Jeanette Winterson - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

review on show 24th march by Ro Bennett
I bought this book because I saw Jeanette Winterson as a guest on the Ann Robinson My Life of Books programme and thought she had a good sense of humour. The book was made into a television adaptation but it didn’t appeal to me, and having read the book I probably still wouldn’t bother to watch it. The book is funny in parts but it’s a rather savage humour and you can feel a deep hostility, resentment and anger simmering under the surface of it. I found it an uncomfortable book to read, not because of the gay element. I found the Christian fundamentalist belief and practice very disturbing, in fact so unsettling I didn’t enjoy the book and it hasn’t encouraged me to read any more of her work.

What I found particularly appalling was the aftermath of Jeanette confiding her feelings for her female friend to her mother and the reaction of her parent and the church body. They hauled her to the front of the church and humiliated her publicly in front of the entire congregation. The pastor tried to brow beat and pressurise her into confession and renunciation of her ‘sin’, and relinquishing of what they called evil, unnatural desires. They starved her and tried to exorcise her of demons. To me it was tantamount to child abuse and indoctrination and it concerns me that this sort of thing might actually still be happening.

This is the product description:
Jeanette, the protagonist of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and the author's namesake, has issues--"unnatural" ones: her adopted mam thinks she's the Chosen one from God; she's beginning to fancy girls; and an orange demon keeps popping into her psyche. Already Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiographical first novel is not your typical coming-of-age tale.
Brought up in a working-class Pentecostal family, up North, Jeanette follows the path her Mam has set for her. This involves Bible quizzes, a stint as a tambourine-playing Sally Army officer and a future as a missionary in Africa, or some other "heathen state". When Jeanette starts going to school ("The Breeding Ground") and confides in her mother about her feelings for another girl ("Unnatural Passions"), she's swept up in a feverish frenzy for her tainted soul. Confused, angry and alone, Jeanette strikes out on her own path.

Before starting the book I should have taken more careful notice of my reaction to the introduction by the author. Here is a small extract:

Oranges is an experimental novel: its interests are anti-linear. It offers a complicated narrative structure disguised as a simple one, it employs a very large vocabulary and a beguilingly straight forward syntax.’

I should have decided at this stage not to read the novel. Far too intense and convoluted for my taste.

A reviewer summed it up for me: There were so many parallel fantasy stories, especially towards the end, (which I know were meant to be deep and meaningful,but just went over my head)
review by Guru Ro