Sugar and Other Stories

by A.S. Byatt

Book Overview

Collected in a single volume for the first time--an unforgettable book of short stories from the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession that explores the fragile ties between generations, the dizzying abyss of loss, and the elaborate memories we construct against it.

In this book of short fictions, A.S. Byatt compels us to inhabit other lives and returns us to our own with new knowledge, compassion, and a sense of wonder...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679742271
• ISBN13: 9780679742272
• Release Date: November 1992
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Another literary collection by Byatt!

I marvel at A.S. Byatt's beautiful, literary prose. She has once again floored me with this short-story collection. Sugar and Other Stories centers on musings, philosophies and opinions about literature, culture and the human mind. Each story is enriching, enthralling and thought provoking. They remind me of her series based on the Potter family. My favorite stories are "Precipice-Encurled," "The Next Room," "The Dried Witch," and "The July Ghost." Some of the stories have magic realism in them -- something I find difficult to resist. I recommend this collection very highly. And I recommend that you read Byatt's work if you haven't done. She is an absolute genius!

Reflective and intellectual collection of stories

A.S.Byatt's first collection of short stories bears all the characteristic hallmarks of her writing: fascination with literature, acute analysis of the life of the mind, and a richness of cultural allusions. The stories are sometimes demanding, and require a second read for a full understanding, but as a whole they possess an allure in their mood of somewhat melancholy introspection. The subjects are, for the most part, middle-aged women, frequently intellectual, examining the pattern of their lives and thought. The strongest story, 'Precipice-Encurled', is a brilliantly constructed tale of encircled lives that paves the way for Byatt's best-seller 'Possession'; 'The Dried Witch' and 'In the Air', meanwhile, centre respectively on an old Korean woman giving herself up to the practice of witchcraft, and a widow coping with fear of the imagination. There's a discussion of cultural clashes in 'Loss of Face', and, in the final title story, a fusion of autobiography and an explanation of the intentions of the collection. I enjoyed these stories, although I would rate the later collection, 'The Matisse Stories', higher. That said, they are atmospheric and rewarding, and a good introduction to a fascinating writer.