White Oleander: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, yet awesome
Review: I absolutly loved this book. A friend recommended it to me and I couldn't put it down. Not only is the writing very well done, but the detail illuminates the story but without bogging it down. The horror of the foster care system this girl had to go through is totally disturbing (esp because it is so close to many problems with the real foster care system) but her journey through it is remarkable. I found myself on edge waiting for the movie which just didn't measure up. If you liked the movie you'll love the book even more!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: Let's just say this book was eons better than the movie. Fitch captured me from page one. I just couldn't put it down!

Rating:
Summary: mothers and daughters
Review: This novel is ultimately about relationships between mothers and daughters and how we are shaped because of or in spite of how our parents raised us. As Astrid moves from foster family to foster family, her mother's presence (even from jail) is still strong. Even from jail, Ingrid manipulates her daughter in such startingly charasmatic ways, it's a wonder that Astrid continues to survive. A good read. Also, try "Reflection" by Kendra Lacy.

Rating:
Summary: Like This Book Really Need One More Review.
Review: I had really low expectations and ended up loving it. It sexualizes Los Angeles with a kind of animism I haven't read in other books. The sense of place really packs a wallop. (Is that how you spell "wallop"?)

I'll never think of the Santa Ana winds in quite the same way again.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: White Oleander is a story narrorated by Astrid, a teenager who grows up in several different foster homes after her mother is sent to prison for life, convicted of killing her former boyfriend. The story is told through smooth imagenary and poetry; the language is perfect. In each foster home Astrid learns something new about life, sometimes the lessons are harsh and brutal, and would have crushed her like a bug had she not been strong before. I first decided to read the book after watching the movie, which is great, although several key things were changed in it. White Oleander is a novel I expect to go back to in years to come, perhapes I will understand it better once I'm older, I was 15 when I read it. This is a great book. It will definately be among my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: I truly recommend it
Review: WHITE OLEANDER is the first and only book I have read from Oprah's celebrated book club.

While many have panned the book, I found a strange sort of desolate beauty and comfort in it. This is exactly what a good book should do. Draw you into it's story, weave you into the plot, and turn you out on the other end, questioning that which motivates you and makes you exist.

For me, the combination of Astrid (the main character), her tormented life, and the other-worldy beauty of Janet Fitch's writing style left me wanting more. More White Oleander and more out of life.

Books such as this draw the introspective spirit out of us and make us take long, hard looks at our lives. Astrid's misfortunes made me appreciate my health and success even more. Fitch's detailed and almost surreal prose made me stop and smell the roses.

This story is a painful one about the horrible circumstances of a child's life. Yes, it is extremely graphic in areas, and includes many scenarios which many of us would rather not read. That is where it's controversey lies.

But with these things aside, it is an excellent story. One in which you can't seem to put the book down, reading long into all hours of the night. Wishing that Astrid would find good fortune, but knowing that she will only find heartache.

My copy of White Oleander is beginning to show wear from the numerous friends I have lent it to. Some have liked it more than others. One couldn't read it at all.

Regardless, I give Janet Fitch and WHITE OLEANDER 5 stars, and congratulate Fitch on an excellent debut novel. Thanks also to the reviewer who recommended THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, another great book, which is also about a (poet) mother/child relationship of sorts. Another very engaging, entertaining read, even if it's only available right now under "used" copies.


Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL BOOK, EVERYONE MUST READ!
Review: I'm only 13 years old. so this book is WAY to graphic for me on all the sex. But I'm use to it. I read "Go ask alice" "Forever" and many books that are to graphic. Really this is a must read. It is hard to read though. Its a great book. It's just rough on the emotional side. It will make you cry at the end, I warn you but It is a touching story of Ingrid and Astrid and there life apart but there life, in ways, together. Ingrid the most beutiful woman Astrid,her daughter, has ever seen, meets Berry. Berry is a good man but one day when Ingid goes over to his house,Berry sleeps with her and tells her she must go home because he has a date. Ingid is filled with madness and hate a kills Berry with Olanders, she boils them and puts them in his milk. To kill him.(just in case you didn't know:Olanders are a butiful white,pink or purple flower that is deadly posionist) Astrid goes to foster many homes and has many differnt challenges with each one. As much as she fights and hates her mother, her mothers blood flows within her. I can say this a wonderful book but sadly after you finish such a great book, you can't find a good book that is as good. PLEASE READ WHITE OLANDER!!!

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!
Review: 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!!

Rating:
Summary: Nice Read
Review: Since this was an Oprah's BC, I decided to check it out. I found the writing of metaphors to be overextended, but the overall prose was delightful. The story itself was wonderful but could have been written differently. I did enjoy the read and would recommend it at a 3.5 rating. Another excellent read is working its way through the Oprah's BC rank is LUST OF THE FLESH by Beverly Rolyat. A different type read, but compelling, riveting and a pageturner, to say the least. A story about Nick Allapapalaus, a corrupted district attorney who finds himself caught up scandalous activities. This novel is sexually explicit, but it's deserving of its title. A great, enlightening read. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: White Oleander - A Great Read!
Review: Annotation: White Oleander is a story of a girl who loses the one thing she had always tried to hold on to. She learns about the bond between a mother and daughter and struggles through numerous foster homes throughout her adolescence.

Author Bio: Janet Fitch was born in LA and grew up in a family of readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College she decided to become an historian. But then she won a student exchange to Keele University in England. She has published short stories in literacy journals and briefly attended the University of South Carolina, worked as a typesetter, a proofreader, a graphic artist, a freelance journalist, and managing editor of The Mancos Times Tribune. White Oleander, published in the Black Warrior Review, was named distinguished story in Best American Stories 1994.

Evaluation:
The White Oleander is about a young girl names Astrid Magnussen, daughter of beautiful poet, Ingrid Magnussen. They live a very spontaneous life, sometimes only eating canned tuna for weeks on end. All of this changes once Ingrid meets a man and falls in love. They attend performances, bet on horse shows, and eat at expensive restaurants, you name it. What more could a woman want? Well after Ingrid is dumped for another woman, she decides she wants revenge, in the form of taking his life. As a result she ends up in prison for life, leaving Astrid alone to fend for herself throughout five different foster homes. Astrid struggles through her teenage years learning a little bit from each family she encounters until she's finally able to understand herself and be an individual.