Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson: Note

by Kathryn Simpson

The nation's favourite and best-selling literature guides

Genres: Fiction, Classics, LGBT

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2001

Reviews

[Rick]

I enjoyed Winterston's first novel which is a coming of age novel of a young woman growing up gay in a bleak British town dominated by her bizarre evangelical adopted mother. I think I would have enjoyed this well written novel even more if I had not read earlier this year Winterston's spectacular memoir which provides the true life version of this novel in an even more real and creepy way. The memoir is so good and so mesmerizing that this very good novel seemed a little muted in contrast. I would recommend that people read Oranges and then move on to the memoir I think that is a better order to take and will enhance your enjoyment of both books and make you appreciate how a very young writer was able to transfer her life experience into an interesting novel.

[Cristina]

I have to admit that this is quite an interesting book. I had to read it for my English class at Uni and I did not hate it. Although I'm an atheist, I got quite touched by some of the quotes in the book.

*By no means ths review intends to be rude at any religion nor beliefs, everyone is free to believe in whatever they want, an that does not make them less of a person*

Before reading it, I binge-watched lots of videos from the channel "Korean Englishman", and you'll ask yourself, what does that have to do with the book? I did not watch random videos from this channel. I made myself a marathon on the ones where Chris (a priest) appears. I found (and still do) very interesting his many religious explanations to many of the things that happen in our lives. I found them very pure and sincere, and it let me have another vision of religion that I did not have before. I used to think (as I was more or less told about it at home when I was young) that religion was only used to trick people into giving money and to be submitted to a priest and a "God" who decided what happened in our lives. That it was some kind of mind-control to maintain everyone in the same path, and whoever was away of it was a monster (we can see this side here in the book portrayed with mainly Jeanette's mother)

And although I still think a bit of it as mentioned before, I also saw the pure side of it. Many people believe in God (and whether He is real or not, I do not know) and it gives them hope to continue moving forward. Many of the things that Chris said in those videos made me think about how many people seek help in religion, and it helps them in many aspects of their lives. It motivates them to continue doing things because "God has chosen a path for each person" and "If it happens it is because God chose it to be this way" and I find that amazing. When I hear this man speak with such passion and confidence about his beliefs makes me happy and many times touched. (I really recommend you to watch his video about Billie Eilish's song, Everything I Wanted, It made me cry so bad. Here's the link )
***
Anyways, back to the book. By having seen this point of view before reading it, I was able to get deeper into the story. I now for a fact that I wouldn't have enjoyed it at all and I would’ve skipped all the parts that I’ve enjoyed lots.
Obviously, everyone will have a different opinion regarding this novel as everyone has a different point of view when it comes to religion and its power against people. But as I have a 50/50 opinion on it as I've seen both sides of this matter (I've seen the good side of it thanks to the internet and its power to connect people from all over the world), my opinion on it may differ from somebody who is catholic and someone who does not believe in a good side of religion at all. That is what makes this book so interesting, I'd love to know what the two opposite thoughts think of this novel.
I still believe that Jeanette had a tough life, obviously and that she was not treated well by her peers nor relatives, and that this book is the proof of how bad religion can affect someone who wants to be a part of it but keeps being misjudged by her actions when it comes to personal relationships. And I also believe that this book should help us open our eyes, even if you don't get touched by the story itself, you should feel some kind of emotion while reading some of the powerful quotes that are spread throughout the pages.
***
I'd like to citate some of my favourite quotes here, so you get an idea of what I was looking for while reading the book and I can save the to re-read the again and again lol:

— ‘There is this world’, she banged the wall graphically, ‘and there’s this world’,she thumped her chest. ‘If you want to make sense of either, you have to take notice of both’ — Exodus

— To create was a fundament, to appreciate, a supplement. — Exodus

— Everyone who tells a story tells it differently, just to remind us that everybody sees it differently. — Deuteronomy.

—Denying the past (...) until it looks the way you think it should. (...) Disposing the past when it gets too difficult. (...) And if we can’t dispose of it, we can alter it. The dead don’t shout. — Deuteronomy.

— ‘I love her.’ ‘Then you do not love the Lord’ ‘Yes, I love both of them’’You cannot’ — Joshua. (This one shows the two sides of religion, the supportive and the full of hate one.)

— My mother had painted the white roses red and now she claimed they grew that way. — Judges.

— (...) what you’d done in a past life you didn’t need to do again, and what you had to do in the future, you wouldn’t be ready to do now. — Ruth.

—Romantic love has been diluted into paperback form and has sold thousands and millions of copies. Somewhere it is still in the original, written on tablets of stone. — Ruth.

[Eva Thoonen]

Lief toppertje

[Isa Haverhals]

This is the kind of book you have to re- read to fully understand every part of the story. There are different storylines that pass by throughout the main story of the book, and i know they are somehow related to Jeanette’s story, but until the very end i did not quite understand their meaning. Still, i did find them interesting. However, i did not really like how this book ended, but overall i do really love this book. Beautifully written, such a complicated story. I would definitely read this book again after some time.

[Ky Hays]

This book was a very odd reading experience and by the end of it I absolutely loved it. The beginning of the book was all over the place but the ending pulled everything together so nicely that it was just extremely satisfying and pleasant.

[Amelia Failla]

definitely something you've got to read multiple times. i don't think i fully understood this but i love it anyways

[Jessica]

Jeanette Winterson‘s first novel and I love books when you can’t tell how autobiographical it really is, because I know she, like the character, is gay and grew up in an evangelical household. Funny the characters name is also Jeanette. It was kind of hard to read parts of this as the outsider to their cult of religion because some things the mother would force Jeanette to do seemed so absurd, or how Jeanette acted sometimes I just wanted to slap some sense into her. Like when she was deaf and her mom ignored it and said she was receiving the spirit. This was hard to read. I can’t even imagine growing up like that especially if I had nothing else to compare it to. Jeanette must have been so lonely. You hear all these stories of kids with no friends but I never really imagined living with literally no one else and just a church. I loved her role models though, just miss Elsie really, because she’s eccentric and understanding and knows how to draw the line with religious fanaticism. Literally three other characters called the mom crazy and they were all in the church too… Tells you something. I loved the relationship with Melanie because she was a friend and then a lover. It was amazing when they were like “ this isn’t unnatural passions because it feels so good.” She loved Melanie and their love was innocent and true and I was upset with the church, the servants of God who pulled them apart. And it’s interesting Jeanette made the distinction between God and servants of God at the end because ultimately that’s true – it’s the misinterpreting and hating and controlling what they want God‘s will to be. Of course she misses God because he was always loyal and there as she points out which I find a beautiful and easy to understand. The little stories in between seemed important and meaningful in a way I only barely understand. I get that they relate to Jeanettes life but in other ways I don’t fully understand their intended meaning. This is why I’d like to reread them more carefully. The last thing I’ll say is I’m not sure how much I liked the ending. I don’t want her to go home to a mother who doesn’t really care about her and try to have a relationship with her. She’s a selfish crazy mother who shifted her responsibilities of motherhood onto offering, peeling, eating oranges. I know Jeanette realizes this and rejects this but it bothers me how she still tries to return to that horrid normalcy. I guess family ties are strong and the ties around Jeanettes button pulling her home are stronger.

[Arianna]

A mix of everything. From humour to Romance to Biblical passages. Such raw emotion and metaphors throughout, elevate the book, keeping you thinking and excited all the time. Homosexuality is a vital theme, relating to many real-life emotions encountered in society.

[Morgan Clyne]

Felt like it had no plot? Writing style was hard to follow and there were odd interjections which I felt added very little to the story. The premise was very interesting and was an insightful view into a very differing way of life

[Nicole]

Not what I was expecting. There were some good quotes, but the best part was towards the end. I found it boring.

[Julie Webb]

I kept reading, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. I would not recommend this book.

[Charlie Jean]

Jeanette Winterson blends the elements of a young queer woman coming into adulthood amidst an oppressive and suffocating evangelical environment.

I loved the way she was able to blend both biblical and folk storytelling together within the prose mundane life of a small evangelical church in rural England in the 70s. What I found most compelling and beautiful about this coming of age story is the way the love between Melanie and Jeanette was depicted. The sexuality expressed by Jeanette’s character was always done subtly, and so the sexuality and intimacy between these two characters was done very quietly and intimately. In doing so it portrayed this relationship as pure first love. The way Jeanette and Melanie are able to love each other is so pure to the crux of Christianity, it’s only when it is exposed to the judgement of religious institutions that it becomes ‘perverted’.

Ultimately, I thought it was a really interesting book and I’m very glad I read it, I resonated with it a lot as a queer women who loves God. I think that if someone is not as well versed in Christianity or biblical themes, the book will be much hard to digest as most of the metaphors within this book, rely on biblical understanding.

[Kes Komorek]

Currently one of my favourite books. I absolutely loved how it showed the transition from the life you grew up in and the limited world view that can give you and learning to think for yourself and exploring everything outside your limited circle. It also very well portrayed how religion clouds people’s judgment and can turn the people closes to you against you simply for not fitting into their interpretation of their scripture. One of the quotes that really stuck with me was “‘To the pure all things are pure,’ I yelled at him. ‘It’s you not us.’” (p.134), because to me it shows that interpretation really makes such a big difference in religion. Jeanette knows that you can be religious and love god even when you don’t follow the exact words of the bible and throughout the book she accepts her “demons” and realises that nobody is free from sin. Though I don’t know how her views on God are at the end of the book it was very beautiful to see a character that was not one dimensional and had realistic struggles, also that her and Melanie didn’t have some magical happy ending was way more realistic than if they had it.

[Rhiannon Sachnik]

I really liked this book. Truly felt like I was in Jeanette's brain. I think my favorite chapter was Deuteronomy, when she talks about history. My favorite quote from that chapter was "People never have a problem of disposing the past when it gets too difficult." I liked how all of the chapters were influenced by what the book is in the Bible.

[may]

"there's a chance that i'm not here at all, that all the parts of me, running along all the choices i did and didn't make, for a moment brush against each other." beautiful.

[Tim Theobalds]

I struggled and didn't finish it

[Bridget]

My copy has 12 blank pages at the end and I’m trying to figure out if it just ends like that or if there’s pages missing someone pls tell me lol

[Rosa Hartley]

i dog eared the hell out of this

[girlinthealps]

writing was solid, best part of the plot was the blurb, struggled to get through it
lesbians please dont hate me but this was lowkey ass 💔

[Robin]

Great book!

[Amy]

Winterson's 'Bildungsroman' style is truly captivating and coupled with countless satirical anecdotes there is absolutely no way you cannot fall in love with young Jeanette.

[Rhian]

Some useful ideas, but I may have to read it agin and makes notes before the exam. More half-term homework (whoop... not).

[Peter Jones]

Unexpectedly lovely. (Not just a girl's book)

[Natalia]

Brilliant and inspirational writing for the lbgt community.