Reviews

It's lavish and over the top; a good story sensuously told. What I took away from this was setting, a sense of place. Despite a story that reads like you've been dreaming, Venice is solid and believable. Sure it has that tinge of fantasy, but nothing so overly whimsical to irritate.
I've got a complicated relationship with this author. I hated Oranges aren't the Only Fruit, but loved this book. I like this balance- hating and loving her- and I'm hesitant to read another of her novels, afraid to tip the scales to much in either direction.

(2021 reread: I need to read more of her books)

breadandmushrooms's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

libraryofmoss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Blind date book from a local shop! The owner has incredible taste— they’re always winners. I’d read Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body years ago in college and was captivated by it at the time, I’m surprised I hadn’t gone further. I love how straightforwardly she writes about bodies and love. This book is hard to pin down. It’s both a nonstop adventure and a slow spacious poem. Gruesome reality of war and fanciful extravagance full of beautiful, sensual prose. I’m feeling inspired to revisit Written on the Body again.

Content Warnings

sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

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4.0

A but fragmentary but I love the way she writes. There is a bit of youthfulness in the selection and treatment of a theme that might make it seem kitsch to readers who have read a lot. But really it was really one of the very first works. And I personally admired the presentation of Napolean. If you are into love poems, you will probably like it too. There are lots of quotes I gathered but gonna leave with just one:

"I say I'm in love with her, what does that mean?

It means I review my future and my past in the light of this feeling. It is as though I wrote in a foreign language that I am suddenly able to read. Wordlessly she explains me to myself; like genius she is ignorant of what she does."

Okay two:

I asked him why he was a priest, and he said if you have to work for anybody an absentee boss is best.

Well three and I stop:

She had made him possible. In that sense she was his god.

Like God, she was neglected.

Screw it.

When she hears a boat go by her head pokes out of her nook and she asks you what time of day it might be. Never what time it is; she's too much of a philosopher for that.

eyd's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

justinfarnsworthy's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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