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Summary: ONE GIRL'S SEARCH FOR HERSELF IN FOSTER HOMES
Review: White Oleander is the story of a mother and daughter, Ingrid and Astrid Magnussen. Although not the typical mother/daughter. Ingrid is a free-spirit, tempting, controlling, man-eating artist. Astrid learns to be wise beyond her years to make up for her mother's lack of parenting.The story's plot centers around Astrid's continual move from foster home to foster home after her mother's arrest and incarceration for the poisoning death of her lover. As Astrid is tossed around from the various foster homes she learns how survive and discovers who she really is and not just the identity that she is Ingrid Magnussen's, the artist's, daughter. She also learns how to stand up for herself and let go of her possessive mother. Even from Ingrid's prison cell she tried to run the show of Astrid's life. But in the end Astrid proves she is much stronger than Ingrid. I loved the imagery in this novel. The descriptions were very fitting because the two main characters were artists. However, some chapters in the book were left all to the imagination and had me wondering what really happened. Such as the death of the lover. The author does not tell the story of how this happened. Just one chapter they are fighting and the next chapter he is dead and Ingrid was arrested. I thought the author could have done a little better description of how this happened because the other descriptions were so vivid.
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Summary: A Magnificent Piece of Modern Literature
Review: While Oleander is a beautiful and lyrical piece of contemporary literature with a storyline and cast of characters like nothing I have ever read. It is the story of the incredibly complex relationship between a self-absorbed "free spirit" and the daughter who wants nothing more than to be loved unconditionally as a child should be. When Ingrid is jailed for murder, so starts the long and rocky journey of Astrid as she moves from foster home to foster home. Few people will go through in their entire lifetimes what this child experiences throughout her early teenage years. Her journey is difficult but the author keeps her readers engrossed until the very end. This is a wonderful book and I sincerely hope the upcoming movie does it true justice.
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Summary: A a masterful story, full of twists and turns ... loved it!
Review: ... As raw, ragging and heart wrenching novel as I have ever read. By fluke, I grabbed 'White Oleander' off a "trade-a-book" shelf, in a hostel in Peru. By noon I was entangled and engrossed in the struggling, teenage world of Astrid. Abandoned both physically and psychologically by Ingrid, her mother, first by intention, then murder, Astrid, via multiple foster care homes, seeks survival, self-awareness and love. Her journey brings her to face her to her own underworld, her mother's netherworld and finally to construct her own world. Janet Fitch tells a masterful story, full of twists and turns, but the story is never convoluted. Motherhood, a complicated and difficult subject at best, is dissected and the properties of it are examined via the characters of the various foster care mothers that Ingrid is forced to live with. But, always, as a constant contrast, motherhood is laid out against the dark and
deficient character of Astrid's own murderous and diabolical mother. This extraordinary novel deserves all the raves, awards and acclaims that it received and it deserves to be read. Highly Recommended.
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Summary: Beyond Hope. Or: Why Oprah Gave It Her Stamp of Approval
Review: Fitch has served the reading public a concoction of heavily steeped oleander. White Oleander is the most poorly written book I've ever read. Period. It seized my throat like a pair of sour pliers and juiced me like a lemon. And the ugliness of its prose made me sob like raw razors. Sadly, Fitch's diction has drifted over the valley of literary art like a vast headache and made people dumb with pain. If you mock my figures of speech, I applaud you. Oleander is overgrown with them. (Incidentally, I pulled these weeds from the fields of White Oleander.) Read this book if you want to expose yourself to today's literary allergens. If it doesn't bolster your appreciation for good writing by way of bad example, nothing will. You may as well read Louis L'Amour backwards and rave about the lyrical dreams of a foster child in search of beauty. Save your money (and health). Don't drink Oleander.
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Summary: One of my fav's of Oprah
Review: Wow. I shouldn't have put off reading this book! I think this is one of the best books I have ever read, and I read ALOT.
The story is so real, moving & true. You can't stop from reading it, it's all very interesting. This is such a realistic story too...READ IT! Even if you've been disappointed with some Oprah picks, you won't be with this one.
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Summary: From childhood to womanhood
Review: White Oleander is the bittersweet tale of how Astrid Magnussen grows from a manipulated child to an independent young adult. Her mother Ingrid is serving a life sentence for murder but still somehow finds a way to get under her skin through poems and letters. Astrid spends her teenage years enduring heartbreak after heartbreak as the fatherless child left behind by her mother's crime. The two things I liked most about this book were (1) the true-to-life character of Astrid, who found countless faults in her mother but still loved her as a child will strive to do; and (2) the poetic writing style of the author, which made the book an extremely enjoyable read.
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Summary: As poisonous as a white oleander - in a good way!
Review: 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.
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Summary: Eye-opener
Review: I work at a book store, and I saw the book so I picked it up and thought "this would be a really good book to read". So I purchased the book and put it in the back seat of my car and left it there for about 3 months before I picked it up and started reading. I absolutly love a good book, and White Oleander was just the one I had been wanting to read. The characters seem so real, and myself only being of 17 years old, I realized that there are people that are just like Astrid. The only thing is is that we are so caught up on the well-beings of ourselves that we do not realize it. This book really opened my eyes.
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Summary: A must read for all women!
Review: Wow! I had a hard time putting the book down. If you are looking for a good beach read, this is it!
Rating:
Summary: wow!
Review: There is no other book like this!This book from the first page is so well-written!It made me feel like when i was reading that I was in every place,to the trial room to the foster houses it felt real!
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