September 2019: A.S. Byatt

Back to school with some 'serious' reads by A.S. Byatt. (She's written a lot of scholarly criticism that always seems to come with other books I'm reading.)

What do you plan to tackle, readingwise, in September?

As mentioned above, I've read some of her scholarly work. Haven't read any of her fiction yet, although I did see the film adaptations of Possession and Angels and Insects.

There is a copy of Possession on my bookshelf, so I'm hoping to get to that in September.

For what it's worth, three of Byatt's books are on the various 1001 Books to Read Before You Die lists:
The Virgin in the Garden
Possession
The Children's Book

A.S. Byatt is a completely new author to me! I am going to see what my library has but definitely leaning toward one of the 1001 Books. Thanks for listing them, >2 sweetiegherkin:!

>3 sparemethecensor: No problem!

I have so many other books checked out from the library that I don't think I'm going to get to A.S. Byatt this month, but I look forward to everyone else's thoughts about this month's author.

I just picked up Possession today. Plan to start it this weekend.

For those planning to read Posession, there's a review of it here in The Guardian that's interesting: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jun/20/possession-as-byatt-book-club

The first paragraph succinctly says it: "Before AS Byatt wrote Possession she had been teaching English literature at University College London, and it is often observed that her fiction has an academic quality. Possession is seamed with learning and allusion, like the writing of Randolph Henry Ash, the great Victorian poet whom it creates. Yet this story, whose hero and heroine, Roland and Maud, are academic researchers, is an acid satire on academia. Sometimes it offers secret pleasures of recognition to those readers who might have been through the same seminars and known the same professional absurdities as the author herself."

I've not really been able to participate before, so am thinking that now is the time! I will obtain Possession and give it a try. However, I notice it's on the 1001 list...which is about the worst list I've ever encountered! (I have read 125 of them thus far) In fact, I may not get to Possession..Sept. is almost over and I'm 50% through Michener's Hawaii.

>7 Tess_W: I am quite liking Possession so far! Let me know what you think.

I haven't liked everything I've read from the 1001 list (and I do think certain authors appear far too frequently on it) but I wouldn't say it's that terrible...what do you dislike?

>8 sparemethecensor: At least 80% of what I read. Most especially: Heart of Darkness, The Age of Innocence, Embers, The Handmaid's Tale, The Windup Bird Chronicle, The Burger's Daughter, The Inheritance of Loss, Vathek, The History of Rasselas, The Castle of Otranto, Crash, Blood and Guts in High School, Disgrace, Day of the Dolphin..........off the top of my head! I quit the list about 125 books into it...life is too short to read what you don't like!

>7 Tess_W: Glad to have you in on the conversation!

>8 sparemethecensor:, >9 Tess_W: I've been reading off the list a little more consciously in recent years and I'll admit it's hit or miss. There's been some things I didn't like, some things I thought were okay but not worth a "must-read" categorization, and some that I was really blown away by. For instance, I just finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I never would have picked up without that list, but was absolutely engrossed in from start to finish.

They do definitely feature certain authors WAY too much. Even for those authors who I love, I still think 2 books should be the max. That gives the readers a taste and they can then decide for themselves whether they want to read more by that person.

But I do think that some of the books listed (such as Heart of Darkness, which I didn't care for either) are there more because they have cultural relevancy rather than that they are the best books. If other works repeatedly reference an older book, it might be worth knowing that book.

Just my two cents.

>10 sweetiegherkin: very well put. You've summed up my thoughts exactly. I think some authors appear too frequently (aren't there something like 12 Dickens novels in the original list? TWELVE?!?!? Fewer in the modern list but probably still too many). I also agree some are listed because of their relevance and plenty of classics "matter" even when they aren't "enjoyable" reads. YMMV (everyone's mileage) of course!

>9 Tess_W: I think many of the ones you listed are highly cultural relevant. Heart of Darkness, The Age of Innocence, and The Handmaid's Tale, certainly! I truly liked the latter two but even if you didn't enjoy them you must see the impact they had on society. I found Tale of Genji to be a horrible slog but I know why it's on there. It mattered! It arguably invented novels!

>10 sweetiegherkin:
>11 sparemethecensor:

According to what I read when I checked out the 1001 book (several years ago), selections were made that typified or signified the development of the novel. I'm by no means an expert or a literary critic, and I have enjoyed some on the list: Frankenstein, Crime and Punishment, The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, Silas Marner, and Therese Raquin, just to name a few. I do understand their impact on society in a certain place and time, but that doesn't mean that I in anyway enjoyed them or "got" anything from them. I just find a lot of books on the 1001 book list to be pretentious. Some of them are so obscure they can't be found in English or otherwise. I do read off some lists and thoroughly enjoy those reads: BBC's top 100 read, the Guardian's top 100 reads and suggestions from the history department where I teach (which is where my best reads come from). I'm not at all opposed to difficult or lengthy reads, but they have to mean something to me if I'm going to invest precious time in them.

P.S. I liked Genji!

>12 Tess_W: Since you are in academia, I think you will really like the way Possession skewers some elements of the academy. I am only peripherally connected to academia but I am loving the light satire thus far!

>13 sparemethecensor: I purchased Possession and it's on my ereader, but I will not get to it this month as I'm trying to finish a Michener. I have a compulsion to finish a book before I begin another!

I completely understand. When you do get to it, let us know what you think. I just finished Possession tonight. I liked it a lot.

>11 sparemethecensor: Exactly! Dickens is one of my favorite authors but including basically every major work of his on the list is a tad excessive.

>12 Tess_W: i have to admit, some of the books (and authors) on the list are not known to me, so I am sort of curious what criteria they met to fit on the list. I think the BBC and Guardian lists actually overlap a great deal with the 1001 Books list, but they are greatly condensed so they pick only the really "must-read" ones. Personal recommendations are of course great, especially when you share similar reading tastes with the recommender. :)

You're right that life is too short to spend reading things that don't interest you, but I had to put in my defense of books on the 1001 list ... they aren't necessarily bad just for being on it :)

Oh, I do have to add that one of my personal annoyances with the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list is that sometimes they include just one book in a series, and it's not the first book. Maybe some people don't mind picking up a series title at random, but I have to read them in order, which makes the list even more than 1001 titles for me....

>17 sweetiegherkin: That annoys me as well! I definitely want to read series in order.