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‘Driven toward endings’: A.S. Byatt’s Possession
$240
Reviewing A.S. Byatt’s Possession in The New York Times, Jay Parini declared it “a tour de force that opens every narrative device of English fiction to inspection without, for a moment, ceasing to delight.” Readers agreed. The novel was a surprise bestseller and was awarded the 1990 Booker Prize. It was subsequently adapted as a feature film and a BBC radio play. Byatt’s formally inventive, deeply compelling book is a hybrid of literary and historical fiction, detective story, and romance that shifts between the Victorian age and the twentieth century. Byatt incorporates poetry, letters, diary entries and documents into a smart, suspenseful, comic, and technically brilliant narrative. In her hands, the story of two modern academics uncovering the secrets of two Victorian poet-lovers becomes a page-turner. Academia has never been so gripping.
In this Delve seminar we’ll give ourselves up to enjoyment of the story but will also pay close attention to form and language, looking closely at how the novel is constructed and reading the work of the Victorian poets (the Brownings, Christina Rossetti, and others), from whom Byatt draws her inspiration. We will also discuss the novels’ reception, influence, and adaptations.
Text: Possession by A.S. Byatt (Vintage ISBN: 0679735909)
Access Program
We want our writing classes and Delves to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and Delve tuitions at a reduced rate. Most Delves have at least one access spot available.
Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.
