ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT

Bananas Are Not the Only Fruit

Cristina C.

Upon learning about our choices for the personal read, I instantly knew I was interested in reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. The book was described to be about a girl, Jeanette, who was raised in a strictly religious home, but rebelled against her mother and religious teachings by becoming a lesbian. Ultimately, I chose this book because I knew the character was facing something I couldn’t relate to. I’ve always found it compelling to read books that you can’t relate to as much because it introduces you to other standpoints that you may not otherwise face. In a way, it kind of enlightens you in seeing the ways others see the world through their eyes.

From the first page of the book, Winterson starts explaining the ways of her highly religious mother in a comedic manner. She really began to excite me for the rest of the book, and it some ways, that excitement was met. In others, it was not. Throughout the book I was fully engaged upon learning about how she was raised, her love interests, and the troubles within the church and her home. However, as I’m reflecting on the book, I’m realizing there is actually ZERO plot. Plot is something I really look for in books because it’ll keep you interested, and keeps the story set on a story. But this book simply jumps between one story to another, to the point where I couldn’t even keep track of what was going on. I’ll admit, the random stories were ok, but I really don’t think there ever was a climax in the book. Well, there were some, but not related to the actual literature aspect. But again, a book NEEDS a climax that occurs throughout a book because it is the result of a rising action, and unfortunately, I think this book lacks that as well.

Ultimately, read this book if you just need something to pass the time, but you’d be better off picking another book that you will actually be really into.

Oranges Are… Not That Good of a Fruit

Julia S.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson is a tale of self discovery, rebellion and adolescence. I chose this book because I was promised a story of “a catholic raised woman who betrays everything her mother taught her,” and that intrigued me. Fortunately, I received just that, but unfortunately it was far less exciting than anticipated.

The first page of the novel set the tone for the rest of the book. A controlling mother, a submissive father, and a confused yet obedient daughter. My first emotion towards the book was a strong sense of hatred towards the mother. After finishing the book, I can confidently say I feel the same way. The entire book followed the same theme as the first page, and after a while, it became tiring.

While promising an intriguing and interesting plot, I would not consider this book to be very engaging. The majority of the book seemed to be descriptions, making it less of a page-turner than I had hoped. The book wasn’t bad, but I found it difficult to sit and read for a long time. Fortunately, the book included small pieces of comedy to put a smile on your face while reading, but you’d have to work hard to find them within the sea of descriptions. This book could be more engaging and relatable to someone who has strong religious influences in their life, but unfortunately many of the customs and situations in the book seemed unfamiliar to me. Personally, I enjoy relating to characters, and it may be just me, but I felt little to no connection with Jeanette in this story.

Before starting this book, read the bible. Twice, maybe, just to be sure. Without understanding of Catholic beliefs, it can be hard to understand the strictness of Jeanette’s mother. Seeing as she is more extreme than most Catholics would ever be, religious customs are a large part of this book, and basically what cause Jeanette to rebel as she does.

As I interpreted it, the major theme of this book would be how parental standards can affect the decisions and life of their offspring. I say offspring instead of children because in Jekyll and Hyde, the Bible and Frankenstein, the main characters were dealing with their creations rather than children. Jekyll was disappointed with Hyde, God was disappointed with Adam and Eve and many others that he created, and Frankenstein was beyond disappointed with his monster, all in the same way Jeanette’s mother came to resent and feel disappointment towards her daughter. This disappointment stems from the children (or creations) living their lives in ways that were unintended by their … creator. All of the books follow this similar paths, and all of the characters react in similar ways of punishing their offspring.

The major themes of this book are about disappointment in offspring, not taking the easy way out of things, and sticking to who you are. These themes occur throughout the book, shown in Jeanette’s relationship with her mom, choice about how she wants to live her life, and refusal to change who she is. The themes are significant and inspirational, and give the book some type of meaning.

Overall, this book was like a movie, in that the best parts were given in the preview, and the rest was composed of fillers and scenery. The story had promise, and Jeanette Winterson has talent in her writing. This book could be very entertaining for others, but unfortunately I found it rather dull and monotonous. Maybe I got my hopes up too high. It’s not a bad book! Just not my type.

Evey S.

The book I chose to read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson. I think one of the themes that related to our work in class was the struggle between conventional behavior and what the protagonist wanted. For example, Jekyll rebels again his assumed role in society, Adam and Eve rebel against God, and Frankenstein’s monster rebels against his maker. In Oranges, Jeannette challenges her strict religious upbringing, and begins to make her own decisions. My main interest in the book was the conflict between Jeanette’s religious household and her impassioned nature and unconventional feelings, but I also found the language very interesting. Despite that, it was hard at times to understand what she was talking about (I was very surprised, for example, to learn the that church was giving out pot plants, until I remembered that that particular term was a Briticism for potted plants). I found the book engaging and full of dry humor, but I also thought the narrative was jumpy, and I had trouble orienting myself in the story. The language alone was hard to make sense of, but combined with the disjointed plot, I had a good deal of trouble following the story, which isn’t usually an issue for me. Oranges was interesting, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone else.