Reviews

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

daisydostoevsky's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective

4.0

What is it about Winterson that really reminds me of Anne Carson? I struggle to find a word - it's not "simplistic," but it is simple, and yet so allusive. Not exactly philosophical, but deeply profound. Equally plural as it is precise. 

I'm thinking about this (Carson):
"perhaps you know that Ingeborg Bachmann poem
from the last years of her life that begins
"I lose my screams"
dear Antigone,
I take it as the task of the translator
to forbid that you should ever lose your screams."

And how closely it resembles this (Winterson):
"He doubted her. You must never doubt the one you love.
But they might not be telling the truth.
Never mind that. You tell them the truth.
What do you mean?
You can't be another person's honesty, child, but you can be your own.
So what should I say?
When?
When I love someone?
You should say it."

In its sincerity.

I think that's the word I'm looking for:  sincere. Both women write like a heart beating, that is: rhythmic, sometimes syncopated, but sure of itself. Syntax, grammar be damned, the words will follow their own measure. You only get these with experienced writers, those who have come to trust their own instinct to create. So as a reader, you come to trust them, too. I buy every Winterson I see at the bookstore, I never look for a blurb, barely check the back cover. From such a good storyteller, I don't care what the story is. Just pick me up and whisk me away!

Lighthousekeeping is a weird one, but not for a Winterson. It's just that formally it loves to play.

Winterson has a penchant for the second person, her narrator oscillates between telling the story to you, the reader; you her mother; you her adoptive father; you her psychiatrist; you, her lover; you - herself. I love this fluidity. It reminds me of Woolf's narrators who embody a character whenever they so please.

Time is fluid in this novel, too. Analepsis and prolepsis abound. In the span of a sentence you pass through three generations. If I was being daft I'd call it magical realism, but I don't really think that's what she's trying to do...

I mean, genre? Forget about it. Is it fantasy, historical fiction, confession, romance, queer, or what? It is what the story is. That's it. If I was a narratologist I'd give myself an aneurysm trying to put it in a box.

Only a queer woman could have written something like this, because she would have embodied this fluidity all her life, so she would already have the repertoire for such an advanced practice of imagination. 

There are plenty more formal elements to add to the list of reasons why this book stands out among others: the allusions, the blatant theft of historical figures to be played with like barbie dolls, her vocabulary of pleasure; these all deserve a good looking over. But like I said I'm not a narratologist and I think that's not the point anyway. When you are sincere, you don't have to explain yourself. Sincerity is implicitly felt. Just read it, and you'll feel it, and that's that. The end. Simple as listening to the heart beating in your chest.

savalaur's review against another edition

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3.0

Too many metaphors and a very disjointed story, but some beautiful writing here and there.

lini002's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


Lighthousekeeping follows the orphan Silver who is taken in by the blind lighthouse keeper Pew. Pew tells Silver stories about the locals and it begins to intermix and Silver finds themselves following the story themself.
 
Winterson is great at writing prose and has a lot to say. I enjoyed reading the book but I think it was very vague at times and felt like something where only the author knew what was happening and the reader hadn't been given enough steps or clues to figure it out either. It's a fascinating little book and worth a read though. It's 3/5 for those who like stories within a story and a narrative that takes you along for a ride.

leeleeski's review against another edition

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4.0

Wonderful and magical piece about the interlocking lives of three characters, told through stories collected by a lighthousekeeper and his apprentice

madameroyale's review against another edition

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4.0

Loved this book and found Winterson’s writing absolutely mesmerizing. I was much more interested in the story of Silver (and Pew) than Dark, and found her to be a much more compelling character, so I do wish he had taken up less of the narrative. Still, Winterson has such a wonderful way with words, such a distinctive voice—one that works exceptionally well when viewing the world through a child’s lens; she captures the humor and matter-of-fact-ness of kids’ logic so perfectly. The writing therefore isn’t as engaging when Silver is an adult
(though perhaps the random time jump and general vagueness of the latter third of the book is more to blame)
. A very lovely and heartfelt book for the most part.

actiaslunasaturniidae's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

dawnlizreads's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

christineandbooks's review

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

chilly_librarian's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bluestarfish's review against another edition

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5.0

Silver (part precious metal, part pirate) and Pew (always one at Cape Wrath) work on lighthousekeeping. A love story, as so many of Jeanette Winterson's novels are, but with "Love is just outside it, looking for a way to break in" just as spirally as the others. "Tell me a story Silver." "Of what happened next." Love and life and meaning are in the telling of stories whether at the lighthouse or in the banished world of Silver and Babel Dark/Lux.

Silver is born a hundred years after Darwin shakes everything up with constant change and time that has to be understood mathematically. Pew and Silver tending the light though. "Only connect. How ca you do that when the connections are broken?" " That's your job...These lights connect the whole world."