Reviews

Still Life by A.S. Byatt

rhiannoncs's review

4.0

Not quite as strong as [b:The Virgin in the Garden|86888|The Virgin in the Garden|A.S. Byatt|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320497161s/86888.jpg|245459], but not-quite-as-strong Byatt still outranks most authors at full strength, in my book. Stephanie's storyline was the most compelling for me, as she searches for her sense of self after leaving a world of letters for the role of mother and clergy wife. Alexander seems to be included mostly for thematic purposes, at this point - the comparative ease with which he is able to pursue his art and compartmentalize his personal life is striking. Frederica's sexual and intellectual pursuits at Cambridge were diverting, but I wish there were more growth of her character in this book. The ending definitely sets the stage for that in the next book, however.

nle2004's review

5.0

It was a wonderful journey through excellent language and multilayered narration. In the beginning I saw the characters rather like prompts for an exploration of objects and how they influence people's life, language being the main issue. But as the story developed, I got used to every character, started feeling empathy and fell in love with a few.
I admire the beauty of this novel and wish it lasted a bit longer. When I tapped the next page on my Kindle and saw that the book had come to the end, I could hardly believe it was over.
I'm so happy that I read it slowly, going back and re-reading some pages, yet I'm sure I've missed a substantial part of what Mrs Byatt had put in her novel. I'm sure that when I read it next time (I definitely will), I'll get even more pleasure and will discover new issues she wanted her readers to think over.

ithaka2022's review

5.0

Половину книги я читала с прошлого года, а вторую половину - один день.

libkatem's review against another edition

3.0

For the record, I love A.S. Byatt. And I'm a firm believer of reading several books by the same author to get a feel for their style.

I was hoping that if I read this book soon after "The Virgin in the Garden" it would go better. But it didn't. While I felt slightly more invested in the characters, there was nothing that made me need to turn the page. I don't really like Frederica. She's just... I don't know what it is, but I can't bring myself to like her.

And this needs to be said. I hate it in books when the author makes direct observations to the reader. It's a habit of Victorian authors and Byatt makes use of it here. I prefer to suspend reality and pretend that these characters are real. When the author makes the observation (rule 1 - show, don't tell!) it knocks me out of the story.

It's part two of a quartet, and maybe I'll read the others someday, but I think I'll be reading other Byatt books.

deea_bks's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, what a ride! Byatt's wonderfully erudite voice left me flabbergasted. I will definitely have to read The Virgin in the Garden once again in the future as the fact that I could not connect to it definitely had to do with my mood, not the writing. This second volume of The Frederica Quartet is simply splendid. It was a wonderful delight for all my senses! Hats off to Dame Byatt once again!

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

I couldn't get really into this book. I never felt the urge to pick it up again.

ianbanks's review against another edition

4.0

The disadvantage to coming to this series having started with the third book is that when you get near the end of the second book you are waiting for an event that heavily influences what happens in the book you started on. Then you become overly attached to particular settings and situations...

The authorial voice is very strong here; there are numerous expositional interruptions. Not the sort we get in the other books, where you get glimpses of a character's future, but full-blown digressions from the good Doctor herself talking about why she chose particular phrases or motifs or even explaining a piece of literature or artwork. It jars at first, but by about halfway through you become used to it, especially when it is explained with as much clarity as Byatt infuses it with. Not having read everything by Byatt (yet!) I don't know if this a particular quirk of hers (I haven't encountered it in any of the other books of hers I've read to date (roughly a third of her corpus) so can't really say with any authority).

Like the first book, this took some time to get going but when it does we see a much more assured and confident voice as well as new depths and dimensions to the cast of characters.

But when it came to the event that I was waiting for, I was still taken by surprise and there is a paragraph - a single paragraph, just three or four lines - in the following chapter that ruined me and caused me to shed manly tears.

Aside from the authorial inserts this is a fantastic book and I'm looking forward to the final volume (I only reread the third a few months back, so shan't be revisiting).

donnawaters's review

4.0

i have to say upfront that i found this book (and its predecessor the virgin in the garden) difficult but have loved them too. its been a long time since i have read something on this scale. its made a difference i think doing a creative writing degree as i can see as byatt use of metafiction and intertextuality etc, but still a wonderful cast of characters. i am a very character driven reader. starting on the third of the trilogy babel tower now.

bloodandpoppies's review against another edition

3.0

It's a decent book overall, but there is this one moment of brilliance that made it for me. It might not strike anyone else the same way, but it's still worth a look.

maddyjacob's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really brilliant :0