Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit: Jeanette Winterson

I came to Jeanette Winterson quite late, and have no idea what took me so long. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, her first book, is the fourth Winterson I've read in as many months. It’s probably because, knowing the one-word ‘what is this book about?’ preconception subject matter of ‘Oranges’ I mistakenly assumed it was a book devoted to lesbian erotica. Or, perhaps as Winterson amusingly suggests in her prologue to my 2009 digitised edition or perhaps truthfully suggests – she is, after all clear to remind us she is a writer of fiction, of novels: When Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was first published in 1985 it was often stocked in the cookbooks section with the marmalade manuals.” (from the Introduction) As is known Jeanette Winterson had a harsh beginning. Adopted by an extraordinarily eccentric couple (particularly the dominating Mrs Winterson), fervent Pentacostalists, Mrs W’s life-plan for the adopted baby was to raise her to be a missionary. The extraordinary creative, imaginative, hugely intelligent child Jeanette turned out to be was never quite going to fit into classic missionary mode. Though close acquaintance with the Bible and the English Hymnals did bring her into early contact with a rich, lustrous, poetic language. “Best of all, she had a collage of Noah’s Ark. It showed the two parent Noah’s leaning out looking at the flood while the other Noah’s tried to catch one of the rabbits. But for me, the delight was a detachable chimpanzee, made out of a Brillo pad,; at the end of my visit she let me play with it for five minutes. I had all kinds of variations, but usually I drowned it” Sex was not really part of Mrs Winterson’s mission statement for the little girl, but when Jeanette showed herself to have, along with all her other qualities, a passionate nature that was challenge enough for Mrs W – who abjured sex. The fact that Jeanette’s passions were directed towards other women proved to be several steps too far. “Deuteronomy had its drawbacks; it’s full of Abominations and Unmentionables. Whenever we read about a bastard, or someone with crushed testicles, my mother turned over the page and said ‘Leave that to the Lord,’ but when she’d gone I’d sneak a look. I was glad I didn’t have testicles. They sounded like intestines only on the outside, and the men in the Bible were always having them cut off and not be able to go to church. Horrid” The facts of Jeanette’s life – of course subjectively experienced as well as observed by her writerly sense – are expressed in another book (wonderful) “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal”, Winterson’s autobiography. THIS book, by contrast, though it uses ‘what she knows’ – herself, and her own life in this case, as springboard, is NOT autobiography, it is a novel, genre literary fiction, even though the central character is called ‘Jeanette’ and her mother is Mrs Winterson. Winterson rather tartly (and quite probably correctly) wonders if, had she been a young man using his dysfunctional background as springboard, the critics would have been quicker to realise the work fiction, literary fiction, and indeed fiction where the novel’s form is being explored. It shouldn’t have been too much of a stretch to ascertain this as woven into the twentieth century Lancashire working class Pentecostal narrative, are various myths and legends, Arthurian, Grail, and the chapter titles are Old Testament biblical, and allude to the overall feel and flavour of particular books of the bible “The priest has a book with the words set out. Old words, known words, words of power. Words that are always on the surface. Words for every occasion. The words work. They do what they’re supposed to do; comfort and discipline. The prophet has no book. The prophet is a voice that cries in the wilderness, full of sounds that do not always set into meaning. The prophets cry out because they are troubled by demons.” The book is a journey towards individuation and authenticity : the Heroic Quest, that deep myth which underpins much literature. And literature itself provides many of the magical tools which help the hero – another version of Excalibur, in fact Jeanette Winterson is a wonderful writer – inventive, rich in imagery, playful, dark, heart-breaking, shocking and more than a touch shamanic. And how she demonstrates this in her introduction: “Reading is an adventure. Adventures are about the unknown. When I started to read seriously I was excited and comforted all at the same time. Literature is a mix of unfamiliarity and recognition……as we travel deeper into the strange world of the story, the feeling we get is of being understood…..it is the story (or the poem) that is understanding us Books read us back to ourselves" Yes. That was a hairs up on the back of the neck moment, for this reader. Oranges works absolutely brilliantly as a fine, quirky, comedic page turning roman a clef, a girl’s journey to young woman. And is also something of depth and richness as well as brilliant sparkle

I grew up in a neighbourhood like the one in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, so the regional speech and setting felt especially familiar — it drew me in from the start. The novel is beautifully emotional, weaving together the innocence of youth with the harsh realities of adoption, loss, and the secrets that shape families. Winterson handles shifting perspectives very well, and the characters are real — flawed, strong, and heartbreakingly human — especially when grappling with religion and identity. The plot carries a strong emotional pull. For anyone who loves family dramas grounded in history, this book offers both comfort and heartache — and stays with you after you turn the final page.

This is my first Jeanette Winterson book and I missed the BBC series, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The most surprising thing to me was that, although the subject matter is quite bleak, this book is actually very funny and sprinkled with comic touches throughout. The story is about an adolescent girl (given the same name as the author, Jeanette, in the book) growing up in the early 1960s in the working class, Northern mill town of Accrington and her eventual escape at the age of 16 from her Bible-obsessed mother and the Christian sect, the Elim Pentecostalists, to which she belongs. But the extraordinary way in which her domineering mother behaves and the other eccentric characters that people the book tip it over into humour. For example, when her class is told to design a sampler to sew, all the other girls choose traditional flower motifs or ‘to mother with love’ type messages, but Jeanette chooses a sentence from the doom-laden Book of Jeremiah in the Bible ‘the summer is ended and we are not yet saved.’ The school actually writes to Mrs Winterson because they think Jeanette is too obsessed with religion. (Her mother is of course delighted). When Jeanette brings home a friend, her mother decides she likes pineapples and serves them obsessively with everything from then on because, as Mrs Winterson philosophically observes, ‘oranges are not the only fruit’ (one of several explanations for the title). Bible stories are lovingly recreated out of ‘fuzzy felt’. When Jeanette loses her hearing, her mother says it’s because she’s in a ‘state of rapture’ and doesn’t take her to the doctor. The only thing I didn’t like was the extracts of a fairy tale that appear at places interwoven into the main storyline towards the end and which I think are meant to represent Jeanette’s fertile imagination. I didn’t find them very interesting and I thought they distracted a bit from the main story. How far the events in this book are real or how much is made up, it’s hard to know. The author has said that she has edited her past to some extent and it’s better to read yourself as fiction than as fact. She has also said that her novel is not an autobiography. This difference may or may not matter to the reader. Mrs Winterson was never reconciled to her successful daughter and died five years after the book came out.

This is a wonderful book. Surprisingly it is full of humour, though at times sadness. It's a book that gives you an insight into a totally different view of the world, seen through a childs eyes with the knowledge of an adult. The prose is innovative and comes straight from the heart.This is a compelling read. I read Jeanettes latest book first, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? and then read this one which is the background with more details of her life. It was interesting this way round, and there are many clues hidden in this book. This is a life story, one which is continuing, it's very interesting to have an insight into such an interesting and compelling life. As the following book goes on to say, without this back ground Ms Winterson would not be the amazing writer and determined and interesting person she is now.This is triumph over difficulty if ever there was. Above all this is an inspiring book.A must to read.

This book had passed me by for too long. So long ago in fact, did I watch the BBC dramatisation, that the only thing I remember about it, was the excellent portrayal of Jeanette, by the much missed, Charlotte Coleman, (who most of you will know from her role in Four Weddings & A Funeral). Set in the north of England, the story charts our heroine's journey through her adolescence, arguing with her mother, beavering away in the church and questioning her sexuality, only to fall in love . . . with a girl! The shock, the anger, the ostracisation from her community, builds to a point where Jeanette’s mother and fellow members of her church - the church where Jeanette once believed she would become a missionary - perform an exorcism. She feels alienated, has nowhere to go, no-one to turn to, and suddenly, no lover, no future, nothing. I like this book a lot, it's short but packs a punch, and has great atmosphere. You get the sense that Jeanette's mother and friends, truly believe that evil has taken her, that her being gay can actually be cured, as if she's caught a cold, or has the flu! I also agree with one of the author’s quotes I found on the internet, if it be true: "I've never understood why straight fiction is supposed to be for everyone, but anything with a gay character or that includes gay experience is only for queers” . . . because this book is a love story, pure and simple, and like hundreds of other love stories, there are hurdles to jump and hills to climb, but gay or not, this is a book for everyone. Enjoy. Four well deserved stars.

This was a really enjoyable book. It was humourous,and cast a strong glance at the hypocrisy of the Church,and religion in general. Jeanette Winterson writes well and succintly,the novel is semi-autobigraphical I assume as much the same happened to Jeanette when she was that age. I always enjoy wrioting that can look at the innocence of a child trying to comprehend the complex adult world,a skill that is difficult to bring off,Jeanette does it very well,and with true passion. I am not sure I quite understood the relevance of the fairy tales that came in-between the factual description,but oversall they did not distract from the overall reading experience. Strongly recommended as a short, moving,riveting and emotional read.

I am an advocate of gay rights. I am just starting the review like that so no-one jumps to the conclusion that I did not like this book because I am offended by homosexuals. My family and some of my dearest friends are religious. I respect them and they respect me. Again, this is stated so that no one thinks I am offended by religion. This book was boring. I bought it because I thought it would be a story I could connect with. Instead I got a lot of pointless ramble about how much Jeanette and everyone in her surrounding area loved God, weird fairy tales interspersed with the actual story whose relevance evaded me, and such a "mention in passing" of Jeanette's affairs that to judge this book as gay fiction is really taking the Michael. I am keeping it on my Kindle to revisit one day so that I can see if maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind this time around but I struggled to enjoy the book at all really and when I finished it I was left feeling extremely underwhelmed. The ending of the book suggests that nothing was learned, nothing was gained, and Jeanette did a complete 360 to end up right back where she started. Hardly inspiring. I'm a gay rights advocate, I'm not anti-religious, I'm not just a kid, I certainly have read more complex novels and I still cannot bring myself to give this book anything more than two stars. Fairly flavourless.

Jeanette Winterson's book was very successful when it was published. At first, I couldn’t understand why. Female homosexuality is hardly the stuff that could, by itself, propel a book to the best-seller list in 1985, almost twenty years after the sexual revolution of the Sixties. To make matters worse, the love life of the main protagonist is neither explicitly described nor sentimentality analyzed. We just know that she “did it”. To make matters even worse, Jeanette Winterson flies at a tangent into a world of medieval fantasies. Descriptions and situations are dealt in ways that are neither poetic nor atmospheric. We are informed of what’s going on, but we never feel it. Reflections on life in general sprout here and there as in a jungle where readers must progress with mental machetes. The plot (if you can call it that) is more like an unruly, dishevelled diary. It does not really end : it fizzles out. So, why do I feel (as do many others) that “Oranges” will stick in my mind, and stay with me ? To start with, it is well written. Perfect, well-balanced sentences, irreproachable grammar and syntax, but this is not unusual. The main reason, I suspect, lies in the fact that the main character is neither the narrator, nor her deranged mother : it is Pastor Spratt. He is the epicentre of a dictatorial, intolerant, imaginary world where human warmth and charity have no place. It’s easy to imagine what would have happened to Jeanette in the Middle-Ages (and beyond) : one more witch burned at the stake, and Pastor Spratt conducting the church choir while the girl died in unspeakable agony. Terrifying religious nuts like Pastor Spratt have always been around, and are still very much with us. Nowadays, they have a tendency to be replaced by political nuts, but the tactics remain the same : self-righteous indignation, outrageous lies and accusations, followed by ostracism and persecution for those who do not agree, all this in the name of equality and tolerance. “Oranges” is not a novel about lesbians, it’s a masterful warning about the evils of fanaticism and brain-washing.

1) Book cover was changed, in the past this book had another cover so a lot of my frds got confused thinking this book is different from that actually nope it's the same book only the book cover is changed 2) Involves Christianity and it's terms so for non Christians/ atheist some chaps may sound silly but we have to respect their view 3) some chaps may make women angry as males torture certain female characters so getting rage while reading will be present 4) wlw so if anyone wants to read lesbian involved book then this one is interesting 5) Last few pages are missing so i don't know what happens in the end im so curious tho so this book is like unfinished or pending story like- 6) I can't say value for money because last few pages are missing so i don't know the story fully but such a interesting book worth the reading time

Posso assicurare che il libro contiene il testo originale e non guide (o che altro) come scritto da altri acquirenti. Una volta terminato, questa recensione sarà modificata al fine di includere opinioni sull'opera. Aggiornamento - Il libro è molto interessante. Concerne tematiche relative a rapporti tra donne, madre-figlia e crescita personale. Può essere di grande spunto a chiunque, come dice la stessa Winterson. Inoltre, la creatività della stessa autrice è di grandissima ispirazione all'immaginazione. P.S.: nulla da dire sulla spedizione. In tempi di lockdown, ne era previsto l'arrivo in 3 settimane e invece è arrivato in 2.

Sometimes I think it's a huge advantage for a writer to grow up in weird or even miserable circumstances. A normal, happy childhood produces normal, well-adjusted minds while misery and strangeness, while suffocating some, gives the putative writer not only an original outlook on life but also a lifetime of material to mine. Jeanette Winterson had a truly strange childhood and emerged as a truly talented writer with an original and authentic voice that is heard on every page of this poetic and compelling memoir. Winterson was adopted by a working class couple living in a poor town in northern England. Her father was a quiet, self-effacing man and is practically a non-presence in this book. Her mother dominates every page. A fundamentalist Christian and neglectful and sometimes cruel mother, she devoted herself wholly to her weird strain of Christianity. Winterson expected to follow in her path and became an enthusiastic evangelizer and preacher in her own right -- but her sexuality got in the way. Neither her mother nor her church could accept her lesbian identity and Jeanette was ultimately forced to leave the safety of the cult and find her own way. There is a dogged but subtle working class humor in this book but it is always tinged with sadness. Winterson never quite rejects her upbringing -- in some ways she seems to long for it in all its nuttiness. But she cannot go against who she is, nor can she regard herself as evil. Mixed into the narrative, full of colorful characters masterfully evoked, are poetic reworkings on fairy tales and legends that cast a light and a shadow on the story. Winterson has a real ear for dialogue which brings her northern folk to life. Much of my reading consists unfortunately of cookie-cutter books that are put together either well or not so well but ultimately nearly all turn out to be forgettable. This one is unforgettable.

Si te gusta su autora no quedarás defraudado. estupendo, como siempre los libros de esta autora. estupendo, como siempre los libros de esta autora

Livre extrêmement intéressant qui raconte une histoire passionnante et apporte une réflexion essentielle sur la vie et les origines. DG