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Like the best of Winterson's writing, such as Oranges are not the Only Fruit and The Passion, the novel is engaging, ambitious and contrary. Alongside a hearty historical realism, young girls swoon in locked towers that don't exist, islands slip sideways in time and mysterious diseases wipe out towns and cities. Even though Sexing the Cherry is short, it is impossible to read it in a straight line--fairy tales and dreams run in and out of the text and it's hard to resist chasing them. There is an exceptional playfulness at work too--an unravelling of the most solid of historical facts and fantastically unconventional fairy tales in which princesses smash the skulls of their princes with silver candlesticks or become worn and grey "like old sweaters". --Jane Honey --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Sexing the Cherry,
By Megami (Darwin, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sexing the Cherry (Paperback)
One of the first things that struck me about this book is how it was so similar to Virginia Woolf's 'Orlando'. Both books are based on the premise that time is flexible, rather than a linear progression, and both combine fantastical elements with historical fiction. They even both use the Thames as an allegory for main themes. Whether this similarity will put off other readers, I don't know, but I felt that it did not detract from the merit of 'Sexing the Cherry'.This is foremostly a grown-ups fairy tale - there are dancing princesses, a giant woman, magic, towns dying of love. Set (mainly) in England at the time of Cromwell, the tale is told in alternating sections by Dog-Woman (the giant woman) and Jordan. Dog Woman, who is a loner living with her many dogs, discovered Jordan as a child on the bank of the Thames. They have some amazing experiences, though this is what you would expect to happen to such an amazing woman. This is a grown-up's fairy tale in that there is a lot of sex and violence (this book is not for the squemish!) Winterson explores some very 'heavy' topics, such as the construction of identity and reality, and the realities of time. However, this doesn't read as a deep book - it is beautifully written in places, and could be enjoyed for the prose alone. There are modern day characters included in this story, and I didn't feel that this worked as well as the historical characters. However, this is a very good book. It is not particulary long, so even if you don't enjoy it, at least you haven't wasted your time wading through a thick tome! I would definately suggest that anyone interested gives it a go.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous title for a disappointingly sparse book,
By zahak "zahak" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sexing the Cherry (Paperback)
Sexing the Cherry has a fabulous title and compelling conceit. But the book's sparseness and "drop off" ending are a disappointment. As a feminist tract, the book is more disturbing in its descent into fantasy violence against the characters (read villains/hypocrites) perceived to be championing the status quo. Rape and physical intimidation have always been the weapons used by the empowered to maintain their domination. Witherspoon's celebrations of force are not an anti-thetical "turning of the tables" but just a reaffirmation of violence as a way to get one's point across. Please, we do not need a Dog Woman to kill for us but a wise woman to overcome these cycles of violence. The works of Rachael Pollack seem a more holistic and a far less pretentious emobidement of feminism "on the barricades." As far as a fantastic novel of early modern England's mythic past, Wendy Walker's marvelous and challenging novel Secret Service is a much more satisfying literary experience.
5.0 out of 5 stars
What the Hell Does "Sexing the Cherry" Mean?,
By
This review is from: Sexing the Cherry (Paperback)
I love Jeanette Winterson, and this probably my favorite of her novels. She's really brilliant in this one. It's worth reading the whole book just for her poetic descriptions of lofty metaphysical ideas of time and recurrence. The author conjures such an incredible vision in this book. It's startling.
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