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A review by zo_lebrun
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
5.0
Okay, so this books checks a lot of boxes for me.
- humour
- cleverly lacing historical context into storyline (sometimes doing this just makes the narrative feel forced, but Winterson layered hers in beautifully)
- diverse characters
- tackling universal topics in a unique way (love, time, truth, morals, activism etc.)
- messing with gender roles (one of my fav things about it)
- beautiful writing and stories
Made me think of questions like, what makes you who you are? How do you react in times of terror and uncertainty? What do you want out of life? What does gender mean to me? What do you stand for?
I think the reason some people get confused when reading this book is because it is not told in a linear fashion the whole way through,,, I personally really like it bc time ISN’T really linear even in real life.
The focus on the grotesque is also something that I find fascinating. Dog Woman is truly a grotesque character, yet you still end up identifying with her even though she’s technically not a good person. What Dog Woman lacks in sensitivity, wonder, and curiosity, we find in Jordan, her foundling. I particularly identified with Jordan’s desire to explore new things and find Fortunata, and the stories of the 12 Dancing Princesses (“who lived happily, but not with their husbands) was one of my favourite parts.
This book was a beautiful tangle of storylines, which I felt reflected real life a lot despite its general lack of adherence to the real world. I had to read this book for an English class in uni, but it’s one that I keep coming back to and rereading over and over again.
This book is definitely not for those who don’t care for a lot of prose when reading a story; I’ve seen people call Winterson’s writing pretentious in some reviews, but I disagree, I think she’s just trying to impress a very specific aesthetic experience to the audience, all you have to do is keep an open mind while reading it.
This review has probably been just as wild as the book itself, and I could go on forever. Final thoughts on it: this book is a psychological mind bend with a twist ending, trying to break the boundaries of time, gender, right and wrong. It’s beautifully written, and lowkey changed the way I think about so many things forever
- humour
- cleverly lacing historical context into storyline (sometimes doing this just makes the narrative feel forced, but Winterson layered hers in beautifully)
- diverse characters
- tackling universal topics in a unique way (love, time, truth, morals, activism etc.)
- messing with gender roles (one of my fav things about it)
- beautiful writing and stories
Made me think of questions like, what makes you who you are? How do you react in times of terror and uncertainty? What do you want out of life? What does gender mean to me? What do you stand for?
I think the reason some people get confused when reading this book is because it is not told in a linear fashion the whole way through,,, I personally really like it bc time ISN’T really linear even in real life.
The focus on the grotesque is also something that I find fascinating. Dog Woman is truly a grotesque character, yet you still end up identifying with her even though she’s technically not a good person. What Dog Woman lacks in sensitivity, wonder, and curiosity, we find in Jordan, her foundling. I particularly identified with Jordan’s desire to explore new things and find Fortunata, and the stories of the 12 Dancing Princesses (“who lived happily, but not with their husbands) was one of my favourite parts.
This book was a beautiful tangle of storylines, which I felt reflected real life a lot despite its general lack of adherence to the real world. I had to read this book for an English class in uni, but it’s one that I keep coming back to and rereading over and over again.
This book is definitely not for those who don’t care for a lot of prose when reading a story; I’ve seen people call Winterson’s writing pretentious in some reviews, but I disagree, I think she’s just trying to impress a very specific aesthetic experience to the audience, all you have to do is keep an open mind while reading it.
This review has probably been just as wild as the book itself, and I could go on forever. Final thoughts on it: this book is a psychological mind bend with a twist ending, trying to break the boundaries of time, gender, right and wrong. It’s beautifully written, and lowkey changed the way I think about so many things forever