White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) by Janet Fitch
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Book Reviews of White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: A great book though I have mixed emotions
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, this is a wonderfully, poetic book written by a woman whose next book I will pick up gladly. It got me through a rather bad day and a half in which I became so immersed in the story I literally got lost in it and forgot my problems. Ingrid is the most compelling character being that she had been a woman who lived life on her terms, a sort of feminist poet, who loses her mind after falling in love with a man and later being dumped by him...This is where the story begins and my mixed feelings begin. I understand Astrid's need to be loved but not the way she seduces her caretaker's boyfriends. That's where she lost me. And from that point on, I didn't sympathize with her at all. Though I still loved reading it. So its a strange feeling. I understand loneliness and loss but not a conniving need to sleep with older men who have girlfriends. That lost me.
Two things annoyed me that were repeated throughout the bookl
"Its a man's world" - ok yes but that doesn't mean giving up and doing whatever a guy wants you to. That feels like a cop-out.
"Laying with the father" - no matter how bad yourlife is there is no excuse for seducing another woman's boyfriend. I don't care if you've got a father or not.
These messages irked me yet here I am giving it five stars! Why? Because this book made me laugh, cry, toss it down in anger and in the end, it compelled me to keep reading. Its frustrating, it annoyed me but in the end, this book is what being human is about. Making mistakes is what we all do. White Oleander is the book that gets under your skin, angers you and makes you realize that it made you actually feel something.
So in the end, its a truly amazing book. I'd recommend it to anyone and give it more stars if I could.
Book Review: What a book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an amazing book. It tells the story of a young girl's odyssey through foster homes after her mother is convicted of murder. The writing is beautiful, the characters are astonishing, and I would truly describe this book as a pageturner.
Each of the characters are truly unique and honest, ranging from very pure souls to very dark villains. But no one is one dimensional or a stereotype. They are all very human. Even the mother who is a murderer, is human, even though she follows her own set of rules to dangerous extremes. She is a cold icy woman who worships beauty above truth, who feels that falling in love is a weakness, and is not above lying or even murder. Imagine having a person like this for a mother! And that's just what Astrid has.
This is a story about a daughter, Astrid, coping with life with a mother who is in prison, and going from foster home to foster home, meeting interesting people who change her life, some by befriending her, some by making her life harder. All of this helps her to grow into a young woman. The people she meets are all colorful and original, my favorite being Claire, a truly sensitive soul.
This is also a story of the growth of an artist from puberty to young adulthood, as Astrid is also an artist. Being an artist myself, her artistic discoveries ring completely true. The setting of this book in the Los Angeles area, exposes the wide variety of life living in a particular city. It is obvious the author has a love for Los Angeles.
Above all, this is a story about the bond between mother and daughter, even if mother isn't who you would like her to be. I would recommend this book to anyone, particularly young women and their mothers.
Book Review: This is Pain.
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander is the story of Astrid, a young teenager who comes into the foster-care system, after her hateful mother is convicted of murder. Astrid tells her story in the first person, as a stream of consciousness, a non-stop, no holds barred description of cruelty, neglect, and utter loneliness.Astrid's tale examines the five foster homes she endured in as many years. The care-givers ranged from illiterate, drug-addicted trailer [folks] to wealthy, upper-class families, but they all shared the same horrible traits: They were incredibly selfish and used Astrid to their own ends, ranging from meal-ticket to emotional caretaker. Astrid describes the horrors she faces calmy and stoicly. She quickly learns that hope is for [foolish folks]; everybody leaves you eventually, no body cares about you, not even (and especially) your mother.
At first, I found Janet Fitch's constant use of analogies and excessive description of minutia to be annoying; however, it soon became a necessary part of the book. Astrid is a friendless girl who lives in her mind; she is intelligent, analytical, and keenly observant. Her non-stop flood of description is her way of connecting the past and present, of justifying the evil around her. I especially appreciated Astrid's comparison of her shattered life to shipwreck skills she read about. She was constantly trying to "drink the dew off the sails" of life, as she battled to stay afloat.
As I read this book, I found myself thinking, "This is real. This can't be fiction!" The words and emotions ring painfully true and are agonizingly hard to read. White Oleander shows a world I happily didn't know, and one I will not be able to forget.
Book Review: Pure Poetry
Summary: 5 Stars
The prose in this novel is pure poetry, not since Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita have I had the pleasure of reading prose infused with such intelligence and imagery. The poetic prose that Janet Fitch delivers in this novel is some of the most poignant and beautiful writing I have read, and I have read A LOT. Her command of the English language and of human nature is amazing. White Oleander is the product of an author who has mastered her craft. This is not your classic mother/daughter story, it is the story of a daughters' journey to become a woman, to accept herself and her mother for who and what they were and have become. The mother, Ingrid is an integral character in her daughter, Astrid's life. Ingrid is powerful and uncompromising and these are two of her biggest weaknesses. Fitch has written her wonderfully, you want to hate her at times just a bit and at others a whole lot, but still she has just enough vulnerability to draw you to her. Astrid is wonderful, witty intelligent and lovable even when she is being a brat. You don't pity her when she faces the tortures that life in the foster system throw at her, you admire her strength and her perseverance. Astrid becomes a new girl with each and every home she is placed in, and every woman she has known in these homes or because of these homes has touched her and shaped her. Ingrid is the one constant in Astrid's life, a constant that most times Astrid would prefer not to have at all, and it is Ingrid that looms as the largest and most difficult obstacle Astrid must tackle.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. You don't have to be an English major to enjoy this book, but it does help.
Book Review: As poisonous as a white oleander - in a good way!
Summary: 5 Stars
Were it not for its wonderful story, `White Oleander' would be unforgettable by its powerful writing and addictive style. Janet Fitch proves herself to be one of the most competent American writers from late XX Century. Astrid and Ingrid are so well created that we do believe they are real. The novel is coming-of-age story of a teenager whose mother is imprisioned after killing her boyfriend. From this moment on, the narrative bounces between the girl's, Astrid, foster homes, and her new life; and her mother, Ingrid, in jail. These two women must cope with things and people they are not used to. And to make things worse, none of them is prepared to face it. The people they aren't the ones they would choose to be their friends, and it is in this strange world that lies, to me, the most powerful points of the narrative.
It seems to me that this book is above all things about adaptation. Everyone must adapt him/herself in order to survive. It is quite inspiring reading about Astrid's experiences in her foster homes. All of them has its own universe full of joy and sorrow. The girl must know what she can absorve from each one, because --as everything-- they all have their own flaws.
It is easy to notice who Fitch hardly worked every sentence. We can see that she spent a time thinking of the right word for the structure, and this is what makes her work so beautiful, in my opinion.
To sum up, this is a wonderful and disturbing novel. Some people may feel very bad after finishing it, due to its strong content. Some will love it, others will hate, but it is impossible not to be indiferent to this novel.