Reviews

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

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111domino's review against another edition

5.0

"We are lukewarm people and our longing for freedom is our longing for love. If we had the courage to love we would not so value these acts of war."

This is the second book by Jeanette Winterson I've read this year and I'm trying to pinpoint what it is about her writing that captivates me so much; it's simple but it's complex, it's straight to the point, the word choice is very particular and hits you right where it hurts. There's plenty of biblical references, contradictions, irony. Basically, it's right up my alley.

I don't think there's even a good way to describe the plot of this book. It's simply (or not so simply) about passion: sex, love, obsession, gambling, political fanaticism, all of it. And it's wonderful and wise.

spectracommunist's review against another edition

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5.0

"There is no sense in loving someone you can never wake up to except by chance."

I love this book.

kek7rdu's review against another edition

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3.0

“they’re so preoccupied with getting out they miss what’s here”

loved this quote and this book and the CHARACTERS omg this book made me wanna become a venetian casino girl who cross dresses on occasion it seems like quite the life

fionayin's review against another edition

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5.0

“We’re lukewarm people for all our feast days and hard work. Not much touches us, but we long to be touched. We lie awake at night willing the darkness to part and show us a vision. Our children frighten us in their intimacy, but we make sure they grow up like us. Lukewarm like us. On a night like this, hands and faces hot, we can believe that tomorrow will show us angels in jars and that the well-known woods will suddenly reveal another path.”

“Perhaps all romance is like that; not a contract between equal parties but an explosion of dreams and desires that can find no outlet in everyday life. Only a drama will do and while the fireworks last the sky is a different color.”

“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.”

“This is the city of disguises. What you are one day will not constrain you on the next.”

persephonora's review against another edition

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1.0

I know people love this book, but it really fell flat for me. There were some funny moments, particularly satirizing Napoleon and his cult-of-personality, but mostly it felt trite. There were lots of cliche one-liners – like one about how snowflakes are all unique – that were repeated so many times throughout the book (ostensibly to give them weight?), but in the end it just felt like a cheap way of trying to artificially create depth that wasn't there.

anpu325's review against another edition

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5.0

Genre-(and gender)bending, fantastic, profound, and fun!

gutterpede's review against another edition

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3.0

It’s good, not something I usually read so it isn’t a favorite, but the prose was nice and I enjoyed the characters. Waxes poetic quite a bit but not in a way that distracts from the story.