tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post643278095820369814..comments2024-03-25T19:05:07.205-06:00Comments on Reading, Writing, Working, Playing: The Daylight GateJaneGShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-77486144041203138962014-09-17T17:04:04.964-06:002014-09-17T17:04:04.964-06:00Oh, wow, hiking up Pendle Hill near Halloween woul...Oh, wow, hiking up Pendle Hill near Halloween would definitely be a memorable event.<br />JaneGShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-36946017688158570272014-09-17T15:35:12.724-06:002014-09-17T15:35:12.724-06:00Oh I like the sound of this. It's been a long ...Oh I like the sound of this. It's been a long time since I read any Winterson, but I remember enjoying her. I'm always fascinated by is-it-real-what's-real-anyway? books, which this sounds like - and I remember hiking up Pendle Hill as an undergrad years and years and years ago, between Halloween and Bonfire night, on a crisp cold night where the frost and the stars sparkled. It's one of my strongest memories of England...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-90750920793398355902014-09-16T13:50:08.440-06:002014-09-16T13:50:08.440-06:00I've never read Winterson, but I'm tempted...I've never read Winterson, but I'm tempted by this title. Perfect R.I.P. read!JoAnnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13691864361197071517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-72278916430777701652014-09-16T11:48:40.084-06:002014-09-16T11:48:40.084-06:00How interesting! I've read Winterson's fam...How interesting! I've read Winterson's famous book "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit," which definitely has elements of the fantastic in it, but I didn't realize she'd written anything spooky.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-77544905591070324072014-09-16T06:46:09.615-06:002014-09-16T06:46:09.615-06:00Actually, the witches are not portrayed sympatheti...Actually, the witches are not portrayed sympathetically. Most are poverty-stricken, true, but they have sold their souls. In this case, the theme is not humanism. I was expecting this, and the absence of this approach also surprised me. No, the witches are barbaric as are their persecutors.JaneGShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11094501834387622997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-71878505103789902462014-09-16T03:51:41.772-06:002014-09-16T03:51:41.772-06:00This does sound atmospheric and the plot sounds in...This does sound atmospheric and the plot sounds interesting.<br /><br />I might have a problem with a book like this portraying people with even subtle powers of witchcraft. I understand that the witches are portrayed sympathetically and the basic themes of the book are humanistic. Yet such accusations against people just have too much of a history and connections with horrible barbarity. I think this would bother me. This may say more about my shortcomings as reader ,as I am letting my own biases get in the way, as opposed to any flaw in the book.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15714418.post-61751539561117083822014-09-15T21:23:47.495-06:002014-09-15T21:23:47.495-06:00Winterson has been on my mental list of TBR author...Winterson has been on my mental list of TBR authors for a long time, but I've only read reviews (so far) sampling her distinctive prose: "clean, sparse, and blunt" seems a perfect way of describing it. This is her most recent book, I think, and it's interesting that it takes a different slant on witches and those who would condemn them--it seems like a perfect arena for studying the witches' own self-perceptions and others' (mis)perceptions of them--themes she has dealt with in other books when the subject was sexual identity.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00187517182328614133noreply@blogger.com