Achingly, passionately written, without being over the top. Absolutely relateable. This book, though short in pages, will stay with you for far longer than it takes to read it... ( )

I originally read this book for an introductory class on literary criticism and theory, for which it is well suited. But beyond that, it's quite an enjoyable novel. One of the main themes is that the narrator has no identity except in relation to the various relationships he/she has - and since it's told from a first person perspective, the reader can't even know if the narrator should be referred to as "he" or "she."

I've seen this technique elsewhere, where a character is meant to be mysterious and given know descriptors, but in most cases it seems pretty stilted and stupid. Not so for Written on the Body! With this novel, the importance isn't placed on who the narrator is, but on how the narrator interacts with lovers and what happens with those relationships.

It was kind of fun to read this in class and hear about the judgments on the sex that my classmates made. Some were absolutely convinced that the narrator is a man while others were equally certain that the narrator is a woman, although any sex acts could involve either (and the relationships are with both men and women, further blurring the lines). It was an interesting look at why a particular voice can sound masculine or feminine and readers' prejudices.

All this is more of a reason for why it's a good novel for a literary criticism class, I suppose, but it's also why I enjoy rereading it. Maybe it's not a "fun" book and it requires a bit more thought than beach reading, but it's well worth the effort. ( )

Winterson has been the kind of writer whose works I've flicked through in bookshops, but never got around to actually reading in full.

In this novel I'm somewhat ambivalent about her style - at times incredibly moving and poetic, shunning conventional limits - reminiscent to me of Virginia Woolf - yet at other times somewhat bloated, maudlin and over-written for my taste. Let me look on the positive side, however, and say that Winterson certainly delivers what the title promises - some portions are truly quite anatomical!

To remain positive, here are a few passages I really enjoyed. This one comes from the first page of the novel:

"You said 'I love you.' Why is it that the most unoriginal thing we can say to one another is still the thing we long to hear? 'I love you' is always a quotation. You did not say it first and neither did I, yet when you say it and when I say it we speak like savages who have found three words and worship them. I did worship them but now I am alone on a rock hewn out of my own body.

CALIBAN:
You taught me language and my profit on't is
I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language.

Love demands expression. It will not stay still, stay silent, be good, be modest, be seen and not heard, no. It will break out in tongues of praise, the high note that smashes the glass and spills the liquid. It is no conservationist love. It is a big game hunter and you are the game. A curse on this game. How can you stick at a game when the rules keep changing? I shall call myself Alice and play croquet with the flamingoes. In Wonderland everyone cheats and love is Wonderland isn't it?"

I also liked this visual imagery, from near the end of the novel (but with Winterson I get the feeling that plot doesn't really matter anyway, so no spoilers here).

"Lights in ribbons where the road runs. Hard flares far away at the industrial estate. In the sky the red and green landing lights of an aircraft full of sleepy people."

Ultimately, then, a striking novel of impressions for me, but a little less coherent as a whole. ( )

This is when I started giving up on Jeanete who I'd loved up until then. "Gut Symmetries" was the clincher though. Shame she disowned "Boating for Beginners" - at least she didn't take herself quite so seriously then. ( )

I read Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and I enjoyed it enough that I picked up another of her books. This tells the tale of a protagonist whose gender is never directly revealed (though she's a woman if I've ever seen one) and her love affair with a married woman. Who may or may not be dying of cancer. Even if it is about a lesbian relationship, Winterson's skill is such that it feels like it's about any and all relationships. Well, maybe not quite so broad-- I can't say I've ever had one like this-- but it still feels very real and very moving. The section where the protagonist is searching for her lost love is magnificently heart-aching, and the rest of the book is very good, too.