Hey! Sorry for barging in like this as a newbie, but seeing a post about one of my favourite writers seemed as good a time as any :)
I don't know anything about Byatt the person. I don't often try to find out about writers or actors or other creators I like because I'm afraid of being disappointed or disgusted by what I find. LOL
Oh, I don't go looking in the case of authors that often either. Actors are a bit different, but even there I always say that I am more interested in the contents of their bookshelves than their closets or beds.
Byatt's a bit of a special case, though: firstly, because one of my formative university professors wrote her dissertation on Byatt (she is one of the leading experts on Byatt in Germany because of that diss), then she met the author at a conference and geeked out a bit...and apparently Byatt was so caustic and dismissive that my professor was no longer able to read her more recent work because of it. That strengthened me in my belief to stay the hell away from content creators whose work I like, though... But, alas, when she was an academic, Byatt did some work I need to consult for my dissertation. Let me put it this way: her narrators are interesting - her non-fiction voice is more grating.
Nonetheless, you are right about Possession being a true masterpiece. I must have read it half a dozen times by now
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Oh, I don't go looking in the case of authors that often either. Actors are a bit different, but even there I always say that I am more interested in the contents of their bookshelves than their closets or beds.
Byatt's a bit of a special case, though: firstly, because one of my formative university professors wrote her dissertation on Byatt (she is one of the leading experts on Byatt in Germany because of that diss), then she met the author at a conference and geeked out a bit...and apparently Byatt was so caustic and dismissive that my professor was no longer able to read her more recent work because of it. That strengthened me in my belief to stay the hell away from content creators whose work I like, though... But, alas, when she was an academic, Byatt did some work I need to consult for my dissertation. Let me put it this way: her narrators are interesting - her non-fiction voice is more grating.
Nonetheless, you are right about Possession being a true masterpiece. I must have read it half a dozen times by now