Adding to an already astounding body of work that explores the nature of love and desire, Jeanette Winterson (Sexing the Cherry, Oranges ...
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Dec 16, 2009
selena
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I read Winterson’s Written on the Body a few years ago and have never read a novel since that better depicted love. I should have known that it would be a novel written by Winterson herself that would rival my first foray into her work.
The Powerbook explores love, sexuality and gender. This is the theme of many of Winterson’s novels – and one that greatly intrigues me. Is sexuality masculine or feminine? Does the ambiguity of a partner’s sex change the love or physical boundaries bet More...
The Powerbook explores love, sexuality and gender. This is the theme of many of Winterson’s novels – and one that greatly intrigues me. Is sexuality masculine or feminine? Does the ambiguity of a partner’s sex change the love or physical boundaries bet More...
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Dec 16, 2009
JG (The Introverted Reader)
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Okay, it's been a few years since I read this, so I'm a little fuzzy on details. The way I remember it, the narrator is someone who writes love stories for other people to give to the ones they love. Then it seems like the narrator starts to fall in love with one of the people the story is intended for. But all of that is really just secondary. What I really enjoyed (and what was really the focus of the book) were all the different love stories and all the different ways the narrator found t
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Dec 07, 2011
Laura
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"Freedom for just one night"
Winterson's "The Powerbook" was included on the reading list of my "Identity and Voice" module at University, and unlike a few of the books I've had to struggle to get through this semester, "The Powerbook" is a riveting, gripping read, so much so that I finished it in one night. I should really thank my tutor for introducing me to this intriguing piece of writing!
Essentially a collection of re-worked, re More...
Winterson's "The Powerbook" was included on the reading list of my "Identity and Voice" module at University, and unlike a few of the books I've had to struggle to get through this semester, "The Powerbook" is a riveting, gripping read, so much so that I finished it in one night. I should really thank my tutor for introducing me to this intriguing piece of writing!
Essentially a collection of re-worked, re More...
Aug 30, 2010
Peter
rated it:
There is perhaps a certain irony that I read this today, outside of my literature course, partly out of a desire of reading something that I didn't have to write an essay on when I had finished, and now I'm writing a little essay on it. But anyways....
Jeanette Winterson's prose remains ever a beautiful and lyrical thing. Her evocations of thought and feeling really enfold you and draw you into the characters and her decriptive writing sets the scenes with sublime details. This is cer More...
Jeanette Winterson's prose remains ever a beautiful and lyrical thing. Her evocations of thought and feeling really enfold you and draw you into the characters and her decriptive writing sets the scenes with sublime details. This is cer More...
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Aug 30, 2010
Peter
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There is perhaps a certain irony that I read this today, outside of my literature course, partly out of a desire of reading something that I didn't have to write an essay on when I had finished, and now I'm writing a little essay on it. But anyways....
Jeanette Winterson's prose remains ever a beautiful and lyrical thing. Her evocations of thought and feeling really enfold you and draw you into the characters and her decriptive writing sets the scenes with sublime details. This is cer More...
Jeanette Winterson's prose remains ever a beautiful and lyrical thing. Her evocations of thought and feeling really enfold you and draw you into the characters and her decriptive writing sets the scenes with sublime details. This is cer More...
Dec 14, 2009
Linda
rated it:
I picked up this book during a vacation to Key West a couple years ago. I'd found my way into an old book store in town, stuffed to the rafters with new and used books. Tables, shelves and racks overflowing with something to delight anyone. A book addict's dream come true!
I found this book tucked away on shelf in the back of the store. At eye level showing pinks and reds on the spine, I removed it from it's space. I was intrigued by the title and the description of 'computers meet hu More...
I found this book tucked away on shelf in the back of the store. At eye level showing pinks and reds on the spine, I removed it from it's space. I was intrigued by the title and the description of 'computers meet hu More...
Sep 28, 2009
Michelle
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There were many aspects of this book that I found intriguing and engaging. Perhaps one that is worth mentioning is how the story keeps shifting. First we read about the storyteller, then we see it as the character of a story being written, then as the person whom the story is directed to. Again and again we are given different perspectives to ponder, different characters to emphatize with, different roles to play. We are constantly transported to different worlds and realms, moving back and fort
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Sep 20, 2009
Af
rated it: 
Full of fairly meaningless wannabe aphorisms (see gobbits of Wilde, minus the wit). Example: "everything done with effort is beautiful. Nothing effortless is beautiful" (better put in her version, but nonetheless void of meaning). You can see what she was trying to do, both from the book and from what she's said in interviews - be very very modern, have a book without a story, composed principally of emotions (she succeeds here - there's very little intellect between these covers) and
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Jun 22, 2009
Mireille
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"Are you usually so friendly with strangers?"
"Always"
"Any particular reason?"
"A stranger is a safe place. You can tell a stranger anything."
"Suppose I put it in my book?"
"You write fiction."
"So?"
"So you won't lash me to the facts."
"You're the writer."
"It's your story."
'What happened to the omniscient author?"
"G More...
"Always"
"Any particular reason?"
"A stranger is a safe place. You can tell a stranger anything."
"Suppose I put it in my book?"
"You write fiction."
"So?"
"So you won't lash me to the facts."
"You're the writer."
"It's your story."
'What happened to the omniscient author?"
"G More...
Jan 18, 2008
Zem
rated it:
I wonder, sometimes, about Winterson's definition of love. It seems that it must be intense/tragic/tragically intense to be of any merit. The Powerbook contains common Winterson themes--passion, boundaries, mythology--and moves them through cyber-space into real time--which is always shifting. The relationships are queer, but the challenges to those relationships are universal--most notably, the choice of passion or stability.
I wonder what would happen if Winterson wrote about polyamory.
I wonder what would happen if Winterson wrote about polyamory.
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Mar 31, 2008
Candice
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I zipped through this book rather quickly. It has its moments but I cannot take seriously the combination of Y2k terminology and sappy, poetic sentences about love and longing. I both love Jeanette Winterson's use of language and pity her characters' blind romanticism.
I would NOT recommend this book to a first-time Winterson reader.
I would NOT recommend this book to a first-time Winterson reader.
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Jul 27, 2009
okyrhoe
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I have a mixed response to this novel. I wanted to like it overall, because time and time again I would stop to reflect on a phrase that impressed me. But....I expected more in terms of its content and structure.
I did not sense that the narrative's analogy with the Apple Powerbook has been fully developed, thematically speaking. The chapter/segment headings parallel the Apple OS menu commands, but that's basically it. From the publicity material I assumed that the novel has been written i More...
I did not sense that the narrative's analogy with the Apple Powerbook has been fully developed, thematically speaking. The chapter/segment headings parallel the Apple OS menu commands, but that's basically it. From the publicity material I assumed that the novel has been written i More...
Nov 03, 2009
Ricardo
rated it:
It was inevitable that after the rise of the Internet, an entire swath of books would bubble out of the cracks of intrigue that such a revolutionary new technology would create. Some are good, some are bad. One of the good ones is "The Powerbook."
The main plot, which actually forms the undercurrent of the novel rather than a main narrative, concerns a woman named Ali who resides online in chat rooms and writes stories for whomever wants them. The person who wants the storie More...
The main plot, which actually forms the undercurrent of the novel rather than a main narrative, concerns a woman named Ali who resides online in chat rooms and writes stories for whomever wants them. The person who wants the storie More...
Jul 26, 2010
Bryn
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This is a beautiful, poetic book, full of stories that relate to each other, and tell a larger tale. It's also a book about resisting narrative conventions, which as a writer, I found fascinating. People who like straightforward plot and coherrence might find this a challenging read, but if you are happy with something less clear and linnear, and enjoy beautiful prose and deep introspection, give it a try. I thought it was exquisite. It's a small, intricately cut gem, its facets reflecting aspec
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May 22, 2010
Jeanette
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this is the second book i've read by jeanette winterson, and wowza!
let me start with the good...this is probably the most beautiful book i have ever read. the language was so descriptive so it flowed like melted butter. i couldnt put it down just because of how beautifully it was written. if i could write like winterson, i'd be happy with all in life.
i could relate to the key relationship in so many ways and many of the passages just hit home. such a realistic story. it w More...
let me start with the good...this is probably the most beautiful book i have ever read. the language was so descriptive so it flowed like melted butter. i couldnt put it down just because of how beautifully it was written. if i could write like winterson, i'd be happy with all in life.
i could relate to the key relationship in so many ways and many of the passages just hit home. such a realistic story. it w More...
Apr 07, 2008
Jenny
rated it:
Loved, adored, I want to dream in this book.
"Inside her marriage there were too many clocks and not enough time. Too much furniture and too little space. Outside her marriage, there would be nothing to hold her, nothing to shape her. The space she found would be outer space. Space without gravity or weight, where bit by bit the self disintegrates."
"Night. I logged on to the Net. There were no e-mails for me. You had run out on the story. Run out on me. Vani More...
"Inside her marriage there were too many clocks and not enough time. Too much furniture and too little space. Outside her marriage, there would be nothing to hold her, nothing to shape her. The space she found would be outer space. Space without gravity or weight, where bit by bit the self disintegrates."
"Night. I logged on to the Net. There were no e-mails for me. You had run out on the story. Run out on me. Vani More...
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Feb 18, 2008
Carolyn
rated it: 
I got caught up in some of the stories, but it was all against my basic inclination. I didn't like this book.
I resisted the whole powerbook idea. It felt like it was trying too hard to be clever and exotic. (And the language of computer prompts and commands stopped being exotic a while ago.) (And we don't unwrap emails. We just don't.)
I have liked some books that continually gesture towards the ideal or towards a series of generalized beliefs about love and life (alt More...
I resisted the whole powerbook idea. It felt like it was trying too hard to be clever and exotic. (And the language of computer prompts and commands stopped being exotic a while ago.) (And we don't unwrap emails. We just don't.)
I have liked some books that continually gesture towards the ideal or towards a series of generalized beliefs about love and life (alt More...
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May 19, 2008
MAP
rated it:
After reading ,The Passion by this author, I was expecting something a bit more significant. But alas, it was not to be. A clever idea, though.
In online chat rooms, people take on alternate personas. This is about someone who helps others do that and who develop the story that goes with it. The story here is about two women who become lovers as a result. There are other stories sprinkled it. The book begins with Ali, who smuggles the first tulips to Holland from Turkey, bound t More...
In online chat rooms, people take on alternate personas. This is about someone who helps others do that and who develop the story that goes with it. The story here is about two women who become lovers as a result. There are other stories sprinkled it. The book begins with Ali, who smuggles the first tulips to Holland from Turkey, bound t More...
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Sep 29, 2011
Brandy
rated it:
I can't say enough wonderful things to accurately express my feelings on all of Winterson's writing. Simple and well detailed, with normal life as well as fantastical out of this world scenarios.
When you get right down to the bone of this story it's about two people in love while one, Ali, feeds her lover exotic tales of what love is and should be.
Everyone should read this (they should read everything she writes actually).
When you get right down to the bone of this story it's about two people in love while one, Ali, feeds her lover exotic tales of what love is and should be.
Everyone should read this (they should read everything she writes actually).
Apr 08, 2009
Jan
rated it:
People seem either to love or to hate this one. I'd agree that it's not her best work, but for my tastes, Winterson's not-best is better than almost anyone else's best.
Although the narrator, Ali/Alix, who is herself a writer (and all too easily confused with the author), says that her books are all about boundaries and desire, it seems to me that this book in particular is a book about storytelling and writing masquerading as a book about boundaries and desire. The narrator's concep More...
Although the narrator, Ali/Alix, who is herself a writer (and all too easily confused with the author), says that her books are all about boundaries and desire, it seems to me that this book in particular is a book about storytelling and writing masquerading as a book about boundaries and desire. The narrator's concep More...
Sep 13, 2010
Daniel
rated it:
Although not my favorite jeannette winterson book (maybe my fourth favourite? lol) she is absolutely one of my favorite authors. I feel like it merits a re-read, there is some jumping around within the story and I feel like, in the space between the stories she tells, I missed a thing or two. She's a beautiful, heartbreaking storyteller, and this was no exception for me.
Mar 22, 2010
Will
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I saw this as a play in an experimental theater in London. The play was fucking genius and rocked my 20 year old world. The book I read much later and, while very good, didn't move me the way that play did. I guess I was hoping to recapture the awe of seeing it on the stage off on my own in a country not my own. I doubt it could have ever compared.
Apr 10, 2009
Heather
rated it:
It's my own fault, of course. I can see the beauty of Winterson's language. I understand the complexity of her layers of interrelated stories. It is a very well-written book, and Winterson is a very good writer.
I still didn't enjoy it. Dreamy nuance just can't replace a clear plotline in my heart. The fault is entirely mine; if you like this sort of thing, this might be exactly the sort of thing you'd like.
Most definitely adults-only; includes explicit... stuff.
I still didn't enjoy it. Dreamy nuance just can't replace a clear plotline in my heart. The fault is entirely mine; if you like this sort of thing, this might be exactly the sort of thing you'd like.
Most definitely adults-only; includes explicit... stuff.
Oct 30, 2009
Miranda
rated it:
I absolutely adore Jeanette Winterson's writing. Of the few I've read, I still like Sexing the Cherry the best, but this one is absolutely fantastic as well. Her writing is very deliberate and always has a depth to it that just blows me away. I highly recommend her if you haven't read her yet.
Jul 14, 2008
Kristin
rated it:
What I love about Jeanette Winterson is that you can expect the unexpected in the way that she tells a story. I had read an interview with her where she said that she continually searches for new ways to unfold a story, and her desire to be an original storyteller comes through in The Powerbook.
I also enjoy reading Winterson's prose because of the poetry that lies within. I'm often drawn to writers with a flair for poetic prose, but she integrates poetry into her prose, which feels a More...
I also enjoy reading Winterson's prose because of the poetry that lies within. I'm often drawn to writers with a flair for poetic prose, but she integrates poetry into her prose, which feels a More...
Jan 04, 2009
Cori
rated it:
I am not someone who loves every Jeanette Winterson novel. In fact, other people's favorites--Art & Lies, Written on the Body--I struggle with more than enjoy. But The Powerbook I thought was more than incredible--language, structure, concept/story . . . . Definitely worth the effort.
Jun 20, 2011
Marie
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WHAT the !!!!!! using vegetation instead of male genitalia, this book is really pushing boundaries of fantasy lit! I would be lying if I said I wasn't confused at the end of this one. Some really lovely word play and intriguing plot, I didn't really get it but I know its meant to be clever....was it a man and woman or woman and woman i couldn't work it out....
Nov 22, 2007
Jana
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Winterson highlights how nostalgia is built into narrative, technology, globalization and myths of immortality -- where bodies become only accessories to the mind. In the space of The Powerbook, time and love can only be experienced as non-linear and ahistorical recollections.
"There is no greater grief than to find no happiness but happiness in what is past." p.123
Much of this book seems to be a re-telling of Written on the Body only with further remove... a More...
"There is no greater grief than to find no happiness but happiness in what is past." p.123
Much of this book seems to be a re-telling of Written on the Body only with further remove... a More...
Mar 10, 2009
T.B.
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This book was the main reason for my trip to Paris. To be swept off my feet by a mysterious Parisian woman and have some spontaneous nights of bliss, to find her gone from my bed in the morning as I'm left wondering who I was last night and who was she?
May 27, 2010
Emily
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I want to give this one 3 1/2 stars. It had all the elements I love about Winterson's novels(questioning passion, desire, limits, and retelling classic mythology), but this one just seemed to fall a little flat in the end. I might give it another shot in the future.
