White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) by Janet Fitch
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Book Reviews of White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: The Beautiful Poison Of A Mother's Love
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander is a book that will tug at your heartstrings, make angry, laugh out loud, and will constantly leave you wondering what will happen next. The white oleander is a beautiful but poisonous flower and is used in this book as a metaphor for motherhood. I highly recommend reading this book because it leaves you thinking even after it is finished. It is a good book for teenagers to read, especially girls, because it deals with many pertinent issues teenagers have to face such as sex, self discovery, the need to fit in, suicide, bulimia, and the relationship between a mother and a daughter.Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who uses her beauty to manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of mystery. Their world is shattered when Ingrid goes crazy over a lover who rejected her. She kills him and winds up in prison. This book is about Astrid's unforgettable story through a series of foster homes. Each home is in its own universe and teaches her a different lesson. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to find herself in a motherless world.
Janet Fitch, the author, was born in LA and grew up in a family of enthusiastic readers. On her twenty-first birthday, she woke up and decided to write fiction. Since then she has had many jobs, including writing numerous short stories for literary magazines.
Book Review: Absolutley beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched the movie on a friend's recommendation, and thought it was okay. A few weeks later I went into a bookstore and saw the book, so I thought I would pick it up and browse through. Starting with the first line i was hooked. The writting has got to be the most beautiful I have ever encountered. I found myself re-reading sentences and just marvelling at the beauty of it. There is much food for thought in the book, as it explores the american lifestyle and life in general from a unique, and slightly cynical perspective. A wonderful book on how some people live their lives and also about coming of age, as the book's main character is between 12 and 18 when the book takes place.
I have recommended this book to everyone I know. It covers almost every social issue and is remarkably honest. Some people say this book is depressing, but I found it a very informative experience, but you have to be very open-minded to read it. If you are planning on watching the movie, read the book first.
A previous adult reviewer said that this book is not suitable for teenagers, but i disagree. Since the main character is a teenager, she deals with many issues teenagers today deal with. Being a teenager myself, I believe that this is a must read for teenagers before they become adults and their mind becomes too closed to deal with the issues in this book. However, this book is definatley not suitable for children under 12.
This book is a must read, you wont regret it.
Book Review: Desperate Love
Summary: 5 Stars
Janet Fitch's White Oleander is a female Catcher in the Rye. A teenager tries to cope with the evil to be found in the adult world. It is an exquisite depiction of a mother-daughter relationship in which both are intelligent, creative, and artistic. It is also an exquisite depiction of the daughter's ambivalent love-hate relationship with a mother who is clearly disturbed, evil, and egotistic. The mother is, however, the only mother she has, and the daughter strives valiantly to frame her selfish mother in a favorable light. Otherwise the daughter will be completely bereft in a cold, dangerous, and chaotic world. The form and the content of the story are perfectly consonant. The artistic perception of the teenaged narrator is completely in tune with the content of the story. Each sentence is crafted through an artist's sensibility. The mother eventually shows a redeeming shred of unselfishness and love. This seems to be an artificially forced happy ending. In reality such a mother would be unlikely to do anything other than continue in the selfishness she has exhibited all her life. In reality a happy ending would more likely consist in the daughter recognizing and accepting her mother's unregenerate nature, squaring her shoulders, and vowing to be better than her mother. So it seems that Fitch, like the daughter, refuses to fully accept the mother's evil. Yet the story remains a true and honest depiction of the torturous ways and wiles of the human spirit.Book Review: Wow!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book about a year ago at the age of 15 going on 16 and I still, a year and a half later, constantly turn to that book for comfort. The story is so sad and the ending was a little annoying for me but as a girl growing up I understand the whole sexual aspect of Astrid, people always expect teenagers to be so naive and inocent, usually 12 year olds dont do things Astrid did but an older girl... Either way she wasn't so naive like people thought after living with Starr and Ray and being exposed to Starrs drinking, Rays drugs, Ray and Starrs constant loud sex and Carolee- who was he roomate-s sexual activity. As the book goes on you see that she is exposed to many other things such as Claires suicide and the whole story with the dog bite, hard work, etc. By the end of the book she is sort of like a "baby prostitute", she started learning from Starr and Carolee and she went on to living with Rena, and the "girls" at the age of 17 or 18 where sex was a novelty, the book wasnt always so accurate but it was an amazing book that really made me think! As I said 1 and a half years later I still reread and refer to the book, it is a very memorable story. I recommend it to older teens and adults because the context might be a little harsh for young teens, and maybe I was too young when I read it but I still loved it, and the more I go over it now at the age of 17, the more I understand it. I really recommend this book!! It's a book I will cherish forever!!Book Review: White Oleander is a Novel Unlike Any Other
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander exposes truth about a subject rarely written about, the plight of a little girl in foster care. It reveals the harsh reality of what these children go through in a smart, sensitive and painfully truthful manner.Ingrid is a woman who prides herself on being stong and dominant. Manipulative and cold she has never allowed herself to feel any real positive emotion for fear it will make her weak. She teaches her young daughter:" We are the Vikings, we are the ones who sacked Rome.", and to never apologize, never explain. She meets a man and falls in love for the first time. Her lover leaves her and she gets revenge. She poisons him and is sent to prison for life. Meanwhile she leaves behind a young, vulnerable , innocent daughter who is not wise to the survival instincts of her mother.
White Oleander shows us the foster hell this child goes through and how she finds ways to survive. It speaks of the strength of the human spirit, Ingrid must survive prison life and Astrid must endure foster hell. She encounters memorable yet sad charactes such a Starr, a bible thumping mama who is all but saintly and Claire a neglected housewife who shows Astrid what true love is really all about. Rena shows Astrid about the ways of the world.
White Oleander is beautifully written and the author displays wisdom far beyond her years. It is a novel of the highest quality and will stay with you long after you've read it.