On Reading Jeanette Winterson for the First Time

[bibliogramma]

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

I must confess, I hadn't read anything by Jeanette Winterson until this spring, when I picked up Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. I'd been meaning to read her for some time, I'd have multiple recommendations from trusted reader-friends, and I wasn't resisting her, it's just that, well, there's so many books and so little time.

And now I'm glad that I have finally read this book, because I enjoyed it immensely (although I gather than her other books are a stylistic departure from this first novel, so I shall now read something else to see if I enjoy Winterson, or just this reportedly semi-autobiographical coming out story).

Winterson's portrayal of a young lesbian growing up with a deeply religious mother, in the heart of a somewhat quirky fundamentalist church community and an equally quirky small-town working class English neighbourhood is profoundly moving and rather funny all at once - just as life is. Interlaced with the events of the protagonist Jeanette's life are passages of fable and fantasy, including an exploration of the life of Sir Percival (one of several "perfect knights" in the Arthurian mythos), which expand and present new perspectives on Jeanette's quest to discover her true self, as separate from the expectations and prescriptions of those around her.

Comments

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

I've only read THE PASSION, but I loved it. Beautiful prose.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

We have a copy of Sexing the Cherry, so that's likely what I will read next of hers, but I read a review of The Passion and it sounded intriguing, so I will check that out as well.

I have a weakness for beautiful prose.