Leeds Book Club: Lainibop Challenge - Book 28

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Lainibop Challenge - Book 28 - Sexing the Cherries

I made this: Unknown at 8:00 am

READ!	TO GO!
28	102

The LainiBop Challenge

SEXING THE CHERRIES

JEANETTE WINTERSON

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BLURB

In a fantastic world that is and is not seventeenth-century England, a baby is found floating in the Thames. The child, Jordan, is rescued by Dog Woman and grows up to travel the world like Gulliver, though he finds that the world’s most curious oddities come from his own mind. Winterson leads the reader from discussions on the nature of time to Jordan’s fascination with journeys concealed within other journeys, all with a dizzying speed that shoots the reader from epiphany to shimmering epiphany.

This was a second time read for me, I took a course in college on Magical Realism and this was one of the books I had to read.

“Magical Realism is a genre where magic elements are a natural part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment.”

Wikipedia.

In this case this novel tells the story of the gigantic Dog Woman and her adopted son Jordan. The story is told amidst lots of flitting back and forth through time and space, with jumps from one story to another with little or no warning.

For example, Jordan hears the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses from Grimm's Fairy Tales. However, he hears a sequel to this from eleven of the princesses themselves.

They tell of what happened to them and their husbands after their wedding day and it is not exactly the happily ever after you might expect.

Jordan then becomes obsessed with finding the missing princess Fortunata and hearing her story.

At time confusing, and always a little strange, I found this book to be quite enjoyable on the second reading, it's fun, a little disturbing at times, but a real page turner.

SCORE

7/10

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