Possession

By: A. S. Byatt

Narrated by: Virginia Leishman

Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of England's Booker Prize and a literary sensation, Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story.

As a pair of young scholars research the lives of two Victorian poets, they uncover their letters, journals, and poems and track their movements from London to Yorkshire - from spiritualist seances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany. What emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passion and ideas.

©1990 A.S. Byatt (P)1999 Recorded Books

The greatest book I've ever read.

I have read a lot and this is number one. Before it, Tess of the d'Urbervilles was the best. Ms. Byatt has created a truly unique and, at the same time, truly historical masterpiece. If you love classic literature, don't miss this. I have read and listened to it maybe eight or nine times since 2003, and I discover something new each time; I wonder at the author's craftsmanship each time.

Digitization errors! Please do some QA in your files.

I love this story. But there are horrible skips in the audio. See the reading of Swammerdam in part 12. Someone should be listening to these titles and making sure they surivived digitization particularly if you're ripping them from CDs. Sheesh.

Rediscovering a Favorite

I love this book -- read it when it first came out and then again for a book club. Several years have passed. One of the things I love about Audible is finding a fondly remembered book, then discovering a whole new experience in the hearing of it! Possession is very well narrated here, and I just had a wonderful wallow in the joys of this book's language! The plot combines poetry, historical and contemporary romance, and a literary mystery. Possession is not for everyone, but, if you have the occasional poetic and romantic inclination, make the investment.

style is heavy-handed

Any additional comments?

This book has a style and characters that are not that exciting to me, but would probably be to someone else. The characters like libraries and manuscripts and probably (it's been a while since I read it),a spot of hot tea to really make the world right. It was all very into the joys and nail-biting of academia, if that's what you like, with an extra teaspoon of fuss-budget. The characters seem a little geriatric for as young as they're supposed to be. Some books of this genre really work for me (give me Jane Austen and yes, some Earl Grey),and I wish this could have been one. (The Historian by E. Kostova was good, too).

Beautiful

Leisham does a masterful job of reading - sensitive, passionate, respectful. A beautiful love story wrapped in mystery.

enjoyed it more hearing it

I've loved Possession for a long time but hearing it made everything in it much more tangible and personal. It's incredibly well done ,

Narrator mistakes

Would you try another book from A.S. Byatt and/or Virginia Leisham?

yes

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

There are two big mistakes in this reading. There is NOTHING in the background of the character of Mortimer Cropper that suggests he should have a southern accent. He's an academic from New Mexico who happens to be rich. He's not a plantation owner or even a wealthy businessman from the south. Having a grandparent from Mississippi would not account for the southern drawl he's been given either. It's very, very annoying to listen to him whenever his character shows up.

Also as a literary person he would know that Swedenborg is not pronounced

Any additional comments?

Except for the two things I've mentioned I thought the narration was excellent. There was sufficient change in the voices to distinguish the different characters and the acting was very good. I would be happy to listen to another audio book by that reader.

Beautifully written.

This is a mesmerizing novel, beautifully written and beautifully narrated. The story just won't let you go - you have to know what happened to these characters - both the ones in the past and ones living in the present day. I'm sorry this novel is over.

From skeptic to smitten

I did not imagine that this premise could result in a story with an engaging and uncommon romance, characters that would engender pathos and suspense-filled scenarios! This was my first Byatt read, and I was absolutely floored by the range

Good book

It was a long book but I really liked the meditative quality of the poetry.