The constant theme running through this collection of short stories, the first collection by A.S. Byatt, is that of repetition, taking the form of family patterns recurring across generations, the return of the past in the form of ghosts and the disruptive force of family stories. A.S. Byatt was the winner of the Silver Pen Award for her novel "Still Life" (1986). Her other novels include "Shadow of a Sun", "The Game" (1983) and "The Virgin in the Garden" (1981).
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In a uniquely expressive and sensuous response to life's enduring ambiguities, Byatt, author of the critically praised novel, Still Life (1985), unfolds the ll stories that make up this collection. The tales are long, for the most part, and intricately constructed, requiring a reader's full attention. In "Precipice-Encurled" there are intriguing glimpses of poet Robert Browning, now a widower, grappling with self-doubt in an Italian retreat, while a family to whom he is to be an honored visitor experiences a death. Mortality is the leitmotif of the title story as the death of her father in an Amsterdam hospital allows a daughter to examine with new understanding some of the family relationships. Menace is palpable in "In the Air" when a lonely dog walker nearly lives out her prophecy of disaster. In other stories, questions of eternity, of near- and after-death experiences, of desiring the unobtainable form a matrix of complex narrations rich in cultural allusions. For judicious readers, the literary overtones of a probing writer will provide considerable pleasure.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Byatt's formidable intellect and fine sensibility illuminate this varied collection. The title story is dense with recollection and complexity, an intimate family history saved from sentimentality by the intricacy of its detail. In another story, the penetrable conversational border between the living and the dead is as near as "The Next Room." "The Dried Witch" is an immersion in primitive magic, immediate and total; "The July Ghost," a touching chiller. Byatt's interest in the interplay between life and art, memory and creation, the "true moment" and the "storied event" finds expression in such stories about writing as "The Changeling," "On the Day that E. M. Forster Died," and "Precipice-Encurled." Eminently satisfying, for admirers of the excellent Still Life ( LJ 11/15/85). Mary Soete, San Diego P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reflective and intellectual collection of stories,
This review is from: Sugar and Other Stories (Paperback)
A.S.Byatt's first collection of short stories bears all the characteristic hallmarks of her writing: fascination with literature, acute analysis of the life of the mind, and a richness of cultural allusions. The stories are sometimes demanding, and require a second read for a full understanding, but as a whole they possess an allure in their mood of somewhat melancholy introspection. The subjects are, for the most part, middle-aged women, frequently intellectual, examining the pattern of their lives and thought. The strongest story, 'Precipice-Encurled', is a brilliantly constructed tale of encircled lives that paves the way for Byatt's best-seller 'Possession'; 'The Dried Witch' and 'In the Air', meanwhile, centre respectively on an old Korean woman giving herself up to the practice of witchcraft, and a widow coping with fear of the imagination. There's a discussion of cultural clashes in 'Loss of Face', and, in the final title story, a fusion of autobiography and an explanation of the intentions of the collection. I enjoyed these stories, although I would rate the later collection, 'The Matisse Stories', higher. That said, they are atmospheric and rewarding, and a good introduction to a fascinating writer.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another literary collection by Byatt!,
This review is from: Sugar and Other Stories (Paperback)
I marvel at A.S. Byatt's beautiful, literary prose. She has once again floored me with this short-story collection. Sugar and Other Stories centers on musings, philosophies and opinions about literature, culture and the human mind. Each story is enriching, enthralling and thought provoking. They remind me of her series based on the Potter family. My favorite stories are "Precipice-Encurled," "The Next Room," "The Dried Witch," and "The July Ghost." Some of the stories have magic realism in them -- something I find difficult to resist. I recommend this collection very highly. And I recommend that you read Byatt's work if you haven't done. She is an absolute genius!
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