Taking Risks

I'm glad I re-read Jeanette Winterson's Sexing The Cherry. I can't say I understood it much better this time around but I was entirely comfortable in my lack of desire to try and fit things together. I think it's a novel of parts that doesn't genuinely cohere but works because of the strength of those parts and the genuine energy driving the project. The loathing for London and the world of the City is palpable, especially in the final section, and Winterson is so good at hating that it has a positively bracing effect.

The same, I think, is true of the almost uniformly grim view of the male sex on offer. At times this seems comically extreme, but extremes seem to be where the writer is most comfortable and she convinced me, at least occasionally, that there are discoveries to be made there. The rule book that teaches about men is a nice example, sort of reductive, but funny in an alarming way: 1 Men are easy to please but are not pleased for long before some new novelty must delight them. I recognised myself in that.

It seems Ms Winterson has been frequently accused of pretentiousness in her writing, amongst other sins, and I can see why. But I like the sense of ambition, the obvious taking of risks in her work. I think it pays off in this novel, as long as you don't dig too deep or ask too much.