Rating: 
Summary: Orchid Obession
Review: The Orchid Thief is a true story of obsession and the people who dare to become immersed in the wild world of orchid collecting. The inspiration for this book came when Orlean read an article in a newspaper about John Laroche, a thirty-six year old man who was accused of criminal possession of endangered species and illegally removing plant life out of the Fakahatchee Stand, a Florida State natural reserve. In Florida, Orlean meets several other interesting orchid collectors. The book is also filled with historical accounts of orchid collecting dating back to the Victorian era. Orlean sets out to discover why there is this obsession with orchids. She accomplishes this task by interacting with those who know best-the collectors. Horticulture may not excite everyone, but Orlean makes studying plants seem like the most exciting hobby in the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid the Audio Book
Review: I know, I should finish this book before reviewing it - but is unlikely to happen.It must work better as a paperback than an audio book, when you can flip and skim past the tedious analysis of the different orchid varieties, their countries of origin, the detailed lineage of rare flowers, the history of the collectors, their employees, their families, the history of real estate in Florida... Instead, I was involved and entranced by the first CD, but zoned out through most of the second, third, and most of the fourth, afraid to hit the Skip button in case I missed anything good. The narrator, Jennifer Jay Myers, attempts to inject a humorously sarcastic tone into dry, pedantic histories. Her tone is inappropriate and irritating. The Orchid Thief is fascinating and beautiful when the author turns her attention to the plot, such as it is, but the storyline is sparse and interspersed between long, dry chapters that brought to mind the "begats" in the Bible... "And John Doe the III hired James Smith to collect orchids in Africa, and he begat John Doe IV, to whom he bequeathed his collection. John Doe IV begat Ezekiel and Zebadiah, and he divided his collection among them. Zebadiah sold half of his collection to a tenant, and the rest was destroyed in a hurricane in 1903. Ezekiel begat Sarah..." Who cares? Not me. I had read very good things about this book, and if the rest of it were like the first CD, I could understand what inspired the accolades. As it is, I don't think I can face popping Disc Five into the CD player. I never thought I would say this, but I probably should have gotten the abridged version.
Rating: 
Summary: Flower powered.
Review: I was inspired to read Susan Orlean's "true story of beauty and obsession" after seeing the movie "Adaptation" twice in one week. THE ORCHID THIEF is a fascinating love story: "When a man falls in love with orchids, he'll do anything to possess the one he wants. It's like chasing a green-eyed woman or taking cocaine . . . it's a sort of madness" (p. 78). And Orlean's book is as much about exotic orchids as the eccentric characters who collect them. THE ORCHID THIEF evolved out of a article Orleans first published in "The New Yorker" magazine about John Laroche's 1994 trial for removing endangered orchids from Florida's Fakahatchee swamp. Thirty-six-year-old Laroche is a tall, skinny guy, "with the posture of al dente spaghetti," Orleans writes, "and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth" (p. 4). Laroche's life has been a series of obsessions, from Ice Age fossils, turtles, and old mirrors, to orchids. In writing about Laroche's criminal lust for orchids, Orleans ultimately discovers her own "unembarrassing passion--I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately" (p. 41). Laroche's oddball obsessions offer Orleans a meaningful lesson in "getting immersed in something, and learning about it, and having it become a part of your life" (p. 279). With its lessons in living a passionate life, exotic flowers, quirky characters, muddy swamps filled with snapping turtles, rattlesnakes, bugs and critters--who could ask for anything more from a book? G. Merritt
Rating: 
Summary: It should have remained a magazine article
Review: Susan Orlean, on a quest to describe obsession using the world of orchid collectors as a model, ends up falling prey to her own obsession with facts, history, and place, and her book "The Orchid Thief" devolves into a hodge-podge of unrelated tidbits that strut and preen with purported purpose, but in the end mean...nothing. However, despite the scrambled mess of the overall structure, Orlean did indeed create numerous beautifully descriptive passages and also gave us an unforgettable character, John Laroche. First, I'll be the first to admit that Orlean often provided fantastic images...the planes flying over swampland, dropping bags of flour on sold lots of land...the author wading through a swamp with prison inmates armed with machetes...and any scene involving John Laroche. Her strength lies in describing the absurd. But. For every fascinating scene, Orlean heaps five mind-numbing, unrelated, dull scenes into her book. Despite claiming that the orchid-obsessed characters were fascinating...they come out seeming...uninteresting and identical. Hippies in BMWs, plant smugglers, arrogant orchid breeders. They're all the same! They talk about orchids in the same way. They gossip about plants. They're...unreal. Quite astounding considering they are real. Except for Laroche. Who brings electricity to his scenes, almost as if his personality so seeped under Orlean's skin that she brought him to life, despite her obvious inability to render other characters in print. And where is Laroche in this book? The title is "The Orchid Thief," implying that he somehow forms the central idea of the book. But he's absent from 80 percent of its pages. And when the book comes to a close, he's hardly changed by the experience. Laroche was the bait to the story, not the story itself, and it were better that he had been relegated to a minor role. But the bottom line: this is not a book-length story. It should have remained an article.
Rating:
Summary: Why does this little book charm so much
Review: The Orchid Thief focuses on south Florida colony of orchid collectors and John Laroche, who is charged with taking rare and endangered orchids from the Fakahatchee swamp. From that start, Orlean delves into the feverish world that is orchid collecting. Her focus is sometimes personal and sometimes historical. She shifts lenses and timeframes throuhgout the book. Even with the shifts, it all work beautifully well, although there is a bit of repitition. I particularly loved her chapter on orchid collecting throughout history and the orchid craze of the 1900s. And she sustains interest throughout her book despite these jumps. For some incredible reason, it all works superbly and we are drawn into the orchid world. And I don't even like gardening.
Rating:
Summary: Writing
Review: This book is a fabulous chance to revel in the beautiful use
of language, and this author is a master.
The book isn't, of course, strictly speaking, about orchids and
orchid hunters, but it is an exploration of the quirkiness
of an individual orchid thief and his relationship with other
orchid lovers, as well as the authorities charged with protecting our wild environment in Florida. Plus, the author
explores her own feelings and impressions about the off-beat
characters she encounters in her off-the-wall (for her) adventure, and she reveals her thoughts as she travels through
this adventure. She obviously has mixed feelings about some
aspects of her travels, but she clearly is having a lot of
fun and excitement, and she does a very nice job of projecting
her impressions with her skilled writing.
The author's use of language has to be experienced, and most
readers will find her work engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Maybe my expectations were too high. I would have liked to learn more about orchids. I'd heard good things about this book, and it sounded like a fun read. In reality it was so boring I don't think I got much past 100 pages! It didn't help that the writing style was so bad. As I read it I felt as though the author was trying to sound breathless as she related her "adventure." To make it worse, the information was very disorganized, with lengthy chapters discussing the history of orchid hunters (not necessarily in chronological order) or chapters full of miscellaneous facts thrown together (sounding very breathless) or others on the various "personalities" she met. Nothing was in any logical order and much of it seemed repetitive. And I still don't know what she was thinking when she said Florida was the last unexplored frontier in America?!? Florida??? Her description of LaRoche as "handsome" with his missing teeth, bad posture, foul language, beat up van full of soda cans, etc., made her sound like a silly schoolgirl with an immature (and unbelievable) crush! Plus, she described the clothing she wore on every outing with the guy! This is a serious look at the orchid industry? Honestly, this is a marginally interesting story (and that's being generous) that was stretched into a very BORING book. Don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Ponderous
Review: Saw adaptation. wanted to see the inspiration behind the movie and bought this book. It received positive editorial reviews comparing it even to a "midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Boy, was I dissappointed. This book was four parts repetitive description of orchids, history and repeated passages of why people seek them out. Next time, I'll pick up the encyclopedia instead. The best is that there is an addendum to the book. (Orlean interviewing Orlean) which was unneccessary, not useful and not good. This book is not good writing. We should remember why the screenwriter picked this book for a movie about writer's block....because this book says nothing, goes nowhere and is a waste of paper. Story could have been told in 50 pages....or a New Yorker article. I wanted to love the book. Was thoroughly dissappointed in the book and Orlean's writing. Please stick to magazines.
Rating:
Summary: passion - but held at an arm's length
Review: I decided to read this book after seeing the movie "Adaptation." I have to confess that this wouldn't have been a book I'd pick up normally - I'm a ficition junkie, and non-fiction usually gets so ... well, dry. But the movie got me excited about the passionate quest, and this book certainly explored that. While there are no doubt many people who are disappointed with the way the film adapted the book - I find that it captured some of the essence of the novel. Susan Orlean certainly lives vicariously through her subject John Laroche - and his ever changing quest to collect all of something. I loved the historical portions with the explorers and those who travel in search of orchids. Who'd have thought orchids - what I'd always thought of as old lady's flowers - could inspire such passion? I thought this was a fascinating tale - and to validate my feelings, I'd have to point out that my significant other (a man dedicated to Stephen King and cowboy novels) picked it up and battled me for it every night. Can't think of a better recommendation than that.
Rating:
Summary: Book Wannabe
Review: Even though this book has passages that are fascinating and reflections that, in a couple of instances, are arresting, I have to say that, overall, it is a somewhat pokey book. I can see it more favorably as the article it once was. Book length, it has whole stretches that are pretty much just blah blah and more blah.
| 
