Rating: 
Summary: A Must for Byatt Fans!
Review: Still Life is the second of A.S. Byatt's sequenced novels that begin with The Virgin In the Garden. The novel continues to chronicle the Potter clan in the late 1950s. Can you dive into the second without having read the first? Probably. In the early part of Still Life, Byatt provides just enough background to situate the characters. Of course, "just enough" will never be the same as reading the first novel.Still Life reads differently from The Virgin in the Garden, the author less obssessed with moment-to-moment reporting through painstakingly-gathered details. It is more sprawling, emphasizing characters' growth over a wider span of time (relatively speaking). What hasn't changed is Byatt's love for and mastery of language, and concern for the life of the mind. The novel contains many passages where Byatt boldly, and almost intrusively, airs her provocative views on everything from writing, visual perception, love, to politics (i.e. delivered in the authorial first person instead of through a character's mouth or mind). But she is also an astute observer of the ordinary, whether depicting childbirth, adultery, or domestic vignettes. There's something for everyone here. The final section is a shocker. I finished the book not quite convinced that a freak accident belongs in a literary novel. All the same, be prepared to read some moving passages on grieving.
Rating: 
Summary: AN APT TITLE
Review: There is little movement in this exploration of a mid level suburban English family. Admittedly, there are passages of remarkable insight, but enormous amounts of time are devoted to the author's obsessions with parturition, infant development,
pale sexuality, and show-offy displays of her academic credentials in literature. I kept hoping for some original thoughts and theories of human behavior, but was disappointed and bored. Much of this material has been explored before and with greater skill and intelligence. As I moved from page to page it reminded me of slogging through the swamps of Mississippi, on bivouac, back in 1945. It was something that had to be done, but I wondered why.
Rating:
Summary: AN APT TITLE
Review: This is a book that made me want to look at paintings. That statement probably won't make any sense to someone who has not read the parts of A.S. Byatt's writing that are so gloriously detailed and visual, but this made me want to go to museums and really really look at Impressionist paintings. I should also, probably more helpfully, say that this is a grand story of an English family in the 1950s--ultimately quite sad, but very insightful and socially and personally conscious. You really love the characters in all their complexity by the end of this. One of the other reviewers commented on a section that dealt with pregnancy and birth in the national health system of England--ironically an experience my mother describes in very similar detail from her pregnancy with me. I also found that section deeply moving. This is a sequal to The Virgin in the Garden, which is ambitious and harder to read. The characters here have grown and are much more sympathetic and human. You care very deeply for them.
Rating: 
Summary: Complex and Visual
Review: This is a book that made me want to look at paintings. That statement probably won't make any sense to someone who has not read the parts of A.S. Byatt's writing that are so gloriously detailed and visual, but this made me want to go to museums and really really look at Impressionist paintings. I should also, probably more helpfully, say that this is a grand story of an English family in the 1950s--ultimately quite sad, but very insightful and socially and personally conscious. You really love the characters in all their complexity by the end of this. One of the other reviewers commented on a section that dealt with pregnancy and birth in the national health system of England--ironically an experience my mother describes in very similar detail from her pregnancy with me. I also found that section deeply moving. This is a sequal to The Virgin in the Garden, which is ambitious and harder to read. The characters here have grown and are much more sympathetic and human. You care very deeply for them.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars; almost perfect
Review: This is a breathtaking novel. I was not that enthusiatic about The Virgin in te Garden but this book was amazing on every level. I love the development of these characters (who seem very real, very Known to me). Frederica is especially well developed. Her intelligence and lack of self-knowledge are an endearing package. I personally love the intricate explanations of ideas- it is refreshing to read about things that I think about and yet have never found elsewhere. My only real probelm with the book is that the author's voice intrudes too much; it isn't necessary to me to be AWARE of the fact that this is a novel. Byatt almost wants us to be aware that this is fiction when I would always rather be in that pleasant state of believing in the fiction. But overall, I couldn't put this book down; what happens at the end is shockingly sad. I wonder what book 3 in the series will bring.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars; almost perfect
Review: This is a breathtaking novel. I was not that enthusiatic about The Virgin in te Garden but this book was amazing on every level. I love the development of these characters (who seem very real, very Known to me). Frederica is especially well developed. Her intelligence and lack of self-knowledge are an endearing package. I personally love the intricate explanations of ideas- it is refreshing to read about things that I think about and yet have never found elsewhere. My only real probelm with the book is that the author's voice intrudes too much; it isn't necessary to me to be AWARE of the fact that this is a novel. Byatt almost wants us to be aware that this is fiction when I would always rather be in that pleasant state of believing in the fiction. But overall, I couldn't put this book down; what happens at the end is shockingly sad. I wonder what book 3 in the series will bring.
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