February 1 - 7

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
This was... a pretty odd book. It makes sense, considering the fact that I read it in my unreliable narrators class, but still. An odd book. The narrator is never given a name, a gender, nor a description. Everything we know is about the person's thoughts and actions and emotions, rather than their appearance of sexual preference. The narrator is bisexual regardless, as he/she recounts relationships with both men and women. It causes an interesting read of the novel as you go through because at some moments, you find yourself viewing the narrator as a male (punching Elgin certainly isn't very ladylike, now, is it?) and at others, the narrator seems more female (referring to guilt from a past relationship of casual sex reminds me of social stigma towards women).

The ending was also interestingly vague. It seems to have been implying that the narrator and Louise got back together somehow, like Louise had come to the cabin and overheard the final conversation with Ms. Right (ha). If that's the case though, why would the narrator have been writing the piece? It seems to have been implied throughout the novel that the narrator was writing to Louise in his/her time of separation and mourning, but then why would the narrator write in that final part? Possibly just for closure, but still, something to think about.

In terms of language, this book had some really incredible lines and sentiments. I have so many sticky notes and underlines in this book that are just marked with ♥ because it simply sounded beautiful. If for no other reason, read this book to experience that delight of language.