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jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, it's been a few years since I read this, so I'm a little fuzzy on details. The way I remember it, the narrator is someone who writes love stories for other people to give to the ones they love. Then it seems like the narrator starts to fall in love with one of the people the story is intended for. But all of that is really just secondary. What I really enjoyed (and what was really the focus of the book) were all the different love stories and all the different ways the narrator found to portray love. Don't get the idea that it's a romance, because it's not even close. It's something that is really different and hard to define. I truly enjoyed it.
msloan's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
yvkhan's review against another edition
4.0
Every fan of Winterson reads her works for the exact same reason - she loves, and loves passionately. This passion oozes from every romance she writes, and this one is no exception.
However, I must say that The PowerBook is a very convoluted novel. It explores time, love, cyberspace - all distinct ideas, muddied together in the novel, rendering interpretation rather difficult. Many pages feel loaded with metaphor, but the sheer amount of it makes deciphering each and every one a rather laborious - if not unbearable - task (I gave up rather quickly). The cyberspace aspect, in particular, is rather confusing - Winterson seems to have an interest in technology (See also: The Gap of Time, Frankissstein), but her dabbles in it feel like tangents, almost, compared to the weight and strength of her love,
Also, let’s not forget about how Ali’s tulips became a penis they then used to fuck a princess. Is it feminist? Maybe. Is it relevant to love? Insofar as lesbianism is inherently feminist, yes. However, as a whole, this event just feels like an unsuccessfully comedic digression that just serves to discourage the reader from continuing their read.
But at the end of the day, Winterson can do no wrong in my eyes. As long as she keeps writing in such an enthralling fashion, I don’t see how I could ever give her less than 3 stars.
However, I must say that The PowerBook is a very convoluted novel. It explores time, love, cyberspace - all distinct ideas, muddied together in the novel, rendering interpretation rather difficult. Many pages feel loaded with metaphor, but the sheer amount of it makes deciphering each and every one a rather laborious - if not unbearable - task (I gave up rather quickly). The cyberspace aspect, in particular, is rather confusing - Winterson seems to have an interest in technology (See also: The Gap of Time, Frankissstein), but her dabbles in it feel like tangents, almost, compared to the weight and strength of her love,
Also, let’s not forget about how Ali’s tulips became a penis they then used to fuck a princess. Is it feminist? Maybe. Is it relevant to love? Insofar as lesbianism is inherently feminist, yes. However, as a whole, this event just feels like an unsuccessfully comedic digression that just serves to discourage the reader from continuing their read.
But at the end of the day, Winterson can do no wrong in my eyes. As long as she keeps writing in such an enthralling fashion, I don’t see how I could ever give her less than 3 stars.
ruxandra_grr's review against another edition
5.0
You can change the story. You are the story.
It's been so long since I read something like this and it was absolutely wonderful. It's been a lot (a year and change) since I picked up this book from the lending library of a musty, wonderful little book shop. The woman who kept the book shop died suddenly and I think I did not want this book to end, I couldn't finish it, because then the woman would be actually dead. (It would not be the first time I did that and I still haven't finished *that* book).
But love is the only clock that is worth keeping, as Alix, the main character in the book, says. This is a story about someone trying to understand love through stories. Read, reimagined, and written. There is so much passion and freedom and intensity and feelings, that I felt right at home within the pages. There is a fluidity to it (gender, time, space-fluid) that I really loved. It helped me remember things. It helped poke at the open wound of my heart and made some space there for feeling (not gonna apologize for being dramatic, if it's like emotionally true).
It's been so long since I read something like this and it was absolutely wonderful. It's been a lot (a year and change) since I picked up this book from the lending library of a musty, wonderful little book shop. The woman who kept the book shop died suddenly and I think I did not want this book to end, I couldn't finish it, because then the woman would be actually dead. (It would not be the first time I did that and I still haven't finished *that* book).
But love is the only clock that is worth keeping, as Alix, the main character in the book, says. This is a story about someone trying to understand love through stories. Read, reimagined, and written. There is so much passion and freedom and intensity and feelings, that I felt right at home within the pages. There is a fluidity to it (gender, time, space-fluid) that I really loved. It helped me remember things. It helped poke at the open wound of my heart and made some space there for feeling (not gonna apologize for being dramatic, if it's like emotionally true).
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
Would you enter a story for the freedom of a night? Even if it changed you? Transformation, telling and retelling... The aphoristic style is what I do associate with Jeanette Winterson, and the telling of love and desire - and Spitalfields in this case. All very interesting (with only occasionally being a bit wearying) and I did enjoy reading this book.
ju_marchant's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ivostarr's review against another edition
4.0
What I love about Jeanette Winterson is that you can expect the unexpected in the way that she tells a story. I had read an interview with her where she said that she continually searches for new ways to unfold a story, and her desire to be an original storyteller comes through in The Powerbook.
I also enjoy reading Winterson's prose because of the poetry that lies within. I'm often drawn to writers with a flair for poetic prose, but she integrates poetry into her prose, which feels an entirely different thing. I really like it.
Winterson's passion for writing and examining sex, love, and relationships is evident in most of her work. And, her clever, strange, sexy, challenging, intelligent and most certainly creative prose style makes her a unique voice in fiction today.
I also enjoy reading Winterson's prose because of the poetry that lies within. I'm often drawn to writers with a flair for poetic prose, but she integrates poetry into her prose, which feels an entirely different thing. I really like it.
Winterson's passion for writing and examining sex, love, and relationships is evident in most of her work. And, her clever, strange, sexy, challenging, intelligent and most certainly creative prose style makes her a unique voice in fiction today.
lily__s's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5