[Vwoolf] Woolf and Byatt
Alice Lowe
alicelowe88 at yahoo.com
Sat Aug 9 16:58:11 EDT 2014
An interesting juxtaposition of the novels. I've tracked Byatt’s references
to Woolf in several of her novels—from Still Life to The Children’s Book—usually
as a cultural marker within her characters’ milieu, a dropped name. In The
Fiction of A.S. Byatt (2000), Louise Hadley suggests that Still Life drew on
Woolf’s explorations of women’s psychological experiences using interior monologue.
She also thought Orlando influenced Biographer's Tale.
Alice
www.aliceloweblogs.wordpress.com
On Saturday, August 9, 2014 1:03 PM, Elisa Sparks <SPARKS at clemson.edu> wrote:
Just finished A.S. Byatt's first novel, Shadow of the Sun, a sad rather dark book. Was thinking how interesting it would be to juxtapose it to Woolf's first novel, The Voyage Out, also about the thwarting of a young girl's initiation into maturity. The next Byatt novel is The Game, about two sisters whose intersecting manipulations of fiction and reality ruin their lives...some similar themes to Woolf's sunnier second novel, Night and Day. This produced the following intriguing little chart (of course I have every hope that Byatt produces another few novels, which will destroy this fearful symmetry.) And yes, I do know exactly how much Byatt would detest this comparison. Nevertheless, would love to start a reader's group of some kind to plot through these pairings. Was thinking at least a month per pair. Anyone interested? Can be long-distance.
I am currently contemplating another Woolf/O’Keeffe paper for next year’s conference, but it strikes me that this could turn into a panel. Or perhaps a workshop.
Elisa
A.S. Byatt: Novels/ Virginia Woolf : Novels
1964 The Shadow of the Sun/1915 The Voyage Out
1967 The Game/ 1919 Night and Day
1978 The Virgin in the Garden/1922 Jacob’s Room
1985 Still Life/ 1925 Mrs. Dalloway
1990 Possession: A Romance/1927 To the Lighthouse
1997 Babel Tower/ 1928 Orlando
2000 The Biographer's Tale/ 1933 Flush
2002 A Whistling Woman/1931 The Waves
2009 The Children's Book/ 1937 The Years
2011 Ragnarok: The End of the Gods1941 Between the Acts
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