what is most striking in this novel is the way winterson uses science in her language. there are countless elements of physics and maths in this book which is surprisingly lovely because it makes this novel a very interesting / intellectually stimulating read. the narrators discuss big questions, which i suppose is winterson's trademark way of provoking thought. establishing an idea and then expounding on it, or making something completely obsolete. in this novel she brings in scientific theory and then relates it to the human condition. lovely.

'What is it that you contain? The Dead. Time. Light patterns of millenia. The expanding universe opening in your gut. Are your twenty-three feet of intestines loaded with stars?'

'Einstein: the most famous scientist in the world. Everyone knows about E = MC2. Not everyone knows that: 'If a body falls freely it will not feel its own weight.' The implications of this stretch beyond the theory of gravity they maintain.'

the plot is unusual - not in a bad way, just slightly unnerving. winterson tells of an extraordinary affair:

'Jove had a wife. I was in love with them both.'

basically, Jove is having an affair with Alice. Jove is married. to Stella. Alice tells Stella, they meet, Stella kisses Alice. and then at the end of the novel it is revealed that Jove was the one who wrote as 'Alice' to Stella telling her about the affair.

i also liked the way this book was structured, the way it unravelled. there are 12 chapters, but 3 narrators (i may be wrong). this is refreshing because you don't see the entire plot from only one person's point of view. mostly you read Alice's and Stella's perspective. Jove's chapter is the most gruesome and disturbing one. again, i suppose it is refreshing. what i find interesting is also that there is always something in winterson's characters that you can relate to.

so anyway this is one of my favourite chapters, 'THE TOWER'. it is narrated by Stella, when she finds out that Jove is having an affair. she sounds hysterical, but this chapter was so skillfully written i thoroughly enjoyed it.

'Give me a pot and let me turn cannibal. I will feast on her with greater delight than he. ... Did he eat her? Then so will I. And spit her out. I am not seeking revenge.

Where is the screwdriver? I will have every hinge off every door. There will be no privacy in the bathroom. Let him shave in front of me, shit in front of me, talcum powder his armpits under my stare. I will count the hairs on his razor and the rings around his tub. I will fact-find him as though he were a rare breed of insect. I will do this all sanely.

Give me a drill. While he sleeps I will trepan the back of his head and with my fingers pull out his dream of her. I shall of course be quiet.'

in this chapter Stella also speaks of the futility of advice/consolation when you're broken, something i find relatable. when you're broken only you can fix yourself. notice her heavy sarcasm, done skillfully again by winterson

'Pull yourself together.

Yes. Just pass me my leg will you? It's on top of the wardrobe where he threw it, and I think my right arm is leaning over by the wall. My head is in the gas oven but it will probably be all right, I'm told that green colour wears off. Unfortunately I threw my heart to the dogs. Never mind. No one will notice how much is missing from the inside, will they?

You look better.

Thank you. I dumped the broken bits and varnished the surface. Not bad is it? And now I can be released back into the community, encouraged to join a dating agency, and invited to speak about my experiences at a Transcendental Self-Lobotomy seminar for the prematurely smashed.'

in Oranges are not the Only Fruit, fairytales was an important aspect of the novel. here winterson writes one fairytale which also draws parallels to the main plot: 'once upon a time there were two friends who found a third'. this paradox within the fairytale was glaringly obvious, interesting: the three characters are seeking 'that which cannot be found'.

another theme found in both Oranges and Gut Symmetries is lesbianism; and that word is never once mentioned in both texts.

THIS BOOK WAS FULL OF AMAZING QUOTES.

this one i'm sure most people have already come across on tumblr... i remember reading this off tumblr and liking it, so seeing this was quite pleasant.

'Stella turned towards me and crumpled my heart in her hand. 'Do you fall in love often?' Yes often. With a view, with a book, with a dog, a cat, with numbers, with friends, with complete strangers, with nothing at all.'

'Now that physics is proving the intelligence of the universe what are we to do about the stupidity of humankind?'

'I run after knowledge like a ferret down a ferret hole. My limitations, I call the boundaries of what can be known. I interpret the world by confusing other people's psychology with my own. I say I am open-minded but what I think is.'

'Until you are ready to love there is no one to love'

'When children learn to count they naturally add and multiply. Subtraction and division are harder to teach them, perhaps because reducing the world is an adult skill'

'I don't own my emotions unless I can think about them. I am not afraid of feeling but I am afraid of feeling unthinkingly. I don't want to drown. My head is my heart's lifebelt.'

this next one sounds like a conversation in my own head, mental debate about the good in myself (if there is any):

'Undeceive yourself Alice, a great part of you is trash. True, but my hope lies in the rest.'

i don't quite know if this is worth mentioning, but biblical allusions are also common in this book. lot's wife / adam and eve / judas / babel etc.

this is the last book of my winterson spree; gonna take a break from winterson and move onto other writers first. sometimes i find it nerdy how seriously i take reading as a habit. anyways, this was a great book. definitely my favourite by winterson thus far. i highly recommend it!!

other reviews: one / two