Written on the Body
Registered by harmaja of Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on 1/24/2009
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Bought from a charity shop, to be read.
The cover art is not the one shown here.
The cover art is not the one shown here.
I was utterly disappointed by Written on the Body. I've loved many books by Winterson, but the last two books I've read by her (Written on the Body and Gut Symmetries) have both been sore disappointments.
What's wrong with Written on the Body, then? In my opinion, pretty much everything. The subject matter is love, but believe me, the author has offered a lot more capturing takes on love in her other works. Written on the Body is stuck in all the horrible old clichés of love and sexual relationships. Such as: there are only two kinds of relationships: the safe and ultimately non-erotic, which may last a lifetime with some luck, and the exciting & erotic, which soon fades away. How about all the zillion other kinds...? OK, there's the third kind, not exactly a relationship but a Love Story: the courtship which is exciting at first, and then faces unsurmountable obstacles, forcing the lovers apart. That is the ideal love: excitement does not have time to fade away, since the lovers don't even have time to build a relationship. And it's exactly this kind of Love Story that this book is all about.
If this sounds like I'm describing a Mills & Boon novelette, I can't really help it. To me, the subject matter and the angle on Written on the Body were hopelessly unoriginal, and I didn't get the feeling that the author was being sarcastic, either. I just didn't get this book at all. It was murky and boring. The precise anatomical description of a woman's body were exceedingly dull. And it was impossible for me to sympathize with such a violent narrator! She beats up two people in the course of the story, all in the name of love, of course. How clichéd, once more - and how terrible!
OK, there were some glimpses of that peculiar Winterson humour that I enjoyed, but that was the extent of my appreciation. I really hope someone else will like this book more than I did - and that I may not be disappointed with my next Winterson, because that would be a third time in a row! Maybe I should just re-read some of my old Winterson favourites, instead of plodding on with the unread ones.
What's wrong with Written on the Body, then? In my opinion, pretty much everything. The subject matter is love, but believe me, the author has offered a lot more capturing takes on love in her other works. Written on the Body is stuck in all the horrible old clichés of love and sexual relationships. Such as: there are only two kinds of relationships: the safe and ultimately non-erotic, which may last a lifetime with some luck, and the exciting & erotic, which soon fades away. How about all the zillion other kinds...? OK, there's the third kind, not exactly a relationship but a Love Story: the courtship which is exciting at first, and then faces unsurmountable obstacles, forcing the lovers apart. That is the ideal love: excitement does not have time to fade away, since the lovers don't even have time to build a relationship. And it's exactly this kind of Love Story that this book is all about.
If this sounds like I'm describing a Mills & Boon novelette, I can't really help it. To me, the subject matter and the angle on Written on the Body were hopelessly unoriginal, and I didn't get the feeling that the author was being sarcastic, either. I just didn't get this book at all. It was murky and boring. The precise anatomical description of a woman's body were exceedingly dull. And it was impossible for me to sympathize with such a violent narrator! She beats up two people in the course of the story, all in the name of love, of course. How clichéd, once more - and how terrible!
OK, there were some glimpses of that peculiar Winterson humour that I enjoyed, but that was the extent of my appreciation. I really hope someone else will like this book more than I did - and that I may not be disappointed with my next Winterson, because that would be a third time in a row! Maybe I should just re-read some of my old Winterson favourites, instead of plodding on with the unread ones.
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Will be released at the local meet-up. Happy reading!
Will be released at the local meet-up. Happy reading!
No-one took the book from the meet-up, so I wild released it instead!
Journal Entry 5 by harmaja at Cowgate Tourist Hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Released 15 yrs ago (2/11/2009 UTC) at Cowgate Tourist Hostel in Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left the book at the Cowgate Tourist Hotel around 9 PM today. Happy reading!
I left the book at the Cowgate Tourist Hotel around 9 PM today. Happy reading!
