White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) by Janet Fitch
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Book Reviews of White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: It's a Women's Story But I really enjoyed it .....
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure how I came to pick up this book. My intention was to peruse a page or two but was hooked at the beginning. I won't summarize the story again since it's well documented. Simply stated, I couldn't put it down. Janet Fitches' writing is descriptive without being flowery or bogging down the story. I read chapters to my wife so she could appreciate the incisive, creative descriptive style. The story is compelling as Astrid and Ingrid's lives unfold at odds with each other. Both are truly interesting, contrasting and compelling characters. Astrid's lessons from a book she discovers, "The Art of Survival" is unique story telling. The love/hate relationship between mother and daughter is told in great detail with believabilty and allowing the reader to know and understand each intimately. Astrid's encounters in foster homes are gripping and never trite or predictable. Astid's sexual encounters and awakenings are well told, without resorting to common or street language. Several of Astrid's encounters were well written to the point of being erotic. Although Astrid is a teenager, she knows what she is doing and why, and is not being taken advantage of by the men/boys she encounters. The lessons of life she learns and how she contrasts her experiences with her Mother's lessons and letters from prison are captured and masterfully described.
Men [or women] who appreciate strong female character development and their stories should enjoy this book despite it's "chick book" theme and style. I enjoyed it and marvelled at the author's writing style and abilities.
Book Review: White Oleander: A review
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander, by Janet Fitch, is about Astrid Magnussen, the daughter of a bohemian mother jailed for poisoning her ex-boyfriend with the deadly white oleander flower. It follows Astrid's ups and downs in life following as she goes in and out of dysfunctional homes. She is shot three at the mobile home she is placed at first, made nanny and servant at the next, and nearly starved at another. She is made to witness the death of a loved one, and ripped away from every functional and loving relationship she was able to endure during her adolescent years. But through out all of her trials and tribulations, Astrid not only survived, but thrived. I really enjoyed this book because it was a seemingly real account of a girls life. It was honest and very blunt. It was not sugar-coated, and it told a story that could stand as inspiration for anyone who is going through hard times. Just when one thinks that Astrid had gone threw the worst, something even harder happens, but she always seemed to make it threw those things. What made this book easier and more enjoyable to read was Janet Fitch's style of writing. She had a very honest and open style and didn't leave details out. She wrote about subjects that are controversial, and she did it in a very tasteful way. The way she wrote about some things that were controversial opened your eyes to things that you wouldn't normally even think about. Overall, White Oleander was an enjoyable book. It was inspirational, eye opening, and touching. This book is for anybody who needs and uplifting or just wants to read a good book.Book Review: An amazing book about growing up in foster care
Summary: 5 Stars
At 13, Astrid does not live a normal life. Her mother is a famous poet that pays very little attention to her. Still Astrid loves her mother and wants to be just like her. But when her mother is put in prison for killing her ex-boyfriend, Astrid is sent away. The book chronicles the next several years of her life when she goes through a series of foster homes. The religious recovering alcoholic, Starr and her children, the racist Marvel, the kind by fragile Claire, and many more. Throughout these homes Astrid makes mistakes that she may never recover from, and goes through places where people treat her terribly. But with every decision she makes she grows as a person, for better and for worse. As Astrid lives the life of a foster child, she knows that her life will never be the same again.Although I've read several Oprah's books before, I've liked very few of then, and none of them have affected me as profoundly as White Oleander. Reading this book has really made me appreciate the middle class life I led. There were points in this book where I felt so bad for Astrid that I almost cried (and that doesn't happen often to me!). Janet Filtch is an amazing author who uses some of the best description that I've ever seen in a novel. Unlike other readers I wasn't upset in the fact that she didn't go into great detail over Barry's murder, it just seemed right the way she wrote it. I highly recommend this to teenagers and adults alike. If your in the mood for a moving story about growing up in some horrible conditions, this book is for you. I highly recommend it!
Book Review: Haunting Lyrics, Unabridged Audio is PERFECT
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander, Janet Fitch, read by Alyssa Bresnahan. Beautifully read, pronunciations and pace perfect - seldom do you find a reader so well suited to the words she reads. 10 stars would be more appropriate. How can I find words worthy of review of this austere, symbolic tale, that is definitely not for Pollyanna. Poetic and thoughtful, the reader delivers the author's artistic and eloquent words with just the right timbre. The childhood of Astrid Magnussen is sobering. Born to an absorbed, dramatic, beautiful and poetic mother, a mother who is also murderous and manipulative and completely devoid of a soul, Astrid is plunged into the darkness and hopelessness of California foster care. Desperately seeking beauty and wholeness, only to have it snatched away time after time. Shot at, attacked by dogs, molested, pampered, spoiled, or abused - each home leaves deep scars, both emotional or physical. The author combines this poetic mother and artistic daughter into a slide show of images, some beautifully welcome, some dire and grim to the point of horror. The poisonous blossom of a beautiful flower, the searing, troubling heat of the Santa Ana winds, the descriptions are richly sketched. The fires can almost be seen and smelled, the acid trip is completely disorienting. Listening to this book was a rich experience, perhaps more so than seeking the words on a page. The lyrics glide across the waters at a stately pace, and though you might wish to disembark, you are captivated and compelled to finish the journey.Book Review: Poignant
Summary: 5 Stars
Astrid Magnussen's mother, Ingrid, is strong, self-relying, and unsympathetic to weakness of any kind. She also has strong rules against love and the way it should properly handled. Ingrid is Astrid's world, everything she knows she learned from her mother, but she finds herself teaching herself to survive when her mother kills a lover (whom she falls in love with, breaking every rule she ever had) who tossed her aside.I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I watched the movie first and liked it. I was pretty much willing to accept what had been told in the movie, but I am glad that I finally read the novel. It was hard to put this book down. The reader follow Astrid from innocence to maturity. We also see her progress from being the doting daughter to the cynical teen who loves and hates her mother at the same time.
She does a lot of growing up in her foster homes, and she learns many things that aid her in the struggle to survive. Ingrid still plays a vital role in Astrid's life even though she's in prison. Ingrid is literally Astrid's world even in the confines of prison. She can still manipulate Astrid's life, even though Astrid tries to prevent that from happening.
Astrid and Ingrid's relationship is a complex one even to be a mother-daughter relationship. I didn't agree with some of the decisions that Astrid and her mother made, but life isn't perfect, why should this book be? Issues abound in this book from women's issues, maternal issues, mother-daughter issues, etc.