Reading 1001 discussion

How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to "get into it"? How did you feel reading it—amused, sad, disturbed, confused, bored...?

I was immediately engaged and invested in Jeanette's story.

I enjoyed this book. I think this book would be good for people who feel disenfranchised from a group they are connected to. This was an easy read and went relatively quickly.

I loved it from the start too. I was emotionally attached to the characters and felt sad and angry at various characters. I had great sympathy for Jeanette.

I quite enjoyed the quirkiness of Winterson's writing. I immediately got into it. The circumstances of the story (realising that you are a lesbian while in the grips of an extreme Pentecostal mother) also made for interesting reading.

I found the first part very funny and enjoyed the humor but as the book progressed it was less funny. Winterson is a good writer. There was some kind of progression as the story was developed and it may have also been not only a autobiography of Winterson's growing up but also her development as a writer.

This was a book I had meant to read for an age. I had a copy at our holiday house more than a decade ago, but someone must have picked it up and decided to keep it. When I saw Jeannette Winterson perform (you could not call it speaking because it was a theatrical event) at the Auckland Writers' Festival earlier this year I was spellbound. So I was delighted when it was chosen this month and I found an Audible version read by the author. Her introduction was thought-provoking and serious, so when the novel began I was most pleasantly surprised at the humour of it. I was enchanted from the start and have organised my life for the last few days so I could keep listening. The brass is polished, the windows are clean and I am happy to have read this work - finally.

Like the others I was immediately engaged and really enjoyed the book.