Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

De: Jeanette Winterson

Narrado por: Jeanette Winterson

When Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, left home at 16 because she was in love with a woman, Mrs. Winterson asked her: "Why be happy when you could be normal?" This book is the story of a life's work to find happiness. It is the story of how the painful past returned to haunt Jeanette's later life, and send her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her real mother. It is also a book about other people's stories, showing how fiction and poetry can form a string of guiding lights, a life raft which supports us when we are sinking.

©2011 Jeannette Winterson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Lucky and loved at the end!

Great to read and at the same time listening to the voice of Jeanette. Always nice if writers tell the story themselves.

That JW Eloquence

I’ve always loved Jeanette Winterson’s novels since the ‘90s. They were essential to my becoming: as a twentysomething discovering my true identity as a lesbian, and as a fiction writer investigating new ways of telling stories. And now that I’m in my fifties, it’s comforting to hear her narrate her own story, those scenes outside of her fictions. And it’s now become comforting, her relatability. Thank you for all that you do. I hope you continue sharing.🧡

Touching

It was really heart-touching. I enjoyed it very much. Winterson seems to write from the experience. Not only from her life, but from the many books she has read during her life.

Sharing her story

Would you consider the audio edition of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? to be better than the print version?

the audio version is better for me as I am dyslexic and having an audio version brings books to me I would otherwise find difficult to read

What did you like best about this story?

that she was sharing her story

Have you listened to any of Jeanette Winterson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no - I would love to hear oranges but you do not have it available

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

laugh and cry - made me appreaciate my family

Any additional comments?

would love to listen to the book she refered to Oranges are not the only fruit

Superb

Would you listen to Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? again? Why?

I actually listened to this twice and read the book in paperback. Enormous Jeanette Winterson fan and to have her reading it was just the most wonderful treat.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was short enough I knocked it over in a couple of sittings.

Excellent book about identity

One of the best books I’ve listened to recently! Poignant account of discovering one’s identity - all sorts of identity: social, intellectual, gender, emotional, filial, self-constructed identity. Wonderfully honest! Loved it.

Una biografía poética y un viaje de ida y vuelta en al campo de salud mental

Es un relato apasionante y apasionado sobre el derecho a la identidad y el derecho a poder amar y trabajar con todo el corazón y todo el cuerpo.

Raw and bittersweet memior

I listened to the whole book in one sitting, her story is so beautifully and honestly written.

Delightful

Wonderful, bittersweet memoir. Made me cry and laugh out loud. Had a good few occasions listening in the parking lot outside the office unable to tear myself away. Will definitely listen to this again.

An emotional roller coaster ....

What would have made Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? better?

I was really excited when WBHWYCBN was selected for the Book Club because I truly loved the title. They say you do judge a book by its cover so me I was onto the book before even started it. The book title really resonates with me. The while reading I find out how hard it was, how complex it was!
To pin down what this book was even exactly about is difficult in itself. So it’s a book about Jeanette Winterson’s adopted mother, and then her eventual search to find her biological one. Sure. But it’s also about a million other things. I was even unable to ask basics questions about : Which themes struck me the most? Mrs. Winterson and her exorcism and book burning? English Literature A-Z and the power it gave Jeanette? The “lost loss” of adoption? Or the countless meditations on love, love, love — giving it, receiving it, deserving it?
Then I decided to relax and take this story as her journey to understanding herself, where she came from, with Mrs. Winterson as the main antagonist. To me, the most hopeful thing about the book is how with time Jeanette came to understand Mrs. Winterson (and her father), and, by extension, herself.
Jeanette Winterson's style threw me a couple of times. This book is written in a style I don't particularly like. Sometimes I liked but then the next page could just throw me again. I do understand the complicated mess that is the relationship with Mrs. Winterson.
All that I remember about this book is that messy relationship and self-discovery. Jeanette’s style made it hard for me to remember the story; I was lost most of the time. The book didn't hook me, it took me nearly 2 weeks to finish it and normally, when I like a book it takes about 2 days for I finish it.... It all comes down to style, this is a style I don't like and can't describe whatsoever, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who like this.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

did not like the reader ... it was hard to focus and folow