Pending - requested on 1001 Books VBB - Round 8 from bartonz

Very good book! This is one of those books that is one thing on the page and another in the mind. Tantalizing and deep, yet light in tone. I've put it up for Zzz's Best of 08 swap and it'll go off to the winner. =) ( )

I do like Winterson, although I don't fully understand her. This book challenges the linearity of time, in telling the story of Dog Woman, a huge, strong, and kind of gross female figure, and her adopted son Jordan, and explorer and adventurer. Somehow, the story of the 12 Dancing Princesses is folded in, for an exploration of gender and class, in a story that moves fluidly from the 1600's to current day.

The writing is good, and lots to think about ( )

"Every journey conceals another journey within its lines: the path not taken and the forgotten angle."

'Sexing the Cherry' is set in the mid-seventeenth century and spans the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I(in gory detail),the rise of the Puritans, the restoration of Charles II and even touches on the Plague and Great Fire of London. The book celebrates the power of the imagination. It switches between two main narrators, Dog Woman and her adoptive son Jordan, and mixes reality with dream and fairytale although there is also a linear plot weaving throughout.

Dog Woman is a force of a nature, an impossibly huge woman, violent and dangerous but with heart of gold. She is a wonderful literary creation, one who can do terrible things and yet you still want to cheer for her. Unlike his mother, Jordan is a dreamer. Jordan takes the reader to the magical places he visits and introduces us to the characters he meets along the way and read like short stories. In one enchanting passage we hear the story of twelve princesses who are forced to marry twelve princes who all come to a deservedly sticky end.

I should point out at this juncture that there are only two decent male characters in this book. The remainder are rapists, murderers and sexually depraved. Virtually all come to a gruesome end. But this isn't gratuitous violence, instead it is done with a wonderfully subtle tongue-in-cheek humour. Motherly love and the difficulty of conveying emotions are examined much more seriously.

This is quite a short book (my copy is 144 pages) but don't be fooled, it still takes the reader on a roller-coaster of emotions. Perhaps my mind is simply too literal to be a fan of magical realism tales and therefore really appreciate this but I still found it a remarkably original and imaginative piece of writing which deserves to be on the 1001 list. ( )

As interesting as this book is, I'm not sure that I completely "get it." The storyline flips back and forth between a mother and adopted son from the 1600s, but it gets confusing when a modern man (of the same name, and also obsessed with boats) and woman enter the picture. The modern woman is a scientist studying mercury levels in rivers/lakes and is prone to hallucinations, so maybe the 1600s characters are just her hallucinations? I don't really like this explanation since it doesn't really seem plausible or fit with the characters, but I can't think of anything else to explain the odd time shift.

Regardless of the odd plot, the writing is quite well done, and I really enjoyed the mini fable retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It adds a touch of actual magic and fairytale to the already surreal story, yet keeps things realistic with the idea that the Princesses are real life characters who have abandoned their husbands and found alternative lovers elsewhere. ( )

bit weird. but nicely written.

spoiler alert:
.......
it transpires that the cherry tree was female, not that this makes botanical sense given that cherry trees are both staminate and pollenaite (or whatever the correct terms are). could ruin the whole book for you if you care about that kind of thing.
also, the male member, when bitten off does not regrow. ( )