rosemiel's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
very confusing but enjoyable all the same! feels like the smiths’ “cemetry gates” as a book, and it made me want to check out more of ms. jaeggy’s work
coffeecrusader's review against another edition
4.0
Such simple prose that really sings. Jaeggy is a master.
bookscatsandjazz's review against another edition
5.0
Three very short essays / mini-biographies about De Quincey, Keats, and Marcel Schwob respectively. They feel like short stories at times, and it's fascinating to watch how Fleur Jaeggy builds an emotionally resonant narrative while often using details that wouldn't seem relevant at first.
necrogaia's review against another edition
4.0
While the book itself is short, with three short biographies of literary creatives, it should not be rushed through. Every sentences and paragraphs lingers with a sort of heavy melancholy that was written in a way we get to step into these fragments of turning points in their lives.
Really well written overall and not a bore to read.
Really well written overall and not a bore to read.
jeffhall's review against another edition
4.0
Fleur Jaeggy is an author who has been on the edge of my consciousness for a while now, and I'm glad to have finally read one of her books. These Possible Lives is short but intense, featuring three wildly imaginative biographic portraits that (even in translation) sing with the beautiful invention of an ecstatic bibliophile, the same sort of energy that powered Jorge Luis Borge's magical writings.
neenaw's review against another edition
4.0
writers haunted by death: their own or otherwise. amazing insights into history and writers also plagued by depression. short and terse but powerful. stark prose heightens unsettling images. the final one was the best one.
ianridewood's review against another edition
5.0
I've read no biography (or non-fiction at all) as economic with its words and ideas and so rich in story, sound, and voice.