A review by savaging
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

5.0

This is a book about families and about writing. This is a book that sees that try as we might to escape the stupid, petty domestic circle, writing is stuck warp-and-woof in the threads of the nuclear family.

I thought this book was perfect. One day reading it I wrote on my arm the single word SENTENCES! I haven't been this excited about sentences since I discovered Camus. Winterson allows herself clear, hard pebbles of sentences. I'll say the overused word here: luminous. These sentences are luminous.

You won't think this book is perfect if you think 1)stories need a beginning, middle, and end; or 2)someone shouldn't put all their personal business out there for anyone to read (especially if it's a storm of emotional intensity).

Reading this book meant pulling on other peoples' sleeves, clearing my throat, saying Just, just listen to this:

I have noticed that doing the sensible thing is only a good idea when the decision is quite small. For the life-changing things, you must risk it.

And here is the shock -- when you risk it, when you do the right thing, when you arrive at the borders of common sense and cross into unknown territory, leaving behind you all the familiar smells and lights, then you do not experience great joy and huge energy.

You are unhappy. Things get worse.

It is a time of mourning. Loss. Fear. We bullet ourselves through with questions. And then we feel shot and wounded.

And then all the cowards come out and say, ‘See, I told you so.’

In fact, they told you nothing.