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42nd out of 170 books
—
29 voters
The Powerbook
The PowerBook is twenty-first century fiction that uses past, present and future as shifting dimensions of a multiple reality. The story is simple. An e-writer called Ali or Alix will write to order anything you like, provided that you are prepared to enter the story as yourself and take the risk of leaving it as someone else. You can be the hero of your own life. You can...more
Paperback, 244 pages
Published
May 3rd 2001
by Vintage
(first published 2000)
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The book is about love, myth and stories. Interactive stories written between Ali, the writer, and her lover, a married lady who she meets online every night. Together they are writing the story of their courtship, or is it mostly Ali?
I loved this book. The prose is sparse but it's beautifully written, like poetry, and the descriptions of Paris, Capri and London are almost like walking in these places on a summer's evening. There is the stylised dialogue and sparring wordplay between the lovers,...more
I loved this book. The prose is sparse but it's beautifully written, like poetry, and the descriptions of Paris, Capri and London are almost like walking in these places on a summer's evening. There is the stylised dialogue and sparring wordplay between the lovers,...more
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...more
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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 between them?
Wh...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 between them?
Wh...more
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 to po...more
Slash Readers: I originally read this title back in 2004 and have since then continued to read Jeanette Winterson's works. However, 'The Powerbook' still remains one of my favorites to this day. I love the lyrical quality of it and so many other things. It is a beautiful book.
Like many of Winter's other titles, this book deals a lot with relationships, feelings. What caught me was the fact that the connections in this book do not just take place in the real work but online as well.
Some of this...more
Like many of Winter's other titles, this book deals a lot with relationships, feelings. What caught me was the fact that the connections in this book do not just take place in the real work but online as well.
Some of this...more
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 certainly a bea...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 certainly a bea...more
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 certainly a bea...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 certainly a bea...more
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 human beings'...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 human beings'...more
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 full of te...more
"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?"
"Gone interactive." (31)
"In the Grail legends Lancelot, the best knight in the world, never does see the Grail because he cannot give up his love for Guinevere. As a moral essay this suggest...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?"
"Gone interactive." (31)
"In the Grail legends Lancelot, the best knight in the world, never does see the Grail because he cannot give up his love for Guinevere. As a moral essay this suggest...more
Jan 18, 2008
Zem Chance
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
you. thinking about love?
Recommended to Zem by:
Laura
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.
This is the first Winterson novel I ever read... almost a decade ago. It was mysterious to me then, intriguing, and while it makes a bit more "sense" to me now, it is no less magical.
"I cannot give my position accurately. The coordinates shift. I cannot say, 'Where,' I can only say, 'Here,' and hope to describe it to you, atom and dream."
This quote pretty much sums it all up for me, and by "it" I mean not only this book but Life in general. And Writing. And that's just one of my 23 dog ears. No...more
"I cannot give my position accurately. The coordinates shift. I cannot say, 'Where,' I can only say, 'Here,' and hope to describe it to you, atom and dream."
This quote pretty much sums it all up for me, and by "it" I mean not only this book but Life in general. And Writing. And that's just one of my 23 dog ears. No...more
The PowerBook is yet another unusual Winterson tale. It's been years since I read one of Winterson's books, and I'm reminded how unusual a writer she is.
The beginning of the story is fabulous: Ali and the tulips. The second half of the book is unfortunately not as strong as the first -- but still, the PowerBook is worth reading. The story winds beautifully through time and places, and Winterson's writing is like poetry painted on a canvas.
Strange, I'm not a fan of poetry (frankly, I usually jus...more
The beginning of the story is fabulous: Ali and the tulips. The second half of the book is unfortunately not as strong as the first -- but still, the PowerBook is worth reading. The story winds beautifully through time and places, and Winterson's writing is like poetry painted on a canvas.
Strange, I'm not a fan of poetry (frankly, I usually jus...more
I love this book for several reasons. One, it is very quotable. Two, the language is beautiful, Winterson is poetic and witty. And third, all of the love stories are so creative. Be warned though if this kind of thing bothers you--every love story is usually in the concept of woman/woman pairings, as Winterson is notable in the gay/lesbian literature field. Yet she also frequently dips into some very tragic/well known love stories--one is about the love between Lancelot and Guinevere, for instan...more
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.
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 in such...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 in such...more
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 stories told is a creepy fig...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 stories told is a creepy fig...more
"Una mia amica ha fatto proprio così. Se n'è andata senza portarsi dietro nient'altro."
" L'ammiro."
"Sei un'assolutista, quindi."
"Che roba è?"
"Tutto o niente.
"Cos'altro esiste?"
"la via di mezzo. Non ci sei mai passata?"
"L'ho vista sulla mappa."
"Perché non ci fai un viaggetto?"
"E' così, quando arrivo, comincio a girare a vuoto come tutti gli altri."
Solo l'impossibile vale lo sforzo.
Non c'è dolore più grande che essere felice solo della felicità passata.
Nel tuo viso, nel tuo corpo, nel tuo modo di...more
" L'ammiro."
"Sei un'assolutista, quindi."
"Che roba è?"
"Tutto o niente.
"Cos'altro esiste?"
"la via di mezzo. Non ci sei mai passata?"
"L'ho vista sulla mappa."
"Perché non ci fai un viaggetto?"
"E' così, quando arrivo, comincio a girare a vuoto come tutti gli altri."
Solo l'impossibile vale lo sforzo.
Non c'è dolore più grande che essere felice solo della felicità passata.
Nel tuo viso, nel tuo corpo, nel tuo modo di...more
This is the book that every teenage girl wants to write.
Okay - maybe not, this is just the book that I wish I were talented and driven enough to write when I was 15. It's all clever and full of Talmud references and interesting tid bits of history and rewritings of well known stories and lost love and longing. And it would all have been great if this were a book that I wrote when I was 15, but it's not - it annoys me when my 15 year old romanticizing smarty pants self comes out in my thinking /...more
Okay - maybe not, this is just the book that I wish I were talented and driven enough to write when I was 15. It's all clever and full of Talmud references and interesting tid bits of history and rewritings of well known stories and lost love and longing. And it would all have been great if this were a book that I wrote when I was 15, but it's not - it annoys me when my 15 year old romanticizing smarty pants self comes out in my thinking /...more
Oh dear. I love Jeanette Winterson and I don't even care that she is always telling that same story, because it's a good story and she's always getting better at telling it. And that one story, that only story of love and truth and passion and risk, it demands so many tellings.
But here, the story feels thin. Some good scenes - in Paris, in Capri - are threaded together with flimsy meta-narrative. I'm unconvinced. I feel like she had to write on a tight deadline. I feel like this was the bones of...more
But here, the story feels thin. Some good scenes - in Paris, in Capri - are threaded together with flimsy meta-narrative. I'm unconvinced. I feel like she had to write on a tight deadline. I feel like this was the bones of...more
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...more
Jeanette Winterson’s The PowerBook is a revolutionary idea that has never been done before. I had to read this for my Postmodernism unit for my 20th Century Texts module. The prose is beautiful, glorious and refreshing, it’s magical, and nothing like anything I’ve ever read before.
The way the book is set out is what catches your eye first. The PowerBook is all one word, separating the grammatical error by capitalising the word book, like that of Apple’s MacBook, which The PowerBook is hinting at...more
The way the book is set out is what catches your eye first. The PowerBook is all one word, separating the grammatical error by capitalising the word book, like that of Apple’s MacBook, which The PowerBook is hinting at...more
Firstly let me say that I adore this author and that I really really was expecting to give it 5 stars. But I feel a little deceived, hence the 3 stars. After reading the blurb, I expected something completely different. If this were presented as a compilation of vignettes then I probably would have been prepared and been able to appreciate (even more) Jeanette's amazingly poetic prose. Really, her writing is so fantastic that you can't deny her brilliance. But this was not a 'story'. To me they...more
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 was a beautifully tragic...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 was a beautifully tragic...more
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. Vanished.... Nothing. Here I am like a peni...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. Vanished.... Nothing. Here I am like a peni...more
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 (although it's not my preference...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 (although it's not my preference...more
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 to herself as balls...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 to herself as balls...more
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).
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 conception of love...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 conception of love...more
As repetitive in her themes as Jeanette Winterson can be, she still writes amazing prose about love and the conditions of love. Little happens in her novels beyond meeting, loving, leaving, a pattern repeating itself in the PowerBook. Love is lined with story-telling, with the attrition of time and chased by death. The narrator is deeply in love but lost in it at the same time, lost in the possibility of what never happens, lost in the need to draw her love back. Nothing is concluded and, as muc...more
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Novelist Jeanette Winterson was born in Manchester, England in 1959. She was adopted and brought up in Accrington, Lancashire, in the north of England. Her strict Pentecostal Evangelist upbringing provides the background to her acclaimed first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, published in 1985. She graduated from St Catherine's College, Oxford, and moved to London where she worked as an assi...more
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“What a strange world this is when you can have as much sex as you like but love is taboo.”
—
96 people liked it
“The body can endure compromise and the mind can be seduced by it. Only the heart protests. The heart. Carbon-based primitive in a silicon world.”
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38 people liked it
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