Quotes from book
Lighthousekeeping

Name: Lighthousekeeping
Author: Jeanette Winterson

Lighthousekeeping is a 2004 novel by Jeanette Winterson. The novel is the first in a seven novel cycle. The novel depicts the perilous unbalanced psychology of the narrating character Silver, who becomes an apprentice to a lighthouse keeper.The novel follows in Winterson's typically mythological and metaphorical writing, exploring themes of storytelling, love and history. The novel received mixed reviews, with some reviewers seeing it as a continuation of Winterson's success of as a literary writer, while others frustrated by her writing.

“Tell me a story, Pew.
What kind of story, child?
A story with a happy ending.
There's no such thing in all the world.
As a happy ending?
As an ending.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping (2004), p. 49

“It is easy to be selfish. It is hard to love who I am. No wonder I am surprised if you do.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping (2004), p. 199

“This is not a love story, but love is in it. That is, love is just outside it, looking for a way to break in.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“Don't regret your life, child, it will pass soon enough.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“You were in my arms for the first time, and you said my name, 'Tristan.'
I answered you: 'Isolde.'
Isolde. The world became a word.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“When people looked at him they had the feeling of being shut out. He did not shut them out. He shut himself in.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“We are lucky, even the worst of us, for daylight comes.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“I knew it like destiny, and at the same time, I knew it as choice.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“Words are the part of silence that can be spoken.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“As for myself, I am splintered by great waves. I am coloured glass from a church window long since shattered. I find pieces of myself everywhere, and I cut myself handling them.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping (2004)
Context: You say we are not one, you say truly there are two of us. Yes, there were two of us, but we were one. As for myself, I am splintered by great waves. I am coloured glass from a church window long since shattered. I find pieces of myself everywhere, and I cut myself handling them.

“Names are still magic; even Sharon, Karen, Darren, and Warren are magic to somebody somewhere. In fairy stories, naming is knowledge. When I know your name, I can call your name, and when I call your name, you'll come to me.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“I do not accept that life has an ordinary shape, or that there is anything ordinary about life at all. We make it ordinary, but it is not.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Source: Lighthousekeeping

“In the fossil record of our existence, there is no trace of love. You cannot find it held in the earth's crust, waiting to be discovered. The long bones of our ancestors show nothing of their hearts. Their last meal is sometimes preserved in peat or in ice, but their thoughts and feelings are gone.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Lighthousekeeping (2004)

“I unlatched the shutters. The light was as intense as a love affair. I was blinded, delighted, not just because it was warm and wonderful, but because nature measures nothing. Nobody needs this much sunlight. Nobody needs droughts, volcanoes, monsoons, tornadoes either, but we get them, because our world is as extravagant as a world can be. We are the ones obsessed by measurement. the world just pours it out.”

Jeanette Winterson book Lighthousekeeping

Lighthousekeeping (2004)