Comments on: The Children’s Book – Book Review

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:01:55 +0000

Chris: I totally agree!!

By: Chrisbookarama

Chrisbookarama — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:54:05 +0000

This was my first Byatt too. I loved it as well. It was a big book to take on but worth reading.

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:00:24 +0000

Matthew: Thanks for sharing your thoughts…I’ve added Byatt’s first two books to my wish list based on your recommendation! I will eventually read Possession because I am trying to read all the Booker winners. Re: The Children’s Book, I actually don’t mind a huge cast of characters…and I’m a sucker for family sagas, so it was a natural fit for me (I also adore fat, chunky books *laughs*)

By: matthew

matthew — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:34:35 +0000

For fans of The Children’s Book, I would not recommend tackling Possession. Instead, I would start with the first book of her Frederica Quartet, entitled The Virgin in the Garden. The first two books are easily the best things that Byatt has ever written. Possession just seems like a minor work in comparison to the beauty and technical prowess displayed by Still Life, the second Frederica novel.

The Children’s Book was good, but suffers from too many characters and an undercooked climax. I still enjoyed it, but it could have been better with more pages or fewer characters.

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:22:17 +0000

Kristen: For a fat book, this one was relatively easy to get through!

Stephanie: I would have printed out the Wiki character list before I started had I known about it. Hope it helps orient you in the beginning!

J.T.: Don’t feel bad – this was my first Byatt and I was beginning to feel like the only person out there who hadn’t read anything by her!

Swapna: I’ll look forward to your thoughts on Possession as I haven’t read that one yet.

By: S. Krishna

S. Krishna — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:51:09 +0000

You know, I still have not read any A.S. Byatt. I need to tackle Possession before I turn to this one. Great review!

By: J.T. Oldfield

J.T. Oldfield — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:48:02 +0000

Bayatt is one of those authors who I have no idea why I still have not read.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:40:13 +0000

Thanks for linking to the wiki list. That should definitely come in handy when I read this book, which I really want to!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:01:00 +0000

I’m so glad to hear good things about this one as I have it here to read. It’s so big it is a little intimidating although I have liked Byatt in the past.

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:00:43 +0000

JoAnn: I don’t want to discourage you from reading Wolf Hall – but I would definitely tell you to read Byatt’s book (especially if you like all those things like sprawling, family saga, etc…) This is just the kind of thick, chunky book I adore!!