Assembling My Atheneum: A.S. Byatt

Last month, while musing about my home library, I suddenly had an idea for a series. Since I would ideally build my home library by buying the complete works of an author after I read and loved one of her books, why not do some posts about who those authors would be? And I decided to title it Assembling My Atheneum, since I’m kind of a fan of alliteration, I was born in Athens, and it speaks to my classics student nerdiness. Also, ‘atheneum’ can mean not only ‘a place where materials are available for reading’ but also ‘an association for the promotion of learning.’ Since I read for education as much as pleasure, it felt appropriate!

Of course, since then, I’ve been a bit paralysed with indecision…what author should I kick things off with? Should I go with one of my very favourites, even though none of them are precisely obscure? Or should I mainly feature lesser-known authors? In the end, I decided to begin with an author who I can always depend on: A.S. Byatt.

Official Website

I first read Byatt during the summer break after my first year of college, when I was 18. I was on a short story kick at the time, so I got her collection Little Black Book of Stories (then just-published) out from the library. I can remember how lovely the book was; a rich hardback, with an attached ribbon bookmark and the most sumptuous feeling cover. And then I read the stories, and I fell in love. I can remember the details of all of them now, some six years later, but I especially remember “Body Art,” with its unforgettable imagery related to pregnancies and abortions and fetuses and “The Stone Woman,” a lovely fairy tale about a woman who actually begins to turn to stone. The writing was as rich and delicious as the cover, and I was hooked!

Since then, I’ve been working my way through her backlist, and I have yet to be disappointed. Of her five published short story collections, in addition to Little Black Book I’ve read Elementals, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, and The Matisse Stories. That means I only have her earliest collection, Sugar and Other Stories, left. On the novel front, I’ve read The Children’s Book, A Biographer’s Tale, Angels & Insects, and Possession (twice), which leaves her two earliest stand-alones, The Shadow of the Sun and The Game. She also has a quartet of novels, of which I’ve only read the first one: The Virgin in the Garden. That leaves (in order) Still Life, Babel Tower, and Whistling Woman. I have yet to try any of her nonfiction, which includes literary criticism and essay collections. She’s definitely got a nice full bibliography, which makes sense since she’s been publishing for over 40 years.

For being one of my favourites, I don’t actually own much of her work: I only have hard copies of The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, The Virgin in the Garden, and Whistling Woman (which I picked up a thrift store last month, but which I obviously won’t be reading for awhile). So I’m far from my ideal of a complete Byatt collection!

If you haven’t tried Byatt but would like to, you can of course begin with her most famous novel, Possession. But that’s a pretty big commitment, so if it has you nervous I’d recommend starting with The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye. It’s a collection of several short stories, all told in a fairy-tale style, and the title novella, which must be one of my very favourite pieces of her writing. Angels & Insects is a collection of two novellas, both set in Victorian England, so if you’re a Victoriana enthusiast, you could begin there instead. Or if you prefer your prose to be less baroque, The Virgin in the Garden is quite straight-forward, and a fascinating look at a girl studying at Oxford in the 50s, when that was still unusual. That’s the one I’d suggest first to fans of books like those Persephone Press publishes. I recognise that Byatt isn’t for everyone, but for me she’s one of those authors I instantly click with. Opening up one of her books is like receiving a decadent box of chocolate truffles: I savour every moment.

A.S. Byatt titles I’ve talked about on my blog: The Virgin in the Garden | The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye | Angels & Insects | Elementals

I’m still playing around with the best format for this feature, so do give me feedback! I haven’t included any biographical details, because frankly I’m the kind of reader who avoids learning about authors’ lives; I prefer to know them solely through their writing. But if there’s anything non-biographical that you think would enrich these kinds of posts, let me know. :) I do know the button isn’t precisely book related, but I can’t make my ideal button until I’ve moved and set up my reading room, so I just grabbed a photo off my harddrive. Think of this is an interim one!

ETA: I thought I’d pop back by and say that if my new feature inspires you to do a similar post/series of posts on your own blog, that’s wonderful! I’m all for spreading book and author love. :) Since I don’t want to host anything coordinated (i.e.: a meme) though, I would ask that you come up with your own title/image. That way it’ll keep an informal/unofficial feel!