Imagining Characters: Six Conversations About Women Writers: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Willa Cather, Iris Murdoch, and Toni Morrison [Paperback]

A.S. Byatt (Author), Ignes Sodre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0679777539 | ISBN-13: 978-0679777533 | Edition: 1st Vintage Books

In this innovative and wide-ranging book, Byatt and the psychoanalyst Ignes Sodre bring their different sensibilities to bear on six novels they have read and loved: Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Bronte's Villette, George Elliot's Daniel Deronda, Willa Cather's The Professor's House, Iris Murdoch's An Unofficial Rose, and Toni Morrison's Beloved. The results are nothing less than an education in the ways literature grips its readers and, at times, transforms their lives. Imagining Characters is indispensable, a work of criticism that returns us to the books it discusses with renewed respect and wonder.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this collection of conversations, leading British novelist/critic Byatt (Possession, LJ 11/1/90) and Brazilian psychoanalyst Sodre discuss novels by six women writers: Austen's Mansfield Park, Bronte's Villette, Eliot's Daniel Deronda, Cather's The Professor's House, Murdoch's An Unofficial Rose, and Morrison's Beloved. The authors bring particular insight into the development of these works (and especially their effect on readers) and of the novel in general. Though a sameness in the prose makes for smooth reading, one is left wishing that the voices of Byatt and Sodre were more distinctive. The book's most effective part is the final conversation, in which the authors discuss the value of dreams and stories, emphasizing the importance of reading and sharing reading through conversation as a valuable means of learning. For academic literature collections.?Jeris Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Two discriminating readers invite us to listen in on seven conversations about six important novels by women. Bestselling novelist Byatt and psychoanalyst Sodre cultivate the art of literary conversation. The underlying premise is that literature in general, and the novel in particular, is a unique and important form of knowledge that calls upon its readers to carry on its imaginary world in conversation and discussion. Both Sodre and Byatt are shrewd readers, as well as voluble conversationalists. However, in print the effects are mixed. Their conversations are shapeless, as conversation often is, and the reader only gradually begins to see the emphasis fall on certain themes and ideas that appeal to their imaginations: fear of marriage, the problem of womanly self-determination, the presence of myth and fairy tale, moral consciousness in fiction. These themes float by in the wash of words without ever taking a clear shape. And too often the language, as in real conversation, is woolly and inexact. But perhaps the most limiting circumstance of this book is the admirably sympathetic relationship between Byatt and Sodre. They are so like-minded that what we have is not a dialogue but instead a monologue in two-part harmony. They don't force each other to clarify, defend, and produce persuasive evidence for their views. These objections notwithstanding, there remains enough stimulating observation and thought to hold the attention of those interested in the authors' favorite books (Mansfield Park, Villette, Daniel Deronda, The Professor's House, An Unofficial Rose, and Beloved) or in the novel as a way of knowing the world. Or in Byatt's view--which is aligned with that of Iris Murdoch--``all art but the very greatest is consolation and fantasy, but really great art is a form of knowledge.'' Byatt and Sodre attempt to bring out the knowledge that resides in art alone. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books edition (September 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679777539
• ISBN-13: 978-0679777533
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,525,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eavesdropping on Great Conversations, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Imagining Characters: Six Conversations About Women Writers: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Willa Cather, Iris Murdoch, and Toni Morrison (Paperback)

The happiest moments of a liberal arts education usually take place late in the evening in a dormitory lounge or in a local bistro over several cups of coffee. They're conversations, often between two similarly minded people, that explore a favorite subject. Browsing through Imagining Characters is like lingering in a seat at the next table.

The works selected are an English major's hit list of mainly nineteenth century women's novels. Byatt and Sodre bring their experience as a fiction writer and a clinical psychologist, respectively, to their understandings and develop complementary insights rather than rigorous debates.

This isn't everyone's cup of java. The reader who enjoys this volume probably relishes at least half of the novels discussed, smiles at being called a feminist, and prefers discussion to formal criticism.