Possession in Our Shared Shelf

Jan 02, 2008 Carla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 2008

Para reler numa outra altura.

~*~

I watched the movie some time ago, but I never had the chance to see the end of it, so I picked up this book more for curiosity about the end, than for any other reason. It really surprised me. Not so much the story but the way it was told.

The author made up two Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, and was able to create poems, letters and journals, as if she were both characters. Is through these testimonials that their story is known, just ...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Cynthia Paschen rated it really liked it

Shelves: the-list, book-group

When I started "Possession," I guessed it was a tribute to scholarship, research and poetry.

As I finished this beautiful novel, it felt more like an ode to the hand-written letter. In addition to the voyeuristic thrill of reading other people's letters, A.S. Byatt infuses each chapter and each letter with a sense of place.

Certainly this is a more flowery and Victorian novel that I normally choose. I confess I skimmed some of the poetry. But oh, is it just so lovely.

(page 493) "She remembered the ...more

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Jul 24, 2007 Susan rated it liked it

this book felt like it was supposed to be interesting and supposed to be very clever and literary but it was a bit boring and dense and i skipped all the poetry parts because it was too long. all in all i felt sort of cheated because i thought something extraordinary was going to happen and it turned out to be quite unexciting and sad.

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Mar 01, 2012 Anie rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction, abandoned

Defeated this day, 18 April 2012.

I was excited for this book. I'd heard good things, and I love epistolary novels---and epistolary novels with romance, and poets, and academics, all written in elegant prose!

Well, the prose is sometimes quite pretty, but this is really a tedious book. I frankly do not care about either of the main characters. They're boring, at best, and caricatures at worst---quite uncompelling. Neither love story is exactly compelling, either. Although the book is rife with de ...more

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Mar 02, 2018 Robin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-own-a-copy, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, booker-prize

This book is completely amazing, but it's not perfect (4.8 stars?). The plot is amazing, the characters are interesting and complex, the premise is unique, the language/descriptions are entrancing, the unfolding of new developments and twists and turns are well done.

Some of the poetry is...pretty bad. At least in my opinion, it had no rhythm and the wording was clunky. But I don't know that much about victorian poetry, so maybe my expectations are off. Some of the text-within-a-text is too much ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Sophie rated it it was amazing

I LOVED this book. It was so incredibly satisfying on so many levels. Great plot, great characters, totally page turning and romantic and thrilling, and also a very very intelligent book. A.S. Byatt not only creates two entire extremely believable Victorian poets and their poetry, she also very handily invents literary criticism on said poets. Beyond all the intellectual shenanigans, the book is just a great read. Highly recommended.

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