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nohoperadio's review against another edition
4.75
Haha hell yes. So fictional texts-within-the-text are a well-known Byatt thing, her two big commercial successes Possession and The Children’s Book use that pretty heavily, but this is her seeing how much fun she can have pushing it to the limit and it’s glorious. The narrator is trying to write a biography of a fictional biographer of a fictional Victorian explorer/scientist/novelist/etc., discovers a pile of notes by said biographer that seem to be towards an unwritten work covering the lives of three non-fictional European intellectuals of no obvious connection, tries to glean biographical insight from these notes even though most of them seem to be just verbatim quotations from other people’s biographical works of which I frankly don’t know which are fictional and which not.
This is a slim novel compared to the other two I mentioned but boasts much higher quantities of metatextual fuckery than either. I’m pretty sure more than half the wordcount here is at least one meta-level deep. If that sounds boring and frustrating, it is, but only just enough for it to be very very funny. And somehow she still fits a whole entomology subplot in there towards the end that’s like barely related to the biography stuff but still narratively satisfying! One could argue that Possession is the better A S Byatt novel, but The Biographer’s Tale is without question the A S Byattest A S Byatt novel. That’s very much a compliment.
kittenscribble's review
3.0
Literary playfulness. A graduate student, bored of postmodernism, decides to immerse himself in solid facts by writing the biography of a biographer. He quickly drowns himself in bits of tantalizing facts, remnants of another man's life; he must again turn to the real world, and the people (especially the women) in it, to pull himself back out. Beautiful writing, almost dreamlike.
smbla's review
3.0
Complicated, interesting, confusing vintage Byatt. The search for Destry Scholes Destry the biographer of Edward Boles-a gentleman,scientist, adventurer, author, and politician is a fascinating start. How much does the biographer add/correct/diminish in the representation of the subject? To be able to take on such a complex individual as Edward Boles equates the biographer with the same knowledge and interests as his subject-so he must be even more of an interesting character. Byatt always layers her work and in this case the layers diminish the story. Lineas, Galton, Ibsen and their supposed fantasies detract from what was a witty narrative.
cakefairy's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
My personal tastes don't run to a fictional autobiography of a postmodern literature student-cum-fictional biography of a fictional biographer of a fictional Victorian polymath. It feels like it would be popular with postmodern literature students.
smm231's review
5.0
Even when A.S. Byatt's plots don't particularly interest me, her writing is so amazing that it carries me along.
sarahreadsaverylot's review against another edition
4.0
An interdisciplinary feast.
I'm still not sure what I make of her protagonist: the post-post-structuralist biographer of the biographer of the taxonomist, the statistician, and the dramatist. He is an intriguing combination of empathy and satire--Byatt's signature blend of homage to and mockery of the ivory tower.
Research and scholasticism are top-notch, as can only be expected, and her representation of collection and taxonomy is breathtaking. Myth, magic, and metaphor abound, as does her sense of art and irony.
I definitely need to read this again to get the full impact, but I can't wait.
I'm still not sure what I make of her protagonist: the post-post-structuralist biographer of the biographer of the taxonomist, the statistician, and the dramatist. He is an intriguing combination of empathy and satire--Byatt's signature blend of homage to and mockery of the ivory tower.
Research and scholasticism are top-notch, as can only be expected, and her representation of collection and taxonomy is breathtaking. Myth, magic, and metaphor abound, as does her sense of art and irony.
I definitely need to read this again to get the full impact, but I can't wait.
piercedkl's review
5.0
This was a tough one. The story is good with a lot of information but it is not a straight forward tale. There are a lot of historical characters that are named - quite a few of which I don't know. BUT I love the way she writes and I'm glad I read it.
lizdesole's review
1.0
I usually love Byatt though there have been times that I found the beginning of her books rough going. This one I actually gave up on. I never do this. It's just far too much like the diary of a not very interesting English Lit grad student