Reviews

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

ricefun's review against another edition

3.0

This story held together as a modern retelling of the Winter's Tale, but wasn't a favorite in this contemporary series. It was quite graphic. I suspect that some of Shakespeare was quite graphic when first performed too, but this novel felt unnecessarily so. I did appreciate the depth of several characters that were developed. But, overall, only forced myself to finish this book instead of enjoying very much of it.

rintalake's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-paced

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

4.0

ravneet1986's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

nicktomjoe's review against another edition

5.0

“The Winter’s Tale retold,” explained, rationalised, the Gap of Time takes Shakespeare’s complex (and for me rather confused) meditation on loss and reconciliation and turns it, if not into a straightforward narrative, then into something more immediate and comprehensible. That’s not to say this is a simplification, but in turning the complexities of the relationships round, Winterson’s meditation on the loss and triumph of goodness makes a brilliantly constructed novel, well paced, tricksy, funny and with some beautiful imagery and turns of phrase: I think of the angels’ feathers falling over Paris, for instance, and the epilogue given to Perdita, on love “wild and unlikely,” and its power and uncertainty.
Jeanette Winterson plays with the names from Shakespeare, and with their characters and the outcomes in a way that is itself a delight; she gives an early loss of parents to both Polixenes and Leontes themselves (Xeno and Leo) when they are thrown together in a boarding school; Hermione’s (MiMi’s) death is her becoming a celebrity recluse: but Perdita remains Perdita, the lost girl. How could she not be? As Winterson’s conclusion points out, the author is herself a Perdita, adopted and making her own fate as she makes sense of the story of her life. Perhaps it is this edge to the story that allows Winterson to give us what she calls a “cover version” of such power.

andforgotten's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

real_life_reading's review

1.0

I DNF'ed this one pretty hard and pretty fast. It was dark and brooding, and I didn't care for the language, the sex, or the anger. I maybe could have given it a little more of a shot; I also have never read The Winter's Tale and maybe I would have appreciated it more if I had, but I found myself trying so hard to see the parallels and make the connections based on the summary of the original play in the beginning, that I wasn't enjoying it.

frdb's review against another edition

4.0

4,5/5 stars

what can I say? READ IT.

danidearr's review

tense

2.0

thepolybrary's review against another edition

4.0

This was a charming reworking of Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale." Some points surprised me, at first striking me as a bit more twisted than Shakespeare...but oh yeah, we're talking about Shakespeare, who didn't give a damn about political correctness and loved pulling out all the dark, twisted depths of the human heart for all to see.

khorswe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0