White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) by Janet Fitch
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Book Reviews of White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: An Odyssey
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander is the story of a young girl's Odyssian journey undertaken not by choice but by necessity. It is a coming of age novel but it's not your average story. Astrid finds herself in extraordinary cirmcumstances. She's extraordinary looking with an extraordinary mother and extraordinary background. It is this larger than life depiction, told in first person, that draws us in and keeps us glued to the story. For every journey, at least those that make sense, there is a quest or a goal, something for which to strive or reach. What is Astrid's quest? Survival for one. We find, however, a more important intrinsic goal throughout Astrid's struggles from one foster home to another. This goal is to find her mother. Not her flesh and blood biological mother who is locked away in prison but the Great Mother within, the archetypal mother who oftentimes does not appear unless we've undergone some psychological crisis- a difficult childhood, a broken marriage, mid-life misgivings and wanderlust. Some say those who are NOT of the cheerleader homecoming queen variety are the luckiest since they're the ones who've had to deal with pain and hurt and disappointment. They're the ones who've had to call on their inner parents and their inner reserves of strength, making them all the more resilient to life's let downs in later years. It's the ones who've had perfect lives who aren't so lucky. Ultimately they will need an inner voice but they've had no opportunity to develop that authority. Astrid does not belong to this latter group. She was no cheerleader...no homecoming queen save for her pink pumps. In her odyssey, she's garnered strength from myriad women and men who seem to have more negative weaknesses than positive attributes. Yet, Astrid is able to see through their lackluster and find something beautiful and worthy in each of her foster parents. Throughout each painful trial, from one home to the next, Astrid thrives on her associations with these new and awful characters. She is able to take the horrible and turn it into a positive quality. The weakness becomes a strength. The greed becomes practicality. Most importantly, the pain which she endures actually allows her to thrive, and this ache and longing, physical and emotional, become her art. Ultimately, this reader is left wondering... since Astrid was able to provide the pain an outlet within the context of her artistic life and creative genius, did this pain and ache find its way into other aspects of her existence? This is the question we all must face, artist or not. Are there places for our pain so that we may deal with it accordingly, so it doesn't become us, so that we don't identify with it in every aspect of our lives?Book Review: Not a feel good book but you JUST have to read it...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is yet another thrift shop book that cost less than a dollar but unlike my previous purchase of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain," White Orleander is a book of high literary merit that you want to read over and over again because it is so addictive, like the scent of the White Orleander, and it's vicious but beauteous scent.White Orleander is about Mothers and daughters and the complex relationships we sometimes have with those we love but don't always like.
It's a book about life, death, survival and the redemption of the soul.
Astrid is the teenage daughter of Ingrid now in prison after murdering an ex-lover and Astrid finds herself at the Mercy of the Los Angeles foster care system that is both brutal and tender.
From her first teenage love affair with one of her foster mother's boyfriend's to her life in Berlin as a cynical but gifted young Artist we have driven through a life filled with tears, laughter, and the uncompromising brutality of the human experience.
Astrid is above all a survivor and she takes from her foster life experience a new way of thinking, of understanding those around her, the good, the bad and the downright ugly.
For me the best part of the book was Astrid's artistry of life, along with her acute understanding of mother's selfish whims and desire to be "beautiful and wanted" by the world for her talents as a poet, even though she is languishing in jail.
But Astrid is everything her mother is not, and her ability to carry her life with her in "museums," customised suitcases representing all those people that have influenced her life is wonderful, and you can feel the presence of Star, the God loving, drug taking foster mother, who shoots Astrid for seducing her man, the cowardly and weak Ray and other characters such as the racist Marvel and Olivia a woman for who men are no mystery, the suicidal Claire most beloved to Astrid, the greedy voracious Amelia Ramos, Yvonne a teenage mother with more dreams than sense, the streetwise Rena and Paul, Astrid's young lover in Berlin, like her a former foster child and writer.
And threading its way through the novel always is the power of Ingrid, struggling to keep control of her daughter who is surviving the world without her.
This is not an easy book to read, there is brutality, tenderness, betrayal, and deception in every page but you are compelled to read on and though the ending is far from satisfying it is what you expect.
Read White Orleander, and pray that no one ever makes a suitcase for you that represents your life because if they do you might not like what you see...
Book Review: A story of strength, survival, and love
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw the movie version of "White Oleander" several years ago and really enjoyed it. I finally read the book and I thought it was even better than the film.
"White Oleander" is narrated by Astrid Magnussen, a teenage girl whose mother, Ingrid, is an uncompromising poet who allows her own selfish desires to dictate the life she builds for herself and her daughter. Astrid is used to her mother's cynical view of the world, but everything changes when Ingrid is arrested and charged with the murder of her ex-boyfriend. When her mother is sent to prison, Astrid moves into the first of a string of foster homes and encounters every kind of foster hell imaginable. At the age of 14, she begins an affair with her first foster mother's boyfriend, only to end up getting shot when crazy Starr finds out what's been going on. Astrid's second foster mother, Marvel, considers foster children to be full-time babysitters and slaves, and she ends up kicking Astrid out when she learns of her friendship with an African American prostitute who lives next door. Finally, Astrid is placed in the home of Claire and Ron Richards, where she finds the kind of unconditional love and acceptance that she's been missing out on her whole life. Nothing good in this novel lasts for very long, though, and eventually tragedy befalls the Richards household, leaving Astrid to continue her journey and move on to yet another nightmarish foster home.
Over the course of the novel, Astrid transforms from an innocent girl who was captivated by her mother's wily enchantments to an incredibly sharp, self-sufficient young woman who ultimately manages to gain the upper hand in this complex mother-daughter relationship. Ingrid still manages to control her daughter from behind prison walls, but Astrid emerges from her ordeal with an incredible strength that cannot be penetrated, even by her mother.
This is a very intense story, and although the movie adaptation is fabulous, the book is even better. There is much more detail in Janet Fitch's novel: more foster homes, more characters, and more pain. The end of the book differs from the movie slightly, and I like the way the book wraps things up. (Why on earth didn't the movie end the same way?!)
I can't say that "White Oleander" is a pleasant read, because the content is unbelievable depressing. However, it's an amazing story of struggle and survival, and this book should be on everyone's must-read list.
Book Review: one of the greatest novels i've ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
having heard so many wonderful things about this novel for nearly three years, i decided to crack into white oleander myself last week and i am speechless now. yes, this one of those few books that everything you are apt to read in the reviews is completely and positively true. after you finish reading the book, you will find yourself holding a book of kleenex in one hand and a cell phone in the other. after you had a great cry, you will be making quite a few phone calls to your friends, family, and anyone else you think might share your enthusiasm. you might even go the extent of recommending a group discussion be held for janet fitch's masterpiece. if you are oprah winfrey, you will simply dial the author with tears in your voice and ask her how is it that she writes so well. whatever you choose to do after reading the book, please know that will never forget astrid and this book will serve it's place in your memory for as long as you live. i have to admit that i am excited about seeing this film now and will be one of the first people in line when it hits the local cinema although i can't imagine the movie will begin to touch this EXTRAORDINARY book. janet fitch has fabricated a beautiful, intoxicating story which will remind one at times of oliver twist, the bell jar, and perhaps some novels by the late v.c. andrews although this book is far better than the books or writers i could mention. fitch has a writing style that i can't qui te place my finger on and i can only hope she continues to crank out more books like this one in the future. when reading this book, you can't help but to feel for the characters and you will definately be rooting for astrid until the last page of the novel. astrid's vivid, emotional rainstorm will leave you breathless and almost in state of shock as if you had lived through her experiences vicariously. unlike most popular fiction, white oleander is far more literary and poetic in it's lyrical vision than perhaps anything you are apt to find on the new york times bestseller list. this novel deserves to be placed in the modern classics section of your local bookstore quite frankly and this is a book i could see one day being required reading in high school or perhaps college. if you love great literature in a fresh unique voice, then pick this book up immediately. if you like reading what everyone else is reading, then pick this book up immediately. either way, you simply cannot go wrong. happy reading.Book Review: White Oleander
Summary: 5 Stars
Author Bio- Janet Fitch was born in Los Angeles. She attended Reed College where she decided she would become an historian. She won a student exchange to Keele University in England. It was there that she decided she wanted to write fiction. She has done many things in her life including publishing short stories, attended film school, worked as a typesetter, proofreader, graphic artist, a freelance journalist, was the managing editor of a magazine, and the editor of a weekly newspaper. Janet Fitch continued to write short stories until one of her stories were rejected. The publishing company said the story should be a novel, so she decided to turn it into a novel. The novel was White Orleander. White Oleander was her first novel and she is currently working on her second.
Book Evaluation- Astraid does not live a "normal" childhood like most children do. Even as a little girl, her mother thought everything for her. Astraid was never given the chance to have her own views or opinion, but she never thought anything wrong with that. She thought her mother taught her everything about life until her mother was taken away to jail. Astraid lived in several foster homes where she struggles to survive. Each time she learned a different way to act, talk, and live. Astraid's journey is one that grabs you into the story. Astraid slowly learns that in jail, her mother cannot control what she does or think anymore. While her mother, in jail, becomes a very popular poet, she struggles with her daughter growing up in a way she does not want her to. Astraid finally gets what she wants out of her mother and moves on with her life. This was a great book. I could not put it down. All the journeys Astraid goes though are so tuff and mentally draining for her. She learns to cope with life, love, and loss. It is a book I think almost everyone will enjoy. I am also sure to watch the movie as well. Although I don't think the movie could be as good as the book, I still can't wait to see that as well.
Annotation- Astraid is an only child who is fatherless and lives with her mother who is an overly obsessed poet. Her mother uses her intense beauty to win over any man. Her mother goes to jail for killing her last lover, and Astraid is sent to several different foster cares. At each new home, she starts a new journey where she learns different ways to live and different ways to love.