Even though it was filled with exhaustive detail, often drawn directly from Pym's diaries and notebooks (she loved the minutiae of daily life), this biography left me oddly uncertain of the underlying motivations and even the personality of its subject. I felt that I had encountered lots of externals but very little of her inner being. The narrative made it clear that Pym's life had been marked by a succession of attachments to unavailable, uncaring, or downright repellent men (including one Nazi!), yet I could never understand quite why she subjected herself to this treatment, nor what she ultimately made of it all. (It doesn't help that the most important pages from the diaries about some of her most traumatic or embarrassing experiences were ripped out and destroyed.)
Byrne argues that Pym “enjoyed sex” and this made her ahead of her time, that she was a liberated woman and that should encourage and inspire us readers, but it seems to me that this is the sort of liberation that frees MEN to enjoy a woman's favors without offering anything in return in the way of real love or commitment. It's sad, not inspiring.
This does not deter me from wanting to read Pym's novels; on the contrary. I now want to read all of them because I think that I'll find more of Pym's spirit there than in the biography. Her personal life may have all the more given her insight into human relationships, which is what has brought her a loyal and enduring base of fans. I have already enjoyed her first three novels, but now I'm especially interested in reading the later ones that come out of her maturity.
