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/lit/ - Literature

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16418218 No.16418218 [Reply] [Original]

Still one of the greatest British novels that I've ever read. The mix of poetry, journal entries, mock academic essays, all tied around two love stories makes it an amazing read! If you haven't read "Possession: A Romance" I highly recommend checking it out! Here is a quick Wikipedia synopsis for you folks that haven't read it:

"The novel follows two modern-day academics as they research the paper trail around the previously unknown love life between famous fictional poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Possession is set both in the present day and the Victorian era, contrasting the two time periods, as well as echoing similarities and satirising modern academia and mating rituals. The structure of the novel incorporates many different styles, including fictional diary entries, letters and poetry, and uses these styles and other devices to explore the postmodern concerns of the authority of textual narratives. The title Possession highlights many of the major themes in the novel: questions of ownership and independence between lovers; the practice of collecting historically significant cultural artefacts; and the possession that biographers feel toward their subjects."

>> No.16418272

>>16418218
>Possession: A Romance

Never heard of it Added it to my Goodreads list, though. Obscure books is why I come to /lit/

>> No.16418287
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16418287

>>16418218
>folks

>> No.16418294

>>16418272
If you enjoy satire of literary academia, Victorian poetry, and the unravelling of a mystery, this book is for you. It uses post-modern literary techniques to further show how we in the modern-era have lost 'something' (which I will not spoil for you). Fantastic novel! Ending had me in tears.

>> No.16418319

>>16418287
I am confused? Do you have an issue with the word 'folks?'

>> No.16418331
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16418331

>>16418319
>I am confused? Do you have an issue with the word 'folks?'

>> No.16418476

>>16418218
I bailed at page 100 despite loving it, will come back to it early next year when I have enough time to savour the experience. Loved the scene where his SO tries to prepare lunch for him, so adorable. Glad I gave this a chance, thought it'd be literary pulp.

>> No.16418680

>>16418218
yes it's good. i met a s byatt once, she's pretty cool
>>16418272
>Obscure
dude it won the booker prize

>> No.16418779

No chick lit, thanks

>> No.16418820

>>16418779
Missing out on a great Booker prize literary novel that will BTFO of most writers you read.

>> No.16419041

>>16418680

I'm looking at this year's Booker prize longlist and I only know like two of the authors and haven't read any of their work. Imo, prizes are meaningless to a books longevity. Just look at the Nobel's and how many people don't read most of those winners.

>> No.16419220

>>16419041
Booker is a bit weird because it constantly replaces the judging panel, so some years it's irrelevant, some years great. Anyway, I think it had a marked impact on the reputation of Ishiguro and on the rediscovery of JG Farrell.

>> No.16419620

>>16419041
>>16419220
Though the Booker, like the Nobel, can be a bit laughable now, back in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's it had some great shortlisters and winners. Just look at the list from 1998 and to 1969. These are some great novels, and "Possession: A Romance" is definitely amongst them as well. Like straight up, her two fictitious poets both are supposed to loosely resemble Robert Browning/Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Emily Dickinson/Christina Rossetti, and the poetry is so fucking good that you could slip verses of it into actual Victorian poetry anthologies and it would probably pass.

>> No.16419779

>>16418218
Byatt is very good. Read The Children's Book and Ragnarok. I think I have all her books.

>> No.16419803

>>16419779
I recently picked up her Quartet: "Virgin in the Garden," "Still Life," "Babel Tower," and "A Whistling Woman." I haven't read "Children's Book" or "Ragnarok," which would you recommend reading first?

>> No.16419823

>>16419803
If you like Elizabethan settings, the quartet is good (symbolically dense). Children's Book is easier and frames the Victorian/WWI shattering of art very well, so I'd say that's a better first read. Ragnarok is fun if you're a Nordic mythology lover, but otherwise quite niche.

>> No.16419835

>>16419823
Thanks! I've only read "Possession: A Romance" and some essays by her, so maybe "Children's Book" is the best route to go down! I've heard that she had to use an Excel sheet because the amount of characters she had was getting overwhelming!

>> No.16419858

>>16419823
Sorry, I'm being misleading: The Frederica Quartet is set in the 1950s-60s, but it uses the coronation of Elizabeth 2 and a verse drama celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth I in Virgin to set up a crazily complex work. The scholarly detail is impressive, but those four are her hardest books to read.

>> No.16421393

>>16419858
I've heard "Babel Tower" is the best out of the four. Would you agree?