A Life Spent Reading

A. S. Byatt is a writer and poet who was educated at Oxford, Cambridge and Bryn Mawr, and the depth of her learning and love of language show in every paragraph of this superbly written novel. It is a dual story, first about two modern academics and second about two fictitious Victorian poets. Told in a tripartite structure that is almost equally straight prose, poetry and epistolary back-and-forth, the book spans about a century and a half of English literary history.

Be forewarned: Possession is not an easy read. But oh, the language! If you appreciate unusual metaphor, elegant dialog and believe that words like “aliment” and “odylic” should be brought out from English’s basement and dusted off, you will savor this exquisitely crafted work. If, on the other hand, your idea of a romance novel is taken from Harlequin, you might want to have a dictionary handy…or better yet skip this one altogether.

I will say this: the ending to this verbally and thematically complex novel is possibly the most satisfying I have ever read. If you’re up for a challenge, Possession is most definitely worth your while. It is a book to return to again and again.

This one gets the rarely-given five stars.

I think I like Richard Preston’s stuff even better than I like his brother Douglas’. Richard tends to write more in the way of dramatized real-life stories than novels, and he’s very good at it. The Hot Zone, for example, will make your blood freeze a bit if you take the time to understand what he’s saying at all.

The Wild Trees deals with redwoods. You might not think that that huge trees would lend themselves to drama, but Preston makes it work. There were times I was actually short of breath as I read his descriptions of the scientists climbing around in the California canopy. If you like nature, or conservation, or have ever seen a redwood and wondered what it would be like to climb it, or are just are in the mood for something a little different, this book won’t disappoint you.