gabieowleyess's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 stars.
This one was a really interesting read for me. It was split up into three different end of the word scenarios that were all connected to each other in one way or another. I did not understand this at first. I absolutely LOVED the first story. I thought that the whole book was going to be that story and I was super excited about that. However, when it switched to the second story I was SUPER confused. I had to look up a synopsis of the book to completely understand what was happening. Once I got past that, I found myself comparing everything I read to the very beginning of the story. And, unfortunately, none of the other stories were as good as the first one in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, they were interesting, but the first one was just so captivating.
I haven't read a book like this one in a really long time. It was incredibly refreshing to be able to read something that was captivating and adventurous. I'm really glad that I read it. It's the best book I've read so far this summer!
This one was a really interesting read for me. It was split up into three different end of the word scenarios that were all connected to each other in one way or another. I did not understand this at first. I absolutely LOVED the first story. I thought that the whole book was going to be that story and I was super excited about that. However, when it switched to the second story I was SUPER confused. I had to look up a synopsis of the book to completely understand what was happening. Once I got past that, I found myself comparing everything I read to the very beginning of the story. And, unfortunately, none of the other stories were as good as the first one in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, they were interesting, but the first one was just so captivating.
I haven't read a book like this one in a really long time. It was incredibly refreshing to be able to read something that was captivating and adventurous. I'm really glad that I read it. It's the best book I've read so far this summer!
user129380's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
erikaretia's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
gavreads's review against another edition
The Stone Gods is described as an ‘intergalactic love story’ set as man is due to colonise a new blue planet just like ours before we started using more than we put back.
Winterson starts well enough with the tale of Billie who hasn’t been ‘Fixed’, who is getting parking parking tickets even though she has a permit and has been asked to interview the robo sapien, Spike.
And as it progresses this storyline isn’t so bad and is an interesting take on how we might progress. Everything artificial, nothing to do but look young and have sex and be consumers. The problem comes when Winterson leaves this tale and all the fables she weaves into it and moves into parallels.
The other stories lack the initial engagement of the character of Billie and her relationship with Spike even though they are mentioned. And at this point I have a confession to make. I skipped and skim read looking for any threads to cling back on to.
This is the danger when you change the nature of the story. You loose your reader and what tentative links they’ve made. And Winterson lost me.
I’d recommend reading it for the opening novella but without the expectation of understanding or enjoying what follows. If Winterson had played it straight it would have been tighter and stronger and left room to explore sexuality as well as human evolution but I guess each writer tells the tales they want to tell.
Winterson starts well enough with the tale of Billie who hasn’t been ‘Fixed’, who is getting parking parking tickets even though she has a permit and has been asked to interview the robo sapien, Spike.
And as it progresses this storyline isn’t so bad and is an interesting take on how we might progress. Everything artificial, nothing to do but look young and have sex and be consumers. The problem comes when Winterson leaves this tale and all the fables she weaves into it and moves into parallels.
The other stories lack the initial engagement of the character of Billie and her relationship with Spike even though they are mentioned. And at this point I have a confession to make. I skipped and skim read looking for any threads to cling back on to.
This is the danger when you change the nature of the story. You loose your reader and what tentative links they’ve made. And Winterson lost me.
I’d recommend reading it for the opening novella but without the expectation of understanding or enjoying what follows. If Winterson had played it straight it would have been tighter and stronger and left room to explore sexuality as well as human evolution but I guess each writer tells the tales they want to tell.
lovegriefandgender's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jenns_bookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
I am truly confused and slightly angry. There is hardly a plot or properly constructed narrative - but yet I get the point of it? Ugh. Feels like someone I would of had to read in uni - probably because I did have to read these “dystopian” scifi reads a few times and each time did not enjoy them. This one was... at first intriguing? But then we went back to Puritan times and that original story line got thrown out, then we went forward in time but not quite to the point of the first storyline and it honestly hurt my head. Ah well. It was short.
maletis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
flappermyrtle's review against another edition
3.0
Though the second half of The Stone Gods definitely had the poetic vibes of Winterson's other works (The Passion, The Power Book), the start lacked a certain quality of reality. Having read Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, the first part of The Stone Gods felt like a rather crude sketch of a dystopic future society. The concepts of this society are not the problem; the utter abandonment of certain key human elements serve a purpose, but they also create a toofantastical feel for the book.
The different stories are beautifully interwoven,a reflection on the past,the future and the present (or the "now and the not-now"). Billie and Spike return, in many shapes, but always somehow the same - history repeating itself continually. Winterson asks questions of inevitability, fate, and humanity by setting her tales in different settings, all with an inescapable, depressing outcome after a short period of high hopes. It's a beautiful narrative, altogether, but it incidentally lacks the subtlety that make Winterson's other works excell.
The different stories are beautifully interwoven,a reflection on the past,the future and the present (or the "now and the not-now"). Billie and Spike return, in many shapes, but always somehow the same - history repeating itself continually. Winterson asks questions of inevitability, fate, and humanity by setting her tales in different settings, all with an inescapable, depressing outcome after a short period of high hopes. It's a beautiful narrative, altogether, but it incidentally lacks the subtlety that make Winterson's other works excell.