From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Children's Book

A.S. Byatt

Start date: September 15, 2010

Finish date: October 15, 2010

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Jane

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Sep 11, 2009 Rashida marked it as to-read

Shelves: will-finish-later

I know I have it on "Will Finish Later," but I was feeling optimistic when I labeled that shelf. This should probably just be "unfinished." I used to feel guilty about unfinished books. I think I am beginning to swing the other way and in my justification of the "alrightness" of moving along, I am now wantonly discarding books. But this one is not grabbing me. Based on the reviews I'd read about it, I thought I would love it. So, I do worry that I'm being too fickle and flighty. But, you know wh ...more

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Dec 28, 2009 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read2010, location-uk

One of the books shortlisted for the 2009 Booker prize, this is an enchanting story of a children's book author (fairy tales, really), her family, and people connected to them as secrets unravel and they live through the England of the end of the Victorian period through World War I. I loved the history, the art, the social and intellectual movements that were wound throughout. ...more

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Aug 28, 2010 Sheila rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was my first Byatt. I found it hard going. Yet there was something about it. In amidst it all is an incredible family saga, but I found it really hard to follow - too many characters, too much preaching/teaching about the socio-political context of the time, and an annoying tendency to wonder off down rabbit holes, and stories within the story. None of these in themselves are unusual or hard to cope with but when all of them are present together it becomes a much more difficult read. Perhap This was my first Byatt. I found it hard going. Yet there was something about it. In amidst it all is an incredible family saga, but I found it really hard to follow - too many characters, too much preaching/teaching about the socio-political context of the time, and an annoying tendency to wonder off down rabbit holes, and stories within the story. None of these in themselves are unusual or hard to cope with but when all of them are present together it becomes a much more difficult read. Perhaps the audio version wasn't the best format for this particular book. The consequence of all this is that even having just finished it I feel competely unable to hold in my mind any one character in full and doubt whether I could map out any character's story in its own right. A case of not being able to see the wood for the trees. As family sagas go then this fails this test for me.

I felt the book to be overly long. For me, editing out some of the socio-political context sections, or at least trimming them down, would have improved the overall read. For example, if I want to read about Women's Suffrage then I'd go and read a book on that subject: from general knowledge I know enough, perhaps with a little bit or prompting, to recall enough to position this story within that context - what I dont want is what seemed like about 45 minutes of it in the final 3 hours of the story! On the other hand I did think the balance was better for the large part in the section about the boys expereinces of WW1 trenches. Now I admit I am not someone who normally reads historical novels but I can understand why some folks like this type of book, and for them I suspect that what Byatt does she does very well as she clearly knows her stuff and must have done an incredible amount of research. And I do reckon that the book is well worth some close reading, for which the text copy would be much more appropriate a format. However, other books will have their call on my time and I suspect I will never get round to rereading it. What is more likely to happen is that I try another Byatt - benefit of the doubt and all - putting this one down to experience.

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Dec 16, 2010 Melissa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: directed-reading, constant-reader

This is a very long book, chock-full of historical detail from a vibrant period of English life - from late Victorian times down to the First World War and its immediate aftermath. We follow the personal stories of a large cast of characters, whose interrelationships are slowly shown to be both more or less complicated than they might at first seem. Some of the characters are drawn more fully and successfully than others, but the full panoply of people and events is by the end quite stunning -- ...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Mary Ellen rated it liked it

Shelves: wwi-related

An ambitious book that was, perhaps, too ambitious and too unevenly paced. The first third crawls through minute descriptions of costumes and other preparations for a Midsummer party, the mid third is a bit better paced and more engaging, but by the last 50 pages or so, the author is racing to her conclusion, disposing of characters in a few sentences and dropping some from the narrative altogether, as if she were a bit tired of writing, or had decided she did not want her book to exceed 700 pag ...more

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Jul 31, 2009 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-to-be-read

I got a little sidetracked in the reading of this long book (with a trip to NYC) but it was wonderful. There were a lot of characters and there were a few times when I did not care as much about some of their story lines. That being said, Byatt's writing is magical. She is a vivid storyteller with quite an imagination. I have nothing but complete respect with the many varied plot lines she wove seamlessly into an amazing story. Plus, I really wish she would release all of the stories from Olive ...more

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