Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - May 2014

[Sarah]

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson won the vote for the category of Family and Self. Feel welcome to join in the discussion with your thoughts.

[Lisa]

I read this last week. I enjoyed the contrast between the story and the stories the character tells herself

[Karen]

Just finished this morning. I thought it was pretty middle-of-the-road, and I don't think it will stick with me in any way.

I have wondered before if the power of stories about the struggle to come to terms with homosexuality is lost on us now. I thought this as well when I saw A Chorus Line for the first time and felt little more than a shrug for the piece de resistance monologue about his parents seeing him in drag. In 1975, that was a big deal, and it still was in 1985 when this book was first published.

But now it's no longer taboo in most our worlds; in fact, the struggles of homosexual youth are talked about a lot. So a story about being gay under the thumb of a conservative Christian mother just doesn't reverberate the way it used to.

Apart from that, I was not a fan of the inserted myths and stories. I understand their purpose, but, like the rest of the book, this technique didn't engage or excite me.

[Lisa]

That's an interesting thought Karen. I think it may depend on the society of the reader though.