Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson

Winterson's poetic narrative is quite simply intoxicating. She is capable of spinning a web of words in which any verbophile will delight.

The construction of each sentence seems to be done with the utmost delicacy. Winterson strings words together with the detail and precision of a fine jeweler.

Each word is plucked form her fruitful imagination like a precious stone, either a diamond or a pearl, strung together in order to create, what is in my estimation, the perfect work of art. Ultimately reflecting the fine craftsmanship of a master wordsmith.

Her work feeds the imagination like that of, arguably, no other contemporary author.

Speaking of her words, well they give birth to some of the most vibrant images imaginable. Sexing The Cherry is a complete fairy tale that you are invited to participate in yourself.

In an exquisite display of her own unique literary genius, Winterson combines both history and myth in order to create the alternate world that Jordan and his mother Dog Woman, inhabit.

Based in a volatile, lice ridden London during the reign of Charles II, Jordan is all too eager to become a sailor and see the world, every last corner of it. He also wants very much to escape his mother and hide from himself and the feelings of shame that often accompany any thoughts of her. Dog Woman fished the boy out of the river Thames when he was just a baby. Giving him a river name, a name not bound to anything. She later regrets this decision, thinking that perhaps if she had named him after a stagnant pond, she may have been able to keep him to her longer.

Both Jordan and Dog Woman delight in flights of fancy that take them up and pivot them into an incredibly stimulating universe.

Each universe is entirely constructed and spun from the limitless possibilities of their own imaginations.

In his travels Jordan partakes in many adventures, an equal number based in both fantasy and reality. He sees much and regrets nothing.

While he is away, his mother essentially engages in the same sort of pleasure/fantasy lifestyle, with the exception that she is physically incapable of going anywhere, making her dreams all the more powerful.

Arriving back in London after many months at sea, Jordan has become conscious of every moment that slowly drips, bleeds and blends into the next.

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