Winterson, Jeannette. The Stone Gods.Six word synopsis: Future. Past. Same thing. Same thing.
Jeanette Winterson is fascinated by repetition and myths. Mankind repeats: makes mistakes, attempts to recover, makes the same mistakes. Over and over.
This a dystopian future myth that incorporates the past. It is a warning, a reminder, a lament. A tiny novel that explores man's arrogance, his tendency toward self-destruction; it raises questions about robo-sapiens and examines the power of love.
Divided into three separate satiric versions of Billie Crusoe's life (& Winterson's?), there is even a reference to the fact that the manuscript was left at an underground station, found, and returned.
This was an ARC, an uncorrected manuscript, that I only recently got around to reading. It reminded me of Winterson's Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles which I reviewed here. In both, Winterson matches style to content and provides a poetic example of the power of myth in our lives.
In The Stone Gods, she concludes with: "Everything is imprinted for ever with what it once was. (At least in the uncorrected manuscript I received.)
In Weight, Winterson says, "What can I tell you about the choices we make?" and "I want to tell the story again."
And, I suppose, she has. The choices, the mistakes, the telling, and re-telling.
Fiction. Science fiction/Myth. 2008. 207 pages.
I loved Weight. This sounds like something I'd really enjoy too.
ReplyDeleteNymeth - I much preferred Weight, but this one is interesting in its dealing with specific contemporary problems.
ReplyDeleteI've not read any Winterson before but I have this book just waiting for me to get to it. It's not my typical read but I'm intrigued by the plot and the author. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteiliana - It is strange. Strange. I did like Weight a lot better, but the concepts behind The Stone Gods are really interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your six word synopsis, it kind of describes how I feel about her recent spate of books - "same thing. same thing."
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, Winterson still remains one of my favourite author.
Orpheus - I've not read any other books by her, but can certainly agree that the two I've read are the "same thing" as far as theme. A worthy theme, though, and one that she has developed in interesting ways.
ReplyDelete