The Passion is my introduction to Winterson's writing and it couldn't have been more auspicious.This was original, imaginative and beautifully written. Set in the 1800s during Napoleon's reign, The Passion is written via two POVs, from Henry, a young French peasant who becomes Napoleon's butcher; the other perspective comes from a cunning, cross-dressing Venician woman, Villanette, who was quite adventurous. At some point, their paths cross.The plot wasn't the biggest jewel in the crown. The wri...

"Gambling is not a vice, it is an expression of our humanness. We gamble. Some do it at the gaming table, some do not. You play, you win, you play, you lose. You play." Jeanette Winterson is one of those authors I am constantly surprised at. "The Passion" is my favourite so far (update: before reading Sexing the Cherry, which is even more fascinating). There is something magical in her way of weaving the stories of her characters, and showing different angles of the central theme: passion. I do

Forgive me for this: there are few books I find myself loving with a passion these days, and this may just be one of them. To think it sat on my shelf for years before I picked it up. The Passion is Angela Carter meets Beryl Bainbridge, but it lacks the bawdy humor present in these ladies' books. It doesn't lack humor, but it treats its subject--love--with great seriousness. Is love worthy of such seriousness? I guess I tend to take a plenty of fish in the sea view, but makes for a nice story, a...

Dans le Noir“A blind pedlar… never spilt his stew or missed his mouth the way I did. ‘I can see,’ he said, ‘but I don’t use my eyes.’”I recently ate unknown food, served in total darkness, by blind waiters. It was an intense and disorienting experience. Boundaries break down: you touch the stranger who guides you to your seat, talk to invisible people sitting beside you (how un-English!), can’t judge or be judged by looks or clothing, and are tempted to eat with your fingers, despite the cutlery...

‘You play, you win, you play, you lose. You play.’For over a decade I’ve referred to this novel as a favorite and upon a reread I have reaffirmed this statement while also finding a new depth and enjoyment beyond my already heartfelt appreciation for Winterson’s work. ‘The Passion’ is an incredible epic in miniature, weaving together the fates of Henri, a soldier in Napoleon’s army, with that of Villanelle, a Venetian gambler who is the daughter of a boatman all in under 200 pages of prose that

Jeanette Winterson pops up from time to time on BBC political debate programmes and she is like a laser beam of sensibleness, from a decidedly rad-lesbian perspective she cuts through the waffle and she's a joy to hear, Germaine Greer's punkier young sister maybe. But in her books she goes off on one, to coin a British phrase :to go off on one (Brit; colloq.)to suddenly become very angry and start shouting or behaving violently, as inHe went off on one because he thought I was threatening his do...

To my surprise? I'm kind of disappointed in it. The New York Times review of it says that it "dares you to laugh and stares you down." Unfortunately, I'm just laughing. She's trying so hard to be profound with these statements, and 9 out of 10 times it doesn't quite work. The book is filled with cliches and trite conclusions that are just so hackneyed (actual example: death and darkness are like each other...wow! Have you noticed that??) Her attempt to be Marquez fails quite badly, unfortunately...

After reading all the glowing reviews and then tackling the book for myself, I felt kind of like the child that wonders why the emperor has no clothes on. Everyone else can see the elaborate costume, why can't I? Usually I can understand the love of a critically acclaimed book even if it's not my cup of tea but the writing in The Passion is something I just can't get past. This is an entire book of life changing ponders like "Is every snowflake different? No one knows," and repetitions of other

"Lovers are not at their best when it matters. Mouths dry up, palms sweat, conversation flags, and all the time the heart is threatening to fly from the body once and for all. Lovers have been known to have heart attacks. Lovers drink too much from nervousness and cannot perform. They eat too little and faint during their fervently wished consummation. They do not stroke the favored cat and their face-paint comes loose. This is not all. Whatever you have set store by, your dress, your dinner, yo...

A magical book. The story of the French country boy Henri who was personally picked by Napoleon Bonaparte to be his special chicken cook and Villanelle, the adventurous red-haired daughter of a Venetian boatsman whose feet are webbed, but she cannot swim. They escape Napoleon’s army at the siege of Moscow and make their way to Venice where they meet their separate fates. It is wonderful to see Venice through the eyes of Henri, who gets lost for days on end and is almost convinced that the church...

Somewhere between fear and sex passion is. This short novel packs in so much beauty in the intersecting stories of French soldier Henri and daughter of a Venetian boatman, Villanelle. Winterson is a sage, a poet, with each scene, each paragraph containing gorgeous words about love, and the gamble of life and choices made.Set in the times of the Napoleonic wars, Henri was selected by Bonaparte himself to prepare and serve his nightly chicken. He did this with devotion, and saw horrific death,

There’s something exhilarating about reading your favourite author’s earlier books: you don’t look for flaws in the ‘young’ writer’s work, you see the beginning and the possibilities, and you now know where everything is coming from: all those later books that you’ve fallen in love with from the very first pages. Jeanette Winterson is one of my most read and reread authors if we’re not counting that one YA Fantasy writer that I’m complete trash for. The Passion is quite an emotional read and alt...

4.5 stars“Somewhere between fear and sex passion is. Passion is not so much an emotion as a destiny.”Reading Jeanette Winterson’s prose is like soaking in the most luxurious bath. It’s warm and sensuous and leaves me feeling a bit light-headed once I’ve finished. It’s difficult to describe her writing. The one word that comes to mind immediately is magical. Of the four pieces I’ve read so far, the plot seems secondary to the prose, until I’ve finished. Then all of a sudden I’m able to see the be...

I don't even know where to begin with this, so I'll likely keep it brief. Basically all I can say is that Jeanette Winterson is officially my next obsession, that I'm absolutely thrilled that my adviser recommended her to me, and that this is one of the most invigorating novels I've read in a long time. Winterson reminds me a bit of Angela Carter here-not that they write in the same way, but in that they use magic and intertextuality in similar ways, and that each have a very blunt aesthetic tha...

I was not sure where this book was headed when I began, and I'm not sure where I landed at the end, but I do know I enjoyed the journey. This is only my second Jeanette Winterson book, and the first one was Christmas themed short stories. I enjoyed it enough to look for more, and picked this one up at a used book sale. In this novel, you simply ride along on a river of magical prose until, every page or two, you hit the rapids with an awesome sentence or idea that whirls you around and leaves yo...

There is little I can say about this book that does not border on gushing, but I'll try. The Passion is perhaps one of the most amazing stories I have ever read. It is not so much a novel as a journey through the mind and soul of Henri and Villanelle, through the real and ephemeral Venice, through history and imagination. While containing a solid narrative, it delves into the psyche and spirit of the writer and her characters. Read it once and you are trapped. Read it twice and you gladly relinq...

I loved this book. It’s not long, and it’s an easy read (you don’t need to be a literary critic to enjoy it!), but the style and world are so marvellous, I wanted to linger. There is history and love, but it’s not a historical romance. In spite of some magical realism, it’s not really a fantasy either. In those days, unusual or exceptional talents may have been attributed to magic, so the lines between what’s supposed to be real and what the characters have imagined are pretty blurry. It’s the v...

This might be a simple case of bad timing: sometimes, you will cross paths with a book and quite simply not be in the mood for it. After hearing so many praises for Jeanette Winterson’s work, I was very curious, and after reading a big fat book set in the Napoleonic era, I figured an itty-bitty one in the same setting could be a nice change of pace.The story of Henri and Villanelle is written in lovely, poetic prose, but somehow, it left me wanting. Wanting what exactly, I couldn’t tell you. Wha...

"Somewhere between fear and sex passion is. Passion is not so much an emotion as a destiny." This is only my second Jeanette Winterson novel, and holy shit, she did not disappoint.This is a short read, but as I was devouring this book, it felt quite a bit longer.The Passion, follows two protagonists in their search for love and passion. That sounds pretty dull right? Wrong!! Winterson's writing style is captivating and unique, and it's not alike to anything I've read before. She explores gender,...