Written on the Body Voice 2

Voice 2; Personal

I found Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body to be a fairly interesting and intriguing novel. One of the things that I mostly thought about was the identity of the narrator, although I must admit that I didn't notice until half way through the book that a gender was not specified. As soon as I figured that out for sure (by reading the back of the book for confirmation) I switched the gender back and forth between male and female. Overall, I personally found the idea of the narrator as a woman as easier to imagine. I enjoyed the complexity of the relationships in the novel. The relationships were very relatable to me and I could put myself in her (I say her because that's how I pictured the narrator) shoes. I can understand the different intensities of the intimate relationships and the hurts and the heartaches that follow the endings of those relationships. One of the most relatable relationships to me was that of the narrator's and Louise and the way it ended. I have had a serious relationship that ended because it was thought to be for the good of the other person. It's hard to estimate how much pain you will feel after a relationship is over, especially when you think it is ended for the better. I can definitely relate to the regret that the narrator felt after leaving Louise, an empty void that can't be filled. I also thought that the novel had a lot of interesting, thought provoking lines in it. Some that I underlined are:
-"You said, 'I love you.' Why is it that th emost unoriginal thing we can say to one another is still the thing we long to hear? 'I love you' is always a quotation. You did not say it first and neither did I, yet when you say it and when I say it we speak like savages who have found three words and worship them. I did worship them but not I am alone on a rock hewn out of my own body." (pg. 9)
-"You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so how could we take it back without asking?" (pg. 38)
-"It's the cliches that cause the trouble." (pg. 71, although it is seen multiple times throghout the rest of the novel. I found this line very interesting.)
-"Is happiness always a compromise?" (pg. 74)
-"Love belongs to itself, deaf to pleading and unmoved by violence. Love is not something you can negotiate. Love is the one thing stronger that desire and the only proper reason to resist temptation." (pg. 77-78) I find this one very interesting because love really is like this. There are no decisions. You either love or you don't. Right?
And finally...
-"It's a great leveller the hole, for no matter what fanciness goes in it, rich and poor occupy the same house at last." (pg. 177) I particularly enjoy how much sense this line makes. I also like how it comes at the end of the book, almost as a way to tie things up.