Random reviews from readers of The Reality of Being Lovers
“I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: GAIL WINFREE CAN WRITE. His writing style is superb, and his prose reads like poetry. Not only that, his creativity and imagination goes way beyond of what one expects from a writer.
“Yet how do I rate this book? From the literary quality, I would give this books 5 stars, no 7, maybe 10. I am not sure. This book really has me confused. However, … HOWEVER … this book is soooooooo erotic! Here I am sitting at my computer, blushing red like a tomato, only to think of it. I am not used to reading explicit descriptions of sex, regardless of how brilliant the writing style. I grew up during a time where one neither talked nor read about sex (at least, not in our circles). Well, I won’t lie to you. When I was in my early twenties, I did read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but I don’t remember if I enjoyed the book. And I started to read Fanny Hill but tossed it after reading only few pages, as I did not like it. Too much is too much! — In general, during my youth, the slogan was: ‘Das sagt man nicht. Das tut man bloss.’ which might be freely translated into: ‘Sex is not something you talk about. Sex is something you do.’
“So what do I do about rating The Reality of Being Lovers? — I did some math: 5 stars for the literary value (to stay within the 1-5-star system), 1 star as a penalty for the graphic description of the sex; no, let’s make it 2 stars because the description is brilliant. Adds up to 7. Divided by 2 makes 3.5. No, this won’t work. — I just had a better idea. I tossed a dice. Came out with 4. So 4 stars it will be.
“Now, how about the plot? — No, I am not getting into this. I don’t wish to land in the loony bin. I, therefore, refer you to MiasBeck’s review. This tells it all.
“One piece of advice: Do not give this book to a schizophrenic person, as he or she might come out as a multiple personality. — Needless to say that you won’t give this book to your 14-year-old.”
I’m sitting here just chilling with your book and glass of ale
Chasing the ‘hair of the dog’ from the festivities of new year
And feeling rather delicate after much wine and good cheerI’m sure today is a quiet one, as everyone recovers
A perfect time to sit and read THE REALITY OF BEING LOVERS
I was hooked from the beginning; your story telling is superb
“Book character falls for reader” – who said that was absurd?Imagine opening a book and finding a real person within?
Who tries to capture your heart from the moment you begin
Then the book is slowly rewritten, and your emotions start to collide
To unite a love between you; a love that cannot be denied
And so the story unfolds of character Josh and reader Miriam
Who fall in love; who make love, with sublime joy and delirium
Your words are simply beautiful; wondrous feelings they ignite
Ensconced in this majestic fantasy, my sensibilities taking flight
“The deepest, most intense passions are those not yet discovered”
Exqusiite words you weave in this tapestry that’s uncovered
For a book can be all kinds of things, but for the magic to appear
It has to have a helmsman duly qualified to steer
I actually read your book twice, so much did I enjoy
Each time I savoured the poetry of the words that you deploy
This is a gorgeous novel and I shall recommend it to friends
THE REALITY OF BEING LOVERS – A love story that never ends
I planned to write a review of this book in form of a meta-review, explaining how hard it is, for me, to write a review of this book. But that turned out to be too difficult either, so I talked to a close friend of mine, and asked him what he made of this book.
Here’s the minutes of our conversation as far as I can recall from memory.
Me: “So, what you think about the reality of being lovers?”
Mias: “You mean being lovers in the real world, or the book by Gail L. Winfree?”
Me: “The book.”
Mias: “Which one do you mean? There are two books by that name, and they’re both written by an author named Gail L. Winfree.”
Me: “I mean the one people can actually buy, like, on Amazon or wherever.”
Mias: “Well, it’s a rather simple story, I would think. At least it’s written in a simple language. It’s about a woman, Miriam, a book lover, who buys a book in a used-book store and falls in love with the main character of the book, Josh.”
Me: “So it’s basically a book about books?”
Mias: “Yes, but it’s also about characters in books and readers and the creators of stories and how a communication between all of these ‘entities’ is formed somehow.”
Me: “Sounds complicated.”
Mias: “It really isn’t. It may be confusing at first, but it’s a pleasant kind of confusion.”
Me: “And what about the author, Gail L. Winfree? Isn’t it weird to write a book in which the author himself is a character?”
Mias: “Not really. I’ve seen it before. Paul Auster did it in his New York Trilogy, and Stephen King too in The Dark Tower. Actually, Gail has done it before, in his previous novel Finding What’s Lost, another great read by the way. You should know, you wrote a review about it!”
Me: “Sounds like you admire this author, Gail L. Winfree? But you’re not acutally him, are you?”
Mias (laughs): “No, I’m not. But I like his books. And he seems to be a really nice person. You can connect with him on Goodreads. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. But don’t write that in your review. The brass on Goodreads don’t like reviewers talk about author’s behaviour. It’s a new policy, a rather strange one if you ask me. Just stick to the story and the book.”
Me: “OK. I just pretend the Gail L. Winfree I mention in my review is the Gail L. Winfree character from the book, and everything’ll be fine.”
Mias: “Let’s hope so.”
Me: “You talked about books and characters and stuff. But that’s not all the book is about, is it?”
Mias: “No, it’s also about love, as the title suggests…” (pauses) “…and sex. The other book, you know, the one people automagically get when they buy this book starts off with some pretty graphic scenes of two people having sex. And it continues that way, at least for a while.”
Me: “So, it’s not suitable for all ages?”
Mias: “No. I mean yes. I mean, you won’t want your kids to read it, that’s for sure. But you have to see that the sex in this book is essentially the expression of love, real love, or, as the author has put it, eternal love.”
Me: “I see. So love and sex should go hand in hand.”
Mias: “That’s right. As does reality and dreams, or books and magic, all the same thing. But listen, dude, I have to run now. There’s this new book out by Stephen King and I have to read it. Can’t help it. See you around.”
And off he went.
Me (shouts): “HAVE FUN!”
I meant to ask him some more questions, but my friend is always in some kind of a hurry. I hope you could make some sense of what he said and I suggest you check out the reality of being lovers for yourself. It’s a good read!
Winfree Writes 