Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

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.

I read "Oranges are not the only Fruit" after reading Jeanette's other book "Why be Happy if you could be Normal?", because I enjoyed the other book. This one was not as entertaining and became rather tedious towards the end, but it had the same dogged determination to succeed which was a feature of "Why be Happy", and the same quirky sense of humour. I think this book placed too much emphasis on her struggles to come to terms with her lesbianism, whereas her childhood battles with adversity and her treatment by her cruel adoptive mother were to me the main obstacles she had to overcome - after being thrown out of the house and forced to sleep in a car and to support herself as a young teenager, she had already shown that she had impressive survival skills and an independent streak. It is not surprising that her experiences of rejection led to depression, and she describes her battle with mental illness with insight and frankness. A memorable book which stayed with me for a long time, and left me wanting to know more about her life story.

I always start w a content rating It's a YA book, but only for young teens if they are able to read thick, deep material. setting was early industrialized England and deeply religious- Pentecostal. No cursing or overt violence, though there was a constant feel of certain reality complete w difficult, complex and at times oppressive situations. No graphic but descriptions of nudity or sex beyond kissing. the book does coitus it certainly made the implication. It happened. Once w a much older women and a young teen. Yikes. The good first / but it comes w the bad Fantastic setting. Wonderfully researched and presented historically w a main character that is very well developed and engaging. The book had flashes of brilliance and was compelling on a deep level but interspersed in the story are added in stories which I assume are meant to add color and texture to the main story but that I found far too thick and did not care for. It disrupted flow and nearly made me set the book aside. The ending was not the usual fare, but I liked it alright and it fit w the book as this is not the usual story. End result. If I could do less than whole stars 3.75. Flashes of brilliance. Historically and religiously compelling / and so very well described and written. All of this broken up w extra story segments of distracting frustration. I liked the book. Liked the original and reasistic feel. Did not love it but I'm still glad I bought and read it

The above is an astute observance of fanaticism and its effects on ordinary folk and those around them. It also exposes a need in uneducated people for a higher power to direct them, thus rendering them vulnerable to the unscrupulous. I heard the book and the author discussed on a radio programme and I understand it is a tertiary text so was curious to read it. I found the writing style an easy read, slightly understated but at the same time colourful. The wry humour was easy to miss until I picked up on the author's wit. Keeping in mind that this is largley autobiographical, the depictions of the underbelly of a 'normal' village society give pause for thought, given that on the surface heterosexual means normal, while in reality a goodly number of elevated members are gay. I will keep this book and re read it as it has many threads and observations on the rich diversity of people in any given community. Recommended for any reader who thinks.

I’ve read other Jeanette Winterson books and found them very engaging, but the digressions in this one, to me, were merely distracting. It was very hard to follow. The relationship with her mother seemed like two people always talking past each other, which happens and was believable. But I didn’t get the snippets of myths and stories and philosophy stuck in at random points. I would have liked to know more about how the central character grew and became her own person. I guess this book is just not my thing.

Being a non-Christian, and from a country (India) where Christians are officially minorities, I often find the various flavours in which Christians come to be very, very confusing. What is less confusing is the zealousness of religion that envelopes a fanatic which, if displayed in any other aspect, would ensure you a recommendation to the shrink. Add another side of a person which does not conform to the generally accepted views of the environment to which one belongs, and lo, you have a powder keg with a very short fuse and burning fast. Being different is not as much a problem as the difference being pointed out by other people. For Jeanette (the one in the story, not the author) to be pre-destined by the mother for evangelism and then being sent to a school where she is seen as a freak is bad enough to face during the testing period of adolescence. To realise that what she thinks of as normal in having love for a woman while being a woman is, in reality, an abomination would point towards a catastrophe. Yet, she plods on with her life and emerges a survivor, probably conditioned by her experience as a freak at school and learning from her experience that freaks are normal people too. The tangential references to Arthur and the fairy tales was mildly distracting to begin with but as you identify that those distractions are a dénouement of Jeanette's character as it evolves helps you understand where she is heading. My overall impression of the book is one of how a young girl's naivety protects her from the big bad world and I was left with the warm feeling of seeing a survivor emerge from the chaos both within and without

Winterson, J. (1987). Oranges are not the only fruit . Atlantic Monthly Press. Jeanette Winterson was adopted by John and Constance Winterson. Both parents were religious, evangelical Pentecostals who believed that Jeanette was destined to be a missionary. There were no books in the house except the Bible and some religious commentaries. About Oranges are not the only fruit, she said she "uses [herself] as a fictional character. It’s me and it’s not me. It’s early auto-fiction, and it’s a way of experimenting with truth, not to distort it but to distill it." Her mother declared, "This world is full of sin. . . You can change the world." This is a coming-of-age story about a lesbian girl who grows up in a strict religious community. The church leaders "started arguing between themselves about whether I was an unfortunate victim or a wicked person." Winterson said that "when [she] fell in love with another girl. . . I had to make a choice; the choice was to give up the girl or to leave home." So at 16, she left home. Every time I read a narrative about what I perceive as a fundamentalist religious upbringing, I find myself cringing. Lack of access to books except the Bible, the denial of her personhood, the grit she displayed in the face of her circumstance all create a compelling story.

I read Why Be happy When You Could be Normal first (found it in a library in my apartment building) and then found out about Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, a novel which is based on Winterson's life. I thought that Oranges would fill in the blanks for me. But I found out very little. I found that I was reading a lot of the same autobiographical information that was in the first book I read. Then when I came to Winterson's first same-sex relationship I thought I would find out more than I knew already but not really. There was a little about a subsequent relationship. The vast majority of the book dwells on how the church and her mother affect her negatively. There was abuse. Starving a person for two days is certainly abuse. Her mother is a piece of work. The craziness Winterson's character deals with on a daily basis is mind-boggling. Her mother is beyond eccentric. She is a functioning victim of mental illness. Between the church and the mother, the hypocrisies and ironies abound. Some of it is almost funny. Most is just bizarre. I hate it that the author jumps from the life of the heroine to a fairy tale and back again throughout much of the book. If she is trying to draw parallels, it doesn't work for me. I like books that stay with the story and don't digress. I liked fairy tales as a young girl but not anymore. Basically, Winterston has two books out there with much of the same information in them. No real surprises. I empathize with Winterson. One of the most poignant parts of the book for me was when she went to church with her first girlfriend and was feeling so happy to be with her love in the church that she loved. I think she felt imbued with human and divine love. But the joy wasn't to last.

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.

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

A marvellous semi-autobiographical first novel about intellectual, emotional, sexual and romantic awakening - and a lot more. Best thing I’ve read in ages, totally rewarding, and now I’ve ordered everything Winterson has written.