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167 of 171 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poetry and Prose, July 11, 2002
It's pretty hard not to be impressed with this thing, with its amazing scholarship and spectacular writing. In fact, I don't know that I've ever come across a novel like it, with its poems and its letters and its diaries and its fairy-tale stories. This is literature with a capital "L," so much so that you almost feel you have to genuflect before it every time you pick it up. The story has to do with a contemporary English "Ash" scholar, who discovers while poking around in the dusty old library, what appear to be drafts of heretofore undiscovered love letters, written in the hand of Ash. Randolph Ash, by the way, is a fictionalized major English Victorian poet--probably on a par with Browning or Tennyson--and wasn't known to have had a relationship with any other woman than his wife. After a little detective work, our scholar discovers the identity of Ash's love interest, who it turns out was also a poet--fictionalized Christabel LaMotte. With the help of a female LaMotte scholar, the two then begin an odyssey of literary discovery, uncovering truths in the lives of these literary giants to whom they have spent their young lives studying. To add interest to this already interesting plot is some suspense, in that other, less-altruistic scholars appear to be on their heels, and also there is the smoldering love interest between these two. It is an excellent story but what is truly remarkable about this novel is that Ms. Byatt has also added large chunks of these poets' literary works. There are numerous lengthy poems by both Ash and LaMotte. There are some of LaMotte's stories. There are the letters themselves, written in Victorian prose, and comprising about forty pages worth of text. There is part of the diary written by Ash's wife. And finally, there is a lengthy diary written by LaMotte's cousin, which solves one mystery and opens the door to another. The poetry is superb, excellent on its own, and with each poet displaying a distinct style. The letters also, which begin in a somewhat dry, Victorian way, eventually become more emotional, and quite moving. On top of everything else, these literary creations add a great deal to what we know of Ash and LaMotte, illuminating their character and making them more complex. Indeed, through their works alone, we come to feel a great deal of empathy for both of them. It is a novel which works on many different levels: there is the juxtaposition of the manners and morals of today compared with those of 150 years ago; there is the competition in the trenches of Academe; there is the suspenseful plot; there is the beauty of the poems and letters themselves; and finally, most incredibly, we see how the poems themselves function as metaphors for both the newly discovered love between Ash and Christabel, and the burgeoning love exhibited by those who followed them. It is also an interesting treatise on art, how it is created, and what in the human heart occasionally allows it to flourish. With that said, however, be prepared to be patient. The plot stops dead, often, and the reader is suddenly confronted with forty pages of diaries, or six pages of some epic poem. Take a break if you must, but don't skip over them. Read them. Take your time doing so, and in the end you will find that it has been a very rewarding experience.
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69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Love Story That Is and A Romance That Could Have Been, July 29, 2000
By A Customer
Possession, labeled a romance, is certainly that. But it is also much, much more. The book is a tremendous undertaking of style and verve, a romance on two levels, and a bizarre detective story all rolled into one.The main characters of Possesion are Roland Michell, a true academic and Maud Bailey, a researcher, but the stars of the book are really the long-dead R.H. Ash and Christabel LaMotte. In Possession, Byatt gives much attention to minor detail. In fact, her detailing is so subtle that many nuances may be missed on a first reading. Byatt's writing is beautiful and filled with simple, descriptive language and gorgeous imagery. The majority of the story is rich in both metaphor and allusion, with the following passage being a prime example: "One night they fell asleep, side by side, on Maud's bed, where they had been sharing a glass of Calvados. He slept curled against her back, a dark comma against her pale elegant phrase." Most of the chapters in Possession begin with a fictitious work by Ash or LaMotte, but Byatt has not only written them well, she has fashioned each so that it is in keeping with the character of its fictitious author. Ash and LaMotte are both of the Romantic period, yet Ash is more open and free than is LaMotte, who writes with obvious rhyme and rhythm. It is this--Byatt's ability to create so many different writing styles for each of her characters and fit them to the character so perfectly, that makes Possession come to life for the reader. Possession is not a straightforward narrative, however. Much of the story is told through the letters of Ash and LaMotte, again, beautifully crafted by Byatt. It is through their letters that we really get to know Ash and LaMotte as well as Roland and Maud. The knowledge gained in the past relationship between Ash and LaMotte allows the present-day relationship between Roland and Maud to come to life. Possession is a story of lost romantic love and, as such, it may seem, at first glance, to be just another trite book on a trite and overly-written subject. Nothing could be further from the truth. Byatt has conferred a freshness of outlook on Possession that makes it unlike any other novel of failed romance and love gone wrong. Roland and Maud are, without a doubt, two quite ordinary people. But Byatt has given them something quite extraordinary to do. These two would-be lovers are actually on a quest, and their lives, as well as their love, seem to mirror and parallel Ash and LaMotte's in more ways than one. But all is certainly not smooth sailing for Roland and Maud. Roland has Val, his live-in lover to deal with and Val, unlike many an "unwanted" lover is not a woman to be summarily dismissed. What really makes Possession sparkle and sets it apart from any other typical romance is the connection Roland and Maud have to the past and to Ash and LaMotte. This adds a mystical, almost surreal, quality to the story that could have so easily turned maudlin in the hands of a writer less talented than Byatt. Byatt, however, intertwines past and present with perfection and keeps the reader spellbound with the suspension of disbelief. A few passages containing expletives seem out of place in this otherwise dazzling novel and really seem beneath the obvious talent and ability of a first-class writer like Byatt. Byatt has titled her novel perfectly. The word, "possession," crops out several times throughout the story: the possession of the stolen letters, the possession of the lovers to each other, the possession of the past to the present. Byatt obviously began working with the motif of possession in mind. While certainly not of the romance genre, Possession contains enough romance to satisfy even the most voracious. The characters are creations of tremendous depth and we find it easy to love them or hate them or pity them, but never dismiss them. The intertwining plots work on many levels and work so well that many readers will often find themselves wondering if the story is purely fiction or based in reality. Finally, the beautiful writing captures and holds the reader's attention and adds to the fantasy that is unfolding. Although some readers might find the many letters and poems contained in this book distracting, they do enrich the story and lend a depth that would definitely be lost had Byatt failed to included them. A finely-crafted novel of parallel lives and parallel loves, Possession is, for the most part, a lyrical look, not at what really was, but what so easily could have been.
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71 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complex and charismatic....., June 13, 2004
Having read a collection of short stories by A.S. Byatt, I was already a fan. However, it was for the work of director Neil Labute that I went to see the movie, "Possession", and only then did I realize it was based on what is purported to be Byatt's most important work. I wondered what could make LaBute leave his sardonic field of original screenwriting and adapt this book to a screenplay...and I must say, with some sadness, that his film was only adequate. However, as he must have, I found the plot was truly unique and the concept of possession so interwoven in each character, amazing. And then, the relationship between the two 19th century poets was so moving, I decided to tackle the novel.It is exquisite. First, Byatt, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, discards the concept of a "novel" and subtitles it, "A Romance". Whether she realized it or not, this would result in many "romance novel" readers trying to tackle her 1990 masterpiece, only to discard it as "too long and boring". But Byatt persisted in the classification of a "romance" after taking the meaning of the prose of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote: "When a writer calls his work a Romance....while as a work of art, it must rigidly subject itself to laws, and while it sins unpardonably so far as it may swerve aside from the truth of the human heart -- has fairly a right to present that under circumstances, to a great extent, of the writer's own choosing." Here, Byatt boldly invents two 19th century writers. Stunningly, she juxtaposes their existence with real writers of the period...Lord Tennyson, Goethe, Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Crabb Robinson, etc. She creates long passages of their work, both prose and poetry (some of it epic) and their letters to each other. It is if she gets inside of their heads and has written, disembodied, as each in the language and the culture of the times. Moreover, she instills their work with passages that clarify what was the mystery of their romance. Passages that only become clear when modern day scholars discover the romance, and can attribute the commonality and beauty in each of their works to their love for one another. Most readers will assume that Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, really existed, and will only realize they are fictional after checking search engines carefully! Many others have outlined the plotting here - the parallel story of two modern-day scholars following an inexact trail of evidence they unearth, to document a love story that takes the literary world by storm. Both the modern day and the Victorian romance are between participants (Maud and Roland in this century, Ash and Christabel in the 19th) who are somewhat aloof from the world, imbued by their studies and crafts, and content with solitary existences...almost afraid to give themselves to another in a relationship. Byatt skillfully uses dialogue, the content of letters and poems, and symbolism...the dissection of sea creatures by Ash on his journeys, the stark yearning for the "solitary, empty white bed" that Maud and Roland both desire. The very creation of this work, which won the UK's Booker prize in 1990, and the lasting regard with which it is held, will make it a classic. So, too, will the richness of Byatt's writing and research, and the thrill of the mystery that surrounds Ash and Christabel...and how it is finally solved by the modern day seekers. It is compelling in its second half, beautiful, though somewhat difficult to read in its first. If you must skim the letters and poems in your first read, be sure to read them carefully when you finally pick up the book again (and you will!) because elements of mystery, relationship, manners and morals will all reveal themselves to you, enhancing the story. Think, too, on the layers and layers of "possession" or obsessiveness that are shown by both major and well-sketched minor characters in both time periods of the book. A timeless book, with some sardonic wit that pokes fun at academic society, the somewhat boorish mannerisms of Americans abroad, and the clash between the world and the feminist movement...this is a gem, to be treasured and kept on bookshelves forever. Highly recommended for serious readers.
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