeniably has an outstanding ability in literature and it makes it clea...more "I cannot bear not to know the end of a tale. I will read the most trivial things – once commenced – only out of a feverish greed to be able to swallow the ending – sweet or sour – and to be done with what I need never have embarked on. Are you in my case? Or are you a more discriminating reader? Do you lay aside the unprofitable?"

I have never encountered a novel such magnificent and beautifully written as this. A.S. Byatt undeniably has an outstanding ability in literature and it makes it clear to me why she won the Booker Prize in 1990. Reading this marvelous piece had been an amazing journey. My imagination had been triggered to expand more than ever—more than I expected. Shifting back and forth between two eras that are told alternately, I was slowly traversing in an amazing conundrum through various forms of writing; letters, diaries, poems, and even fairy tales. Byatt shows how imagination and creativity can possibly be manifested in various modes and are not strictly bound by a clear definition or a specific genre. I admit that this had not been an easy one to delve into, but it had been a worth journey indeed. I mean, who else writes like this?

Possession: A Romance (1990) mainly tells a story about two literary scholars name Maud Bailey and Roland Michell discovering a mystery (secret love affair) behind the lives of two notable Victorian poets—Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. A dual plot of two different eras told alternately not only sets as a comparison, but relates and complements one another. Through out the modern world, Byatt seems to emphasize the issues faced in the literary academic world; rivalry between scholars, obsession in researches, literary criticism and interpretation. Meanwhile the Victorian part depicts not only the love affair but also issues that were faced in those days—religious doubts, the birth of science and social-class conflicts. What amazes me here is how well Byatt manages to portray the difference between the two eras significantly using two style of language that are apparent in each era. The Victorian era is narrated in a slow pace with rich description of a Victorian setting so believable, you could sense the atmosphere of the 19th century as if you were reading a novel by the Bronte sisters. On the other hand, the modern part is plotted in a typical popular fiction form with its plot-driven style.

As I have mentioned above, what is unique about this book is the several different devices that the author uses. Letters and diaries not only play important roles in moving the plot forward with hints related to the main mystery, but clearly gives an understanding of the power and importance of written words. Hand written letters and diaries were clearly important intimate literary devices that were mainly used in the Victorian era, and here Byatt emphasizes to set a comparison on how the circumstance have by far changed in the modern days. Not only that, through the poems Byatt uses as epigraphs, gives a clear prove how more deeply connected people in the previous century were with poetry. Byatt shows high ability in creating poems that resembles accurately the styles of those Victorian and Romantic poets. Another essential device is the use of fairy tales through out the story. Similar to the poems, fairy tales in the story functions as riddles that are there to decipher. I found the fairy tales reflecting the whole course of the story yet at the same time deconstructing the basic structure of a classic-predictable-happy ending. The relationships between the characters are to be seen as a fairy tale, yet etched with a bittersweet touch that appears to be more realistic.

Possession: A Romance is a story that points out many aspects but one that is obvious is that it shows how ‘possession’ works in each human’s life. Each of the characters in this story is obsessed with something/someone. The story not only shows how one can be possessed, but how far can one possess. In the end, this story shows that nothing can be entirely possessed no matter how obsessed they may be. Most of the mysteries are enfolded through the works of diaries, letters, poems that the modern scholars discover. But there are two parts that the author switches to her own point of view. Byatt portrays what really happen in those poets’ life that are not known by the modern scholars—characters. These important parts are only known by us—readers. The scholars could not possess complete information on what they have been so obsessed about. I find this altogether a very clever and important statement questioning the meaning and essence of ‘possession’ itself. Can we entirely possess that being we strongly love? Can a researcher/biographer possess accurate information on a real person’s life? Can we possess complete knowledge of the past (history)?

This isn’t an easy read but certainly not a once in a lifetime one. I sure will be reading it sometime again.

(less)

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Oct 11, 2009 Christopher H. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-literature, historical-fiction, neo-victorian-literature, favorites, poetry, victorian-literature, read-in-2009, my-western-canon, mystery, favorite-rereads

I just finished reading A.S. Byatt’s novel, Possession, again for about the fourth time. It has been several years since I last read it, and I have to say that I saw it in a completely new light. It is a literary masterpiece that is exquisitely plotted and written.

This time around I very carefully studied the epigraphs leading off most of the chapters and all of the beautiful poetry included in the text. I don’t know that I gave much more than a cursory glance to the poetry during previous read...more

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Joy Stephenson I love this book and your review is spot on. I'm just re-reading for the 4th time or so and this time am struck by the images of water and the fact th...more
Apr 29, 2013 11:21am

Aimeesue Just read this one recently - finally!- and I loved it! I'm going to have to reread it eventually, I think, and I don't reread! So much can be missed...more
Jun 05, 2013 11:52am

Nov 24, 2012 Patrizia O rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-autrici-gran-bretagna, ebook, contemporanei, club-del-libro-gdl, romanzi-storici, sfida-xx-secolo, recensioni, storie-di-donne

Gli uomini vanno al martirio ovunque
deserto, cattedrale, Pubblica Piazza.
Lontane dall'ebbrezza dell'Azione
altro è il nostro destino
trascinare lunga una Vita
in una stanza oscura.
Christabel LaMotte

Qual è l’enigma? Io sono il mio stesso enigma. Oh, Signore, non dovete per gentilezza cercare di migliorare o togliermi la mia solitudine. A noi donne insegnano a temerla - ah, la torre spaventosa, ah, il roveto che la circonda - nessun nido accogliente, un torrione piuttosto. Ma ci hanno mentito

...more

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May 26, 2013 Laurele rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2009, audible

I really enjoyed this and plan to read it again. It brought some of my favorite poets back to my mind and gave me some insight into the world of academic literary analysis. I agree with Byatt that we need to read and enjoy the whole book rather than just look for the parts that validate our own particular hobby horses (my paraphrase). Byatt has given me faith that good literature is still being written.

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Jan 20, 2013 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction, mythology-and-fairy-tales, general-fiction, historical-fiction, favorites, authors-ab

Possession is a many-layered story, cutting back and forth between the past and the present, of two modern scholars who find a set of lost letters between two Victorian poets and go on a quest to discover the truth of their affair. I love its richness of voice: the modern-day narrative focusing on the two scholars, Roland and Maud; the poetry and letters of the poets; diaries, biographies, letters, journals of many other characters. On my latest readthrough, I found myself thinking a lot about t...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Angus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: man-booker-prize, all-time-100-novels, reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

At least half of this book is comprehensible

Unless you have a doctorate in literature or you are a Victorian poet. Maybe some creative writing majors can fully understand the novel, every page of it, and this kind of understanding is not without whole bulks of effort, and this is most truthful for the regular reader, which happens to be me, in this case.

If you really want to know, I almost gave up on this book. I dreaded reading the parts about the poetry of Ran...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Marialyce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2012, july-2012

I almost feel like some kind of traitor to the culture of extremely well written books to only rate this novel a three. However, any book that takes me almost two months to get through and makes me read it in only short spurts is not one I would rate a five book.

Yes, the writing, the theme, the characters are all superb, but the very writing and characters are what bogged down this novel for me. I have never been nor will ever be a fan of poetry in any shape or form. I will even readily admit, I...more

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May 26, 2011 TheGirlBytheSeaofCortez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: neo-victorian-novels, contemporary-authors, booker-nominees-and-winners, english-literature-today

Possession begins in 1986 in the Reading Room of the London Library, when Roland Mitchell, a postdoctoral research assistant at London University who’s studying the work of Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash (aka Robert Browning) opens the poet’s personal copy of Giambattista Vico's Principi di una Scienza Nuova. As Byatt writes:

The book was thick and black and covered with dust. Its boards were bowed and creaking; it had been maltreated in its own time. Its spine was missing, or, rather, protrud...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those interested in 19th century literature, sophisticated readers

This is a truly beautiful book. It is erudite and dense, but that was one of the reasons I liked it.
I first read it when I was a graduate student myself, and I felt that in so many ways, it ran true to what I experienced studying the depths of the humanities (this book deals with English literature, I did art history--similar fields in many ways because much of the research is done in the same types of places). I, like Roland, felt the utter weight of work that had already been done in my field,...more This is a truly beautiful book. It is erudite and dense, but that was one of the reasons I liked it.
I first read it when I was a graduate student myself, and I felt that in so many ways, it ran true to what I experienced studying the depths of the humanities (this book deals with English literature, I did art history--similar fields in many ways because much of the research is done in the same types of places). I, like Roland, felt the utter weight of work that had already been done in my field, and felt the impossibility of contributing to it in a meaningful way. I also had exeperienced the preoccupation with Freudian analysis and sexual metaphors that continue to dominate the humanities.
The story is that of two different and yet entertwining romances: 2 19th century poets have a secret romance, defying the conventional wisdom of those who study them. This affair is discovered and researched by 2 20th century scholars who learn about their own lives and desires through their research and interaction.
I feel that Byatt does a fantastic job of creating two authentic-seeming Victorian poets. Randolph Henry Ash, with his encyclopedic knowledge and very naturalistic poems, is believable as the Tennyson- or Kipling-like celebrated poet. Christabel LaMotte is arguably more unique (at least I found her so) with her unusual, quiet, short poems, more like Emily Dickenson.
The title of this book is perfect because the themes of possesion, especially the possesion of another person, are beautifully explored. Each of the characters are frightened at the thought of 'belonging' to another person, and many of them are also 'possessed' by some other person or idea that makes it hard for them to truly give themselves up to love.
The book ends on a slightly melancholy note that to some extent indicates the futility of historical research. We can truly never completely know (or possess!) all the facts about a person--too much is lost in the epemerality of daily life.
A beautiful book, but be prepared to have patience when getting into it. I often skip some of the longer sections of poetry, though of course Byatt is a genius to have written so much with such an authentic 19th century feel. sometimes, though, I'm in the mood for it and savor each word. To each his own, but the book is definitely worth wading through the poetry for.(less)

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Jun 15, 2009 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pu

I picked up this book because I had seen it in a recommended reading site and then a friend said that it was really good. But...
Yes, there's a but... it took me 3 tries to get past page 10. I should have known then... but (again with the 'but') I persevered... thinking that I would eventually get into it, that I would get to the meat of it. By, page 300 I felt like I was trapped. I had already invested this much time into it and felt, at that point, that I had to finish it. I'm not saying tha...more

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Aug 20, 2007 Loren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Roland Michell is an overworked and undervalued scholar of the manly nature poet Randolph Henry Ash. When he discovers a piece of correspondence between Ash and the Emily-Dickinson-esque confirmed-spinster poet Christabel LaMotte, he stuffs the letter in his pocket and begins some vigilante research of his own. This research leads him to Maud Bailey, a naturally blonde LaMotte scholar whose expertise in her field and natural suspicion of men forces Michell to share with her his secret research....more

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Jul 30, 2011 Aubrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, man-booker, 1001-06-12, reviewed, 1000-guardian, prose-prose-prose, reality-check, to-re-read, folio

It is astounding how naturally and fluidly this book progresses, through past centuries and present ages of poetry and literature; a record of the constant need of the people now to know the passions that drove the people of before. Everyone wants to know what happened in their own way, to understand the person behind the particular passage that touched their heart and decided their future. The ending is balanced in that while the old love was not fully lived out, it still came to fruition gener...more

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Apr 09, 2009 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: london, fairy, modern-fairy-tales, byatt, favorites, lit-english, historical-fiction, literature-fairy-tale-retold-influ

For me, Possession is like a bottle of wine or a box of really good chocolate (the really, expensive and sinfully good kind). There is an aboluste beauty in this book, and it seems to lie in the details. How all the characters still in character, the resolution to both romances at the end, all the touches about criticism - all these ring true.

Over the years I have read this book, my favorite character has gone from Maud to Leonora then to both. Leonora, it seems to me, is so much larger than lif...more

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Sep 30, 2010 Allycks added it · review of another edition

A book that I've long avoided but due to the magic new library card I feel oddly unburdened of all prior superficial prejudices (I suppose prejudices are by definition superficial, isn't it great to just dumbfuck your way into universal truths like that?)(i.e. in 20 years of raking the bookstores I was forever turned off by the cover and the blurbs) and therefore I have consented to partake in the.... um.... to possess this "romance" for 6 weeks.

...30 pages and still tip-tapping between intrigue...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Christy B rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, historical-fiction, historical-romance, neo-victorian

Now and then there are readings that make the hairs on our neck, the non-existent pelt, 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... -Possession, Pg. 512

How do I write a review worthy of such a breathtaking book? How do I write a review explaining the beauty of this book without giving anything away?

I will try.

For NaNoWriMo last November, I wrote a story about a man who moves into an old...more

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Nov 16, 2011 Clara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been in a terrible reading rut, but Possession has lifted me out of it and into the new Jeffrey Eugenides. Such a great book. One of my absolute favorites.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 17, 2013 JZ NJ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub, favorites

Dear Ms Byatt,
Your wish came true.
Your novel, POSSESSION, inspired me to devise my own crash course in 19th century British literature,Norse mythology, Pre Raphealite brotherhood, Victorian poets, and their fondness for Arthurian legend, The Tale of the Ancient Mariner, the Rosetti's, and Browning. Its been a wild ride,
I have never been more thankful for the Internet and embedded links.

When you wrote this novel ( which I suspect was under the influence of some kind on illegal substance, unless...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I skimmed some of the reviews for this: Supposedly this book will disappoint me, or it will not. All I know is that this is the first book in ages that I really want to return home to all day, starting from the morning when I have to set out, after coffee and cereal, while yet not having read any, but-still once I am home I invariably get tired beyond repair and blob on the sofa and putter around on the internet and then floss my teeth and fall asleep, and regrettably there has been no book and...more I skimmed some of the reviews for this: Supposedly this book will disappoint me, or it will not. All I know is that this is the first book in ages that I really want to return home to all day, starting from the morning when I have to set out, after coffee and cereal, while yet not having read any, but-still once I am home I invariably get tired beyond repair and blob on the sofa and putter around on the internet and then floss my teeth and fall asleep, and regrettably there has been no book and no reading AGAIN, and yet there is a strong desire - and you know, this book may be all about desire (with or without fulfillment, I don't really know yet), or about letter-writing, which may be the same or not, or about literary theory, which decidedly is not the same, and how it's worth something and how it's worth nothing: I have, actually, not only read quite a few books about writers, or would-be writers who lecture about writers, but almost as many books about writers where literary theory is wildly made fun of. ["The Lecturer's Tale" by James Hynes would be an example.] This is not directly the case here - yet - Literary Theory is not shunned, safe a bit, not cold-shouldered, but treated by its devotest devotees (beautiful creatures made of white flesh and blonde hair, like the author, painting them agains a backdrop of dark desires wanted to stand them out more starkly, if politically incorrectly, a bit of a clichée), its devotest devotees as a bit of a practical joke, as one more pawn in a play you make for someone (very, very intelligent), as a way of approaching and touching a subject, if not securing it.
I know nothing of literary theory, to say the least. I however often stand and marvel about how it's handled by the literates. After enough wondering I might even wind up finishing this book, which calls forth such strong desire without the wish for fulfillment, and for towers, or maybe eden bowers, and clasped hands and some understanding for those strange things going on between spinsters and princesses, Wolves and Ashes and Governesses.

p.s.:Oh yeah, if it turns out that Mabel is descended from Christabel La Motte, that would not surprise me terribly, but then it is just some wild guess.(less)

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Oct 20, 2011 Minli rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, historical, contemporary, made-me-think

I'm waffling between three or four stars for this book. On one hand, this book took me a whopping three weeks to finish. If you know me, you know that I NEVER READ THIS SLOWLY. I've lost count the number of times I decided "this is enough for now" and turned to something else, then lost my place, skimmed a bit, and found the next engrossing passage and went from there.

Possession was a gift from a good friend of mine who said she took the local train to work in order to have more time to read it...more I'm waffling between three or four stars for this book. On one hand, this book took me a whopping three weeks to finish. If you know me, you know that I NEVER READ THIS SLOWLY. I've lost count the number of times I decided "this is enough for now" and turned to something else, then lost my place, skimmed a bit, and found the next engrossing passage and went from there.

Possession was a gift from a good friend of mine who said she took the local train to work in order to have more time to read it, she was that engrossed. That's quite a recommendation. While I can't say I was as 'possessed' as she was by this novel, I'm glad I read it, as it gave me a lot to think about.

Possession is about two literary scholars who discover the maybe illicit love affair of two fictional Victorian poets. Roland has devoted his entire study to Randolph Henry Ash, a poet akin to like, Robert Browning or something (my poetry ignorance is showing). Maud Bailey, on the other hand, has long studied the life and works of Christabel LaMotte (Rossetti analogue?), a distant ancestor. Roland discovers a love letter from Ash to LaMotte tucked away in a rare manuscript, finds out that no one else knows about this, but many--including the super greedy Mortimer Cropper who must!own!all!things!--would pay through the nose to get it. This zaps Roland out of his completely dull life to discover more about Ash's mystery lady, which leads him to Maud.

I think Possession has gotten so much critical praise because the people heaping praise on it are TOTAL LITERARY NERDS like Roland and Maud. I have not read this much academia porn before. I learned a few years ago that a life of research and academia is just not for me, so I found the parts about procedure, academic politics, document-grabbing, bribery and manipulation only tangentially interesting. However, I was very interested in Maud's character, even if Roland was boring, and how she had a complicated relationship with her own appearance, and what that seemed to suggest to other (male) scholars. And a few times did I read Maud's research base referred to by Ash scholars in a disdainful way, as some lesbian coterie where feminists bash Ash and have orgies. Or something, right? Because down with the patriarchy! It was sad, really, how true it still is.

The other part of this book, interspersed with the academia narrative, is Ash and LaMotte's love affair told through 'primary source documents'--poems, epics, letters, diary entries of a cousin LaMotte stayed with, and so on. It's definitely admirable--and ambitious--that Byatt was able to create all these documents so convincingly, to me anyway. I haven't really studied Victorian poetry, but it's obvious that Byatt has, and I wouldn't be surprised if she decided that, oh yes, she was going to write an epic Ragnarok poem and put it in her book, and who cares what anyone else thinks? Even if I did slog through the Ash/LaMotte letters and honestly couldn't tell you a thing in them, I applaud her.

And the secondary discussion, besides women in academia, is women living the creative life like LaMotte. I can rant for hours about how some think men excel at everything, even traditionally domestic arts like cooking and sewing (except they're called the culinary arts and apparel design if done professionally). During this time, women were encouraged to draw, paint, play an instrument, write poetry--but only to pass the time and only to entertain a prospective husband. Women who wanted to pursue a career for writing? Forget it. Possession is a musing on what that means; LaMotte has been completely disregarded by Ash scholars as fairytale pap and "women's writing." Even Ellen Ash, Ash's husband, is thought to be dull and uncreative by those same scholars.

There's a lot of food for thought in this book. Frankly, I'm more in line with Val, Roland's girlfriend, who thinks he's totally strange for engrossing himself in a dead man's work for his entire life, always dependent on grants and fellowships. I love literature, I might even love poetry, but always being at the mercy of someone else's purse is something I just don't get.

Still, Possession is not for everyone. If you majored in English, you'll probably like this book; if you're interested in feminist writers and the study of them, you'll probably like this book too. Bonus points if you appreciate primary source documents from Victorian literature.(less)

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Apr 18, 2010 Meghan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, nerdy-girls-book-club

In the start of the 2nd chapter the word "pantechnicon" appears. Doing what most readers do, I turned to the person closest and made them tell me what the word meant. When he provided a vague answer, I was forced to pull out the dictionary. As more unfamiliar words started appearing, I got worried and then poetry (I didn't count the first two at the opening) kept cropping up and I got nervous. This book was getting a bit too intelectual for me. Had I not been reading this for a book club, I prob...more In the start of the 2nd chapter the word "pantechnicon" appears. Doing what most readers do, I turned to the person closest and made them tell me what the word meant. When he provided a vague answer, I was forced to pull out the dictionary. As more unfamiliar words started appearing, I got worried and then poetry (I didn't count the first two at the opening) kept cropping up and I got nervous. This book was getting a bit too intelectual for me. Had I not been reading this for a book club, I probably would have put it down immediately and moved on to something not as strenous. This book was tough to work through and not a good choice for bedtime reading as you have to be alert and ready to read and reread passages. Of course, there came a point where I found myself skimming some sections and I probably skimmed a bit more than I should admit to.
The story has a handful of characters modern day and victorian. The focus is on two Victorian poet's lives and the modern day academics that are obsessed with them. The story unfolds slowly to be a mystery and love story. Byatt takes some punches at academia but her message (or at the least the one I walked away with) is the question of possession; not necessarily of things but also of person (self and others) and knowledge.

I applaud Possession for the way Byatt weaves multiple stories, with multiple characters and unfolds this story with the use of narration, poetry, stories, letters, and journal entires. The ability for just one person to write so many different ways is stunning but Byatt also makes use of each piece to lead the reader along. The poem at the beginning of the chapter is just there to set the mood or look pretty; it is there as a vehicle to move the story, clues to solve the mystery, and tools to help you forumulate your opinion. AS Byatt is really smart. She uses big, smart words and she makes literary references that make me feel highly uneducated. I don't get the sense that Byatt does this on purpose; I think it just comes out naturally.
While I appreciate that what Byatt has done with this novel, I couldn't help wonder at what cost. I know Byatt doesn't care but how many readers did she ostracize with her brilliance? Could she have written the same story simpler? Do I really believ a writer should dumb down a book?
What I struggled the most with Possession is the way the novel unfolded at the end. Byatt makes so much effort to building the story and then there comes a moment where she has given up and isn't sure where to turn. I felt like Byatt found herself stuck and quickly starting making characters and items appear so the story could end. There are a few chapters toward the end where the story unfolds as one of the Victorian characters narrates where previously we were introduced to these characters through their writing. It felt forced and too neatly summed up to work with the rest of the book.
I am not disappointed that I gave this one a shot. It definitely was a worthwhile read but not a book that I can think I would recommend to anyone nor does this make me want to explore any of Byatt's other work (at least not right away).(less)

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Jan 07, 2012 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bettie by: Brazilliant Laura

Shelves: published-1990, victoriana, one-penny-wonder, booker-winner, fradio, paper-read, winter-20112012, re-read, film-only, mystery-thriller, poetry, play-dramatisation, 3m-bookshelf-challenge

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ENCOUNTER ONE:FILM - You know how it is sometimes, so much to do and a very limited space of time such as cleaning a sticky kitchen floor after cooking. I bring out the mop and bucket and announce 'a lick and a promise' will do for now.

I have just watched the film Possession and it is lovely, really lovely but one knows for sure that the book must be far more in depth. So the watching is just 'a lick and a promise' before the real delight of the book.

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

ENCOUNTER TWO: Condi...more

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Sep 06, 2009 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is among the 501 MUST READ BOOKS and 1990 MAN BOOKER PRIZE awardee. Halfway in my reading I thought of creating a shelf for unfinished books and this would be the first entry. However, I got a bad backache and I had to lay down in bed to recuperate so I persisted and finished the book up to its last page. I am glad I did because the novel is really gorgeously written and the last 10 pages was a whooper and they helped in reversing my rating from 1 or 2 to 5 stars!

My edition is the firs...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Maribel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: already-read-favorites

Ok. I finished reading this so long ago; actually, within days of starting it. I was waiting until I had a chance to write a really good review, which in my opinion, this book deserved. Instead, I fund myself months later writing said review while waiting on the platform for my train to work.

I loved this book. I like romance but not your conventional hero sweeps heroine off her feet, and ravages her voluptuous body as her raven hair blows in the wind (thank you Harlequin), and they live happily...more Ok. I finished reading this so long ago; actually, within days of starting it. I was waiting until I had a chance to write a really good review, which in my opinion, this book deserved. Instead, I fund myself months later writing said review while waiting on the platform for my train to work.

I loved this book. I like romance but not your conventional hero sweeps heroine off her feet, and ravages her voluptuous body as her raven hair blows in the wind (thank you Harlequin), and they live happily ever after (gag gag puke). I like flawed characters that could be everyday people in my life and I like endings that don't really answer all the questions or promise you forever. Because we a know, love is sometimes just not enough. And I love books with a literary theme and if there's mystery and romance, JACKPOT!

Just so with Possession. You have romance with TONS of Victorian poetry. You have a literary theme (the two modern characters (literary critics) are individually and basically unbeknownst to one another, researching two victorian era poets, a man and a woman, Randolph Ash and Cristabel La Mote. AND, you have mystery. Did Ash and La Mote know each other? To what extent? Ash was a happily married man and was La Mote not in a committed, same sex relationship? And you get good doses of all three in equal measure - romance, literary whatever-you-want-to-call-it, and mystery. But, above all, it is romantic, romantic, romantic (did you see my favorite quote? "...This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the mid-point, to which everything ran, before, and from which everything will run. But now, my love, we are here, we are now, and those other times are running elsewhere."). Sigh.

You will see why Possession is such a genius title. may seem an obvious title at first but you will understand it's more true, broader meaning at the end of the story. Suffice it to say, if u r a literary buff, a closet mystery detective or a hopeless romantic, you will love it. (less)

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Apr 13, 2011 Shellie (Layers of Thought) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: award winning lit lovers (in audio)

Shelves: element-glbt, award-winners, country-uk-ireland, favorites, genre-general-fiction-literature, genre-historical-fiction, read-in-2011, time-victorian-or-regency, spec-fic-fant-fairies, challenge-fill-in-the-gaps-read

Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A multilayered award winning tale of interwoven romances. Set in two different centuries and connected ingeniously through letters and journals. It has elements which include faeries, myth, poetry, science, feminism, lgbt, and Victoriana.

Setting: Primarily set in the late 1980s in London we have a variety of academics whose interests lie in a celebrated poet’s life and work - Randolph Henry Ash. He is a source of intense exploration and historical inte...more Original review posted at Layers of Thought.

A multilayered award winning tale of interwoven romances. Set in two different centuries and connected ingeniously through letters and journals. It has elements which include faeries, myth, poetry, science, feminism, lgbt, and Victoriana.

Setting: Primarily set in the late 1980s in London we have a variety of academics whose interests lie in a celebrated poet’s life and work - Randolph Henry Ash. He is a source of intense exploration and historical interest for these scholars, as they research his body of work in their highly competitive environment. From their findings on his life during the mid to late 1800’s it appears Ash led a very quiet and uneventful life. But as one researcher finds out via misplaced letters, they are very wrong.

Thus begins the recovery of the missing pieces that will fill in the blanks for this group of academics, who become ever more obsessed as they struggle to be the first to piece together the juicy details that are alluded to in the new findings. As two of the scholars try and answer their questions they find themselves traipsing to various areas in England and France to find the answers.

Sound simple? Not a chance - there is so much more. This convoluted story will take you back to a very different time, but there is also a wealth of incredible subplots and threads.

Thoughts: I started and abandoned Possession several times. Giving up on try number two, I thought the writing to be inaccessible, overly intellectual and boringly academic. Now I am thinking one develops “reading muscles”, and considering my years of hiatus from reading fiction I was out of shape. Having read bits about the book’s elements since, I realized the book fits inside a favorite circle of my interests. I gave it another try in audio.

This unabridged audio version was read by Virginia Leishman, and she moderates her voice for each of the character’s while changing accents - ranging from English to Scottish to American and with a believable voice for changes in gender. Excellently done, my only “complaint” is that the narrator’s voice is so pleasant she lulled me to sleep on various occasions. So listening while tired or sleepy is not recommended.

The novel has some interesting elements and literary techniques interwoven inside it. These include threads about fairies, what appears to be paranormal events, and scientific research – including the collection of insect, plant and sea life (all popular with the gentry during Victorian times). The author also expertly uses several literary devices; for example, the usage of poetry as a preclusion to the chapters called epigraphs. Through this method the author has written and included some complex poetry. Lastly the story is told via letters and journal entries making it epistolary.

Not a fluffy romance, it is a complex, realistic yet sad romance – where real life choices and their consequences are exemplified and I liked that it does not end with everyone living happily ever after. In summary, Possession is out of the ordinary, intellectual and academic – making it a book that not everyone will enjoy. It is also descriptive, metaphorical, dense and an amazing work of fiction. It deserves a rare 5 stars in my opinion. (less)

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May 22, 2008 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: not-worth-precious-reading-time

Unreadable. I had to stop. The characters were blah and the story moved at a snail's pace. There are so many more books to read I couldn't waste any more time on this one.

Still reading...

It started out pretty good, set in London, Roland, a young research assistant is looking at musty old books in the London library and finds a letter written by a famous 19th century poet (named Ash) to an unknown woman.. what then ensues is a literary quest to discover the woman for whom the letter was intended...more

5 likes · like · see review

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Goodreads Italia: Possessione. Una storia romantica di A.S. Susan Byatt	1	17	May 05, 2013 01:09pm
The Perks of Bein...: 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt	59	36	Apr 27, 2013 01:04pm
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Why was Ash's marriage never consummated?	2	54	Feb 10, 2013 01:58pm
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About A.S. Byatt

A.S. Byatt (Antonia Susan 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 E...more

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Quotes from Possession

“No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.” — 89 people liked it

“What is it my dear?"

Ah, how can we bear it?"

Bear what?"

This. For so short a time. How can we sleep this time away?"

We can be quiet together, and pretend - since it is only the beginning - that we have all the time in the world."

And every day we shall have less. And then none."

Would you rather, therefore, have had nothing at all?"

No. This is where I have always been coming to. Since my time began. And when I go away from here, this will be the mid-point, to which everything ran, before, and from which everything will run. But now, my love, we are here, we are now, and those other times are running elsewhere.” — 75 people liked it

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