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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This story evokes a range of emotions. There are so many beautifully, profound statements in this novel it took my breath away at times-which was my favorite feeling-of the many I experienced when reading this story.
emotional
hopeful
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
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is thirty-one years old, it has been made into a BAFTA-winning BBC drama, and it’s on the National Curriculum. When I say “it’s a hilarious, beautiful, important book“, I doubt anyone will be surprised.
But I read it in one day, hungrily, and it blew me away.
It has flirting of a quality that Georgia Nicolson (Louise Rennison’s majestic teenage creation) would be proud:
‘Melanie,’ I plucked up courage to ask at last, ‘why do you have such a funny name?’
She blushed. ‘When I was born I looked like a melon.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I reassured her, ‘you don’t any more.’
And it has outrageously beautiful prose:
There are many forms of love and affection, some people can spend their whole lives together without knowing each other’s names. Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on the wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name.
Romantic love has been diluted into paperback form and has sold thousands and millions of copies. Somewhere it is still the original, written on tablets of stone. I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never be destroyed. That is why they are unfit for romantic love. There are exceptions and I hope they are happy.
I wish I’d read it when I was 13 and when I was 18. I’ll re-read it whenever I want a reminder that it’s okay to be different and and how to be brave.
But I read it in one day, hungrily, and it blew me away.
It has flirting of a quality that Georgia Nicolson (Louise Rennison’s majestic teenage creation) would be proud:
‘Melanie,’ I plucked up courage to ask at last, ‘why do you have such a funny name?’
She blushed. ‘When I was born I looked like a melon.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I reassured her, ‘you don’t any more.’
And it has outrageously beautiful prose:
There are many forms of love and affection, some people can spend their whole lives together without knowing each other’s names. Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on the wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name.
Romantic love has been diluted into paperback form and has sold thousands and millions of copies. Somewhere it is still the original, written on tablets of stone. I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never be destroyed. That is why they are unfit for romantic love. There are exceptions and I hope they are happy.
I wish I’d read it when I was 13 and when I was 18. I’ll re-read it whenever I want a reminder that it’s okay to be different and and how to be brave.
I had been looking forward to reading (or, actually, hearing) this book for a while, and am keen to read more Winterson but...
Having previously heard her talk about this book, and her life more generally, I had it in my mind that this was a biography. And much of it is, although she is at pains to set out in the forward that it is, indeed, a novel albeit one featuring an exaggerated version of herself. The "autobiographical" elements are interspersed with allegorical stories (sometimes presented as dreams), designed to emphasise the role of storytelling in the creating of memory and personal history.
Personally, I found it a bit of a curate's egg. I struggled with the allegories but I loved the characterisation of Jeanette, her mother and the various other characters that peopled her life. I also found myself empathising - my church background was a bit different from hers, but the Redemption Hymnal featured heavily in both!
With Winterson narrating the book herself the biographical element, downplayed in the aforementioned forward, was strengthened. Perhaps with another reader it would have been easier to see the book as a whole, rather than a collection of pieces. That said, I am now keen to read the more recent volume of *actual* memoirs.
Having previously heard her talk about this book, and her life more generally, I had it in my mind that this was a biography. And much of it is, although she is at pains to set out in the forward that it is, indeed, a novel albeit one featuring an exaggerated version of herself. The "autobiographical" elements are interspersed with allegorical stories (sometimes presented as dreams), designed to emphasise the role of storytelling in the creating of memory and personal history.
Personally, I found it a bit of a curate's egg. I struggled with the allegories but I loved the characterisation of Jeanette, her mother and the various other characters that peopled her life. I also found myself empathising - my church background was a bit different from hers, but the Redemption Hymnal featured heavily in both!
With Winterson narrating the book herself the biographical element, downplayed in the aforementioned forward, was strengthened. Perhaps with another reader it would have been easier to see the book as a whole, rather than a collection of pieces. That said, I am now keen to read the more recent volume of *actual* memoirs.
It was tough not to be a teensy bit disappointed by this one, after having heard it lauded so steadily for the last 16 years or so - maybe it's a five-star book, and I only deserve three stars for having waited so long to read it.
Winterson defied and straddled so many genre conventions that I found myself getting distracted; not because that was a bad thing, but because it was almost TOO good. We've (I've?) been so inundated with memoir and YA and YA memoir that my brain was constantly trying to reconfigure the whole thing into one of those categories.
I think I realized too late that he telling of the story reminded me a lot of the Southern Gothic tradition, except, of course, Winterson is British, so there are lots of savory pies and such. Which makes me want a whole rash of "Pub Grub Gothic" novels and memoirs to devour. How can we make this happen?
Winterson defied and straddled so many genre conventions that I found myself getting distracted; not because that was a bad thing, but because it was almost TOO good. We've (I've?) been so inundated with memoir and YA and YA memoir that my brain was constantly trying to reconfigure the whole thing into one of those categories.
I think I realized too late that he telling of the story reminded me a lot of the Southern Gothic tradition, except, of course, Winterson is British, so there are lots of savory pies and such. Which makes me want a whole rash of "Pub Grub Gothic" novels and memoirs to devour. How can we make this happen?
Me ha encantado. No he podido soltarlo.
Basado en la vida de la escritora, narra la historia de Jeanette, una niña adoptada por un matrimonio ultra religioso, sus experiencias y en como descubre que es lesbiana.
Ante todo, el libro es la historia de la relación de la protagonista con su madre, una mujer difícil y tremendamente fanática. También es la historia de la comunidad donde Jeanette crece, sobre todo mujeres fuertes aunque extremadamente religiosas. Todos los personajes se sienten muy reales, y llegas a entenderlos a todos dentro de su propio mundo.
La narración realista se va alternando con pequeños extractos de realismo mágico a lo largo de toda la novela. Son momentos de fantasía que ayudan a la autora a reflejar sentimientos de la protagonista. A mí ha sido lo que menos me ha gustado (no soy muy fan del realismo mágico), aunque me ha parecido original.
A pesar de ser una historia durilla y difícil, está contada con bastante sentido del humor. Las paranoias de ese grupo religioso son hasta graciosas.
La autora tiene una prosa exquisita y hace reflexiones poéticas a la vez que interesantes. Lo interesante también es que no juzga ni sentencia, muestra y narra su verdad.
En fin, prosa, historia, personajes, british, feminismo, LGTBI, memorias...tocaba muchas teclas para que no me gustara.
“Podría haber sido sacerdote en lugar de profeta. El sacedote tiene un libro con las palabras precisas. Palabras viejas, palabras conocidas, palabras de poder. Palabras que están siempre en la superficie. Palabras para todas las ocasiones. Las palabras surten efecto. Cumplen con su objetivo: consuelan y castigan. El profeta no tiene libro. El profeta es una voz que clama en el desierto, está lleno de sonidos que no siempre adquieren significado. Los profetas claman porque los demonios los acosan. “
Basado en la vida de la escritora, narra la historia de Jeanette, una niña adoptada por un matrimonio ultra religioso, sus experiencias y en como descubre que es lesbiana.
Ante todo, el libro es la historia de la relación de la protagonista con su madre, una mujer difícil y tremendamente fanática. También es la historia de la comunidad donde Jeanette crece, sobre todo mujeres fuertes aunque extremadamente religiosas. Todos los personajes se sienten muy reales, y llegas a entenderlos a todos dentro de su propio mundo.
La narración realista se va alternando con pequeños extractos de realismo mágico a lo largo de toda la novela. Son momentos de fantasía que ayudan a la autora a reflejar sentimientos de la protagonista. A mí ha sido lo que menos me ha gustado (no soy muy fan del realismo mágico), aunque me ha parecido original.
A pesar de ser una historia durilla y difícil, está contada con bastante sentido del humor. Las paranoias de ese grupo religioso son hasta graciosas.
La autora tiene una prosa exquisita y hace reflexiones poéticas a la vez que interesantes. Lo interesante también es que no juzga ni sentencia, muestra y narra su verdad.
En fin, prosa, historia, personajes, british, feminismo, LGTBI, memorias...tocaba muchas teclas para que no me gustara.
“Podría haber sido sacerdote en lugar de profeta. El sacedote tiene un libro con las palabras precisas. Palabras viejas, palabras conocidas, palabras de poder. Palabras que están siempre en la superficie. Palabras para todas las ocasiones. Las palabras surten efecto. Cumplen con su objetivo: consuelan y castigan. El profeta no tiene libro. El profeta es una voz que clama en el desierto, está lleno de sonidos que no siempre adquieren significado. Los profetas claman porque los demonios los acosan. “
Truly beautiful coming of age novel. I was very sad it had to come to an end because I wanted to keep reading it.
Without spoiling too much, the novel follows the pattern for a bildungsroman while also integrating elements of postmodernism and using fairytales/myths in order to show Jeanette's experience and anguish. I also appreciated the little jabs against Thatcher the Milk Snatcher* when a classmate brings Brown Sauce (which is highly overrated lol) for lunch because her family is poor, and later in the novel that it was hard to get milk.
Without spoiling too much, the novel follows the pattern for a bildungsroman while also integrating elements of postmodernism and using fairytales/myths in order to show Jeanette's experience and anguish. I also appreciated the little jabs against Thatcher the Milk Snatcher* when a classmate brings Brown Sauce (which is highly overrated lol) for lunch because her family is poor, and later in the novel that it was hard to get milk.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated