lazygal's review against another edition
5.0
Before I go any further, I should say that I love Byatt's work; when I read about this book, I sent to Canada to get a copy as the US edition hadn't yet been released.
This is a Family Saga, only covering many intertwined families and friends rather than many generations. The detail of British history (the Victorian Era, Fabianism, pottery, children's books, etc.) is Byatt's exacting best, giving the reader places to pause as the plot moves forward. The characters are all complex; some you start out liking and end up realizing that they're not worthy of that, while some are the reverse. Only a few remain steady, and those are generally minor characters. Ending with WWI, many of the boys we first meet die (and almost all the deaths are described) while the girls are changed almost beyond recognition.
As with Babel Tower, there's another story (ok, in this case, several stories) intertwined with the Real Story. Here, these are the children's stories Olive writes, the Children's Books. They seemed nicer than the BT tale, although each had a kernel of nasty inside. I also appreciated that the sex was implied or gently described rather than reaching BT's graphic quality.
I know some people have been scarred by reading Byatt. This is the book for those people to give her another try.
This is a Family Saga, only covering many intertwined families and friends rather than many generations. The detail of British history (the Victorian Era, Fabianism, pottery, children's books, etc.) is Byatt's exacting best, giving the reader places to pause as the plot moves forward. The characters are all complex; some you start out liking and end up realizing that they're not worthy of that, while some are the reverse. Only a few remain steady, and those are generally minor characters. Ending with WWI, many of the boys we first meet die (and almost all the deaths are described) while the girls are changed almost beyond recognition.
As with Babel Tower, there's another story (ok, in this case, several stories) intertwined with the Real Story. Here, these are the children's stories Olive writes, the Children's Books. They seemed nicer than the BT tale, although each had a kernel of nasty inside. I also appreciated that the sex was implied or gently described rather than reaching BT's graphic quality.
I know some people have been scarred by reading Byatt. This is the book for those people to give her another try.
mazza57's review against another edition
2.0
This is a family saga of epic proportions. It is also a social history. It has an unusual cadence and some beautiful writing but as a whole it does not really work or capture the imagination.
stacydodds's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ladyhighwayman's review against another edition
3.0
Note to self: Never expect another Byatt work to be as great as Possession; you will only be disappointed.
That out of the way, this is one of those book that has many different layers, takes place over the year of several decades, incorporates a ton of history and has many, many different characters.
Olive Wellwood is a famous writer, interviewed with her children gathered at her knee. For each, she writes a private book, bound in its own colour and placed on a shelf. In their rambling house near Romney Marsh the children play in a storybook world — but their lives, and those of their rich cousins and friends, are already inscribed with mystery. Each family carries its own secrets.
This summary does not even begin to tell what this book is about. I'm not feeling particularly deep at the moment, but I will be as thorough as I can.
At times I felt as though despite that hoard of characters that showed up in The Children's Book, this was not a character driven book. There were a few chapters that did not even include a single character. These chapters felt like they were take out of a history book. It was great to learn about this era - the end of the Victorian era and Edwardian era - but sometimes I was just not in the mood. It felt like Byatt tried to cram as much history as she could. The characters themselves were used to show how the world was changing during this time. The great thing was that you saw the world through different perspectives: upper and lower class; male and female. The Children's Book mostly followed the children as they grew up, but also showed the lives of the adults, in a way so you could understand why the children ended up the way they did.
I didn't particularly have a favorite character because I felt, in a way, that all the characters were out of reach. We never really got to 'know' any of them. We saw them grow up, make bad decisions, fall victim to the times, and fight against society, but we were never able to get too close to them. Still, as events unfolded, I felt sorry for a number of them, particularly at the end, which takes place during WWI.
The Children's Book didn't strike me as wonderful or horrible; it's one of those books that, for me, hits somewhere in the middle.
That out of the way, this is one of those book that has many different layers, takes place over the year of several decades, incorporates a ton of history and has many, many different characters.
Olive Wellwood is a famous writer, interviewed with her children gathered at her knee. For each, she writes a private book, bound in its own colour and placed on a shelf. In their rambling house near Romney Marsh the children play in a storybook world — but their lives, and those of their rich cousins and friends, are already inscribed with mystery. Each family carries its own secrets.
This summary does not even begin to tell what this book is about. I'm not feeling particularly deep at the moment, but I will be as thorough as I can.
At times I felt as though despite that hoard of characters that showed up in The Children's Book, this was not a character driven book. There were a few chapters that did not even include a single character. These chapters felt like they were take out of a history book. It was great to learn about this era - the end of the Victorian era and Edwardian era - but sometimes I was just not in the mood. It felt like Byatt tried to cram as much history as she could. The characters themselves were used to show how the world was changing during this time. The great thing was that you saw the world through different perspectives: upper and lower class; male and female. The Children's Book mostly followed the children as they grew up, but also showed the lives of the adults, in a way so you could understand why the children ended up the way they did.
I didn't particularly have a favorite character because I felt, in a way, that all the characters were out of reach. We never really got to 'know' any of them. We saw them grow up, make bad decisions, fall victim to the times, and fight against society, but we were never able to get too close to them. Still, as events unfolded, I felt sorry for a number of them, particularly at the end, which takes place during WWI.
The Children's Book didn't strike me as wonderful or horrible; it's one of those books that, for me, hits somewhere in the middle.
khyland's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kingfan30's review
2.0
I’ve finally reached the end, boy did this take a while. There are so many characters in this book that I just couldn’t get into my head who was related to who. And the storyline just seems to jump around so much, sometimes after just a paragraph or two. Occasionally is get to a bit that I though I might get my teeth into and enjoy and after a page or two off it would go on another tangent. Not my sort of book I’m afraid.
desirosie's review against another edition
3.0
I found the story and many of the characters to be very compelling. I was a bit bored by Byatt's increasing forays into the historical context toward the end of the book. And like any book that ends right after the first World War. . .it was devastating.
bgg616's review
3.0
Anarchists, imperialists, William Morris, women's rights, exploitation of women, and so on. This huge novel describes a whole raft of people and ideas occupying England at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. A decrepit, broke (financially and artistically) Oscar Wilde appears. Ideas that promote free love and rebellion against societal morals seem to benefit men and contribute to the continued exploitation of women. Some women are in service in houses of the wealthy, underpaid or not paid, and "taken advantage of" (raped). Their "downfall" when they become pregnant in this age when birth control essentially didn't exist, is blamed on them. Children discover their fathers aren't their fathers, and fathers knowing it, use this as an excuse to abuse their daughters sexually.
Many of the themes in the novel had me thinking that the things "we" rebel against in generation after generation are not in fact "new" ideas or ways of living. Also, I considered that when a moral center or core is abandoned, what is left to assure that humans don't engage primarily in self indulgent behavior that harms others? This is the stuff of my religious instruction in Catholic school through 8th grade, and CYO during high school. I will take a moment to be cynical and say we don't have shining models of morality in my country and the leadership. People who tell the truth are fired, and those who follow their conscious (and cite their religiosity) are ridiculed. It is not a shining moment.
Many of the themes in the novel had me thinking that the things "we" rebel against in generation after generation are not in fact "new" ideas or ways of living. Also, I considered that when a moral center or core is abandoned, what is left to assure that humans don't engage primarily in self indulgent behavior that harms others? This is the stuff of my religious instruction in Catholic school through 8th grade, and CYO during high school. I will take a moment to be cynical and say we don't have shining models of morality in my country and the leadership. People who tell the truth are fired, and those who follow their conscious (and cite their religiosity) are ridiculed. It is not a shining moment.
katywhumpus's review against another edition
More than halfway through and decided, while I didn't dislike it, I didn't like it enough to finish. Life is short and there are too many other books to read.