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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This book grabbbed me early on with its writing style, a combination of myth and history, particularly the story of all the words and the people who had to clean them from the sky.
I wasn't so sure about the final part of the book that set was in modern times as even with the linking of characters it didn't sit quite right. Perhaps it warrants a second reading.
I wasn't so sure about the final part of the book that set was in modern times as even with the linking of characters it didn't sit quite right. Perhaps it warrants a second reading.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
First physical read of 2024! A solid start, I think I’m finally starting to understand Jeanette’s weirder books hahaha keen to read written on the body next… anyway what I loved about this one: the sex (ofc), the way she builds characters and just mainly the prose!
adventurous
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book. It has a lot of narrative variety and surprising twists and turns to keep the reader's attention.
I had no idea before I started it that it was set mostly in the 17th century and I was pleasantly surprised by it.
My favourite section was the one telling the stories of the twelve dancing princesses. I've always liked stories about what happens after the happily ever after and this one did that really well, I thought.
I had no idea before I started it that it was set mostly in the 17th century and I was pleasantly surprised by it.
My favourite section was the one telling the stories of the twelve dancing princesses. I've always liked stories about what happens after the happily ever after and this one did that really well, I thought.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I like this blurb from PW much better than what is on my edition, it gives a much better sense of the book: “Evoking modern physics and antique metaphysics, Winterson's ambitiously eccentric narrative challenges her readers to rupture the boundaries of conventional perceptions and linear experience of time. Her narrative voices, alternating between a Rabelaisian giantess and her foundling son, collapse at times into one another and the characters plunge vertiginously through time and space. On the one hand reworking fairy tales, and on the other evoking the filth, squalor and exuberant bawdiness of 17th-century England in the throes of civil war, Winterson ( The Passion ) eventually locates her characters in present-day London. Graced with striking similes and poetic cadences, the author's prose is clean and strong, and the disjunctive elements of her narrative are integrated elegantly.”
I enjoyed the imagery, language, and metafictional aspects very much. And as it was very short, I didn’t mind some of the less resolved items or very strident take on feminism.
I enjoyed the imagery, language, and metafictional aspects very much. And as it was very short, I didn’t mind some of the less resolved items or very strident take on feminism.
"the most prosaic of us betray a belief in the inward life every time we talk about 'my body' rather than 'i'. we feel it as absolutely part but not at all part of who we are. language always betrays us, tells the truth when we want to lie, and dissolves into formlessness when we would most like to be precise."
this was a very funky fresh read!! i appreciate how winterson weaves in humor between the more philosophical sections of the book, so it never drags or feels like it's taking itself too seriously. also her one-liners are amazing! every once in a while she would drop in something so funny and startling that it would completely catch me off guard and i would laugh out loud. it was the same way when i was reading oranges are not the only fruit - this book def leans more heavily into the fairytale/dreamy/weird style, but it retains the same humor that i really enjoyed in oranges.
my favorite section was definitely the reimagined story of the twelve dancing princesses. my personal favorites:
- the woman who collected religious items and killed her husband after he burned a saint's body wrapped in cloth by wrapping HIM in cloth
- rapunzel, except the older witch is her lover
- the woman whose husband constantly compares her to a falcon, so she tears his liver out of his body and leaves him ("he looked surprised, i don't know why. as your lover describes you, so you are.")
i also really enjoyed the part at the end of the book where the two main character's present-day counterparts are described. she does a great job of drawing connections between the past and present versions of the characters (i like how present-day dog woman thinks of her past self as a patron saint who she calls on for strength) and shuffling the characters back and forth in time. in general, i liked the "philosophical musings on time" parts of the book just as much as i did the "comical unhinged" parts of the book. one of my favorite quotes from the former:
"did my childhood happen? i must believe it did, but i don't have any proof. my mother says it did, but she is a fantasist, a liar and a murderer, though none of that would stop me loving her. ... i will have to assume that i had a childhood, but i cannot assume to have had the one i remember. everyone remembers things which never happened. and it is common knowledge that people often forget things which did. either we are all fantasists and liars or the past has nothing definite in it. i have heard people say we are shaped by our childhood. but which one?"
for such a short book, it is very much an Experience and one i definitely enjoyed! i will for sure be reading more of her work!
this was a very funky fresh read!! i appreciate how winterson weaves in humor between the more philosophical sections of the book, so it never drags or feels like it's taking itself too seriously. also her one-liners are amazing! every once in a while she would drop in something so funny and startling that it would completely catch me off guard and i would laugh out loud. it was the same way when i was reading oranges are not the only fruit - this book def leans more heavily into the fairytale/dreamy/weird style, but it retains the same humor that i really enjoyed in oranges.
my favorite section was definitely the reimagined story of the twelve dancing princesses. my personal favorites:
- the woman who collected religious items and killed her husband after he burned a saint's body wrapped in cloth by wrapping HIM in cloth
- rapunzel, except the older witch is her lover
- the woman whose husband constantly compares her to a falcon, so she tears his liver out of his body and leaves him ("he looked surprised, i don't know why. as your lover describes you, so you are.")
i also really enjoyed the part at the end of the book where the two main character's present-day counterparts are described. she does a great job of drawing connections between the past and present versions of the characters (i like how present-day dog woman thinks of her past self as a patron saint who she calls on for strength) and shuffling the characters back and forth in time. in general, i liked the "philosophical musings on time" parts of the book just as much as i did the "comical unhinged" parts of the book. one of my favorite quotes from the former:
"did my childhood happen? i must believe it did, but i don't have any proof. my mother says it did, but she is a fantasist, a liar and a murderer, though none of that would stop me loving her. ... i will have to assume that i had a childhood, but i cannot assume to have had the one i remember. everyone remembers things which never happened. and it is common knowledge that people often forget things which did. either we are all fantasists and liars or the past has nothing definite in it. i have heard people say we are shaped by our childhood. but which one?"
for such a short book, it is very much an Experience and one i definitely enjoyed! i will for sure be reading more of her work!
I am so conflicted on this book. Large portions were so raw and surreal. But then there were other portions where it felt more like I had lost the thread of purpose of the intertwining narratives. This text was definitely...dense, making it a rather long read for short length. If it wasn’t for that I probably would have given it five stars despite the confusing bits.
both of my current books are just a littlt too depressing so I took a break and picked this one up and read in an hour or two. It was for a book club, so I ignored my misgivings and dove right in.
what an odd book. It's not really my style, written more like fables than an actual novel, but it did hold my interesting teaching some of the lessons through these odd tales.
what an odd book. It's not really my style, written more like fables than an actual novel, but it did hold my interesting teaching some of the lessons through these odd tales.