Possession

So I finally finished Possession.* I really enjoyed it once I got farther into it, and I decided to stop reading the poetry. I read the embedded tales and skimmed the letters, but I was really bored by the poems. Oh well.

The novel does all sorts of interesting things, but I am left depressed. I am not a scholar so passionate about my work. I love my research, but I am sick to death with studying for exams and can't imagine ever wanting to leave the country at a moment's notice to track down some literary mystery--and I love mysteries! Perhaps it's also because I'm not the least bit interested in archival research. Oh well. One should never compare oneself to fictional characters anyway; it can only end in disappointment.

Professors have been saying since the beginning of the exam process how much they loved their exams and how much they envy me--getting to do nothing but read what I want!** They are on crack. This is not enjoyable.


*premise: Two scholars of two Victorian poets find letters that suggest a heretofore unimagined affair between the two poets (no one knew they knew each other) and set out to solve the mystery (did they or didn't they?) and keep it a secret form their colleagues until they figure it all out. Correspondence and work of the poets is included in the novel.

**Mind you, if they meant I get to do nothing but read what they want, then that might make more sense. My reading lists are as much their invention as mine, and I'm studying for the exam they make up. I know this is supposed to be enjoyable, and I should love this stuff--as I do love this stuff--but the whole exam process sucks the joy out of the reading.