April 2007: Written on the Body (Winterson)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 8:57:17 PM

Thanks to Betsey for hosting April 25th's discussion of Jeanette Winterson's Written On the Body. The meeting was enjoyable as always, although the book did not seem as controversial to our book club group as it may have been when published in 1992. To the question "What gender did you think the narrator was?", most replied, "Female", though Jane said "Male", unhesitatingly. Several actively tried not to choose while reading, as I did. (I was unsuccessful, however, and could not help thinking it was a woman.) While the language of the book was praised, few found its vision of love "revolutionary" as the Washington Post Book World was quoted as saying on the back cover. Many suspected that the narrator's affair with Louise, although trumpeted as an entirely new experience, might end up as just another in a long list of ex-lover stories.