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White Oleander
by: Janet Fitch |
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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780316569323 Edition: 1ST ISBN: 0316285269 Label: Little, Brown and Company Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 390 Publication Date: 1999-05 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Release Date: May 06, 1999 Studio: Little, Brown and Company |
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| Customer Reviews | ||
  - ExcellentMy book club read this book and I enjoyed it very much. I had seen the movie years ago, but the book was better and different from the movie. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it immensely. Rating: - Seductively Poisonous!!!This is one of the most beautiful, poignant, and poetic books I have ever read; this is no hollow comment by the way, I read A LOT. The language is so elegant and moving, it will make you wish that everyone spoke the way Janet Fitch writes. The characters are, for the most part, intriguing and multi-dimensional; you will love them and you will hate them, you will feel for them and you will condemn them. For me, the most compelling character in the story is the mother of the main character: the controversial and complex Ingrid. Ingrid is beautiful and evil , brilliant and mad, admirable and hateful, enchanting and frightening; she is, in my opinion, the most fully developed character of the novel, she is ever present while always remaining elusive and mysterious. I finished this book in one day, and for a month after I read nothing else; I kept returning to this book, wanting only to take it deeper into myself. A truly wonderous work! Rating: - It's a Women's Story But I really enjoyed it .....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. Rating: - Cannot give this book enough starsI wanna give this book more stars than available because it was EXCELLENT. It is beautifully written, easy to read, with great imagery. the story is so SAD, but amazing to believe all at the same time. I really, truly, felt for what the lead character, Astrid, was going thru. There were many parts of the book that I just couldn't PUT DOWN, because i wanted to continue reading, hoping that the next part would be better, offer some release to the tragedy of it all. Yes, a CAN'T put down Book. Haven't read one of those in a while. I recommend it to everyone! I just want to note that half of it I read and half i listened to audiobook. I also read Fitch's other novel "Paint it Black" and there are a lot of similarities in descriptions, locations, and body features. But rest assured, these books are totally different in plot and character. Rating: - Couldn't put it down.I loved this book. The characters in it are bizarre but still mostly believable. I think she did a great job at keeping them up and it's somewhat sickening to know that people like this exist, which makes you want to read on. I will agree with other critics, however, in a few ways. The ending was not the greatest. It kind of felt like she was tired of writing and kind of slapped on the easiest finish. The majority of the book, however, kept me wanting more. She did not shy away from shocking situations. Second, the characters do sometimes falter in personality which I alluded to before (especially the mother), but I think that it's also somewhat practical, especially since the situations in this book were extreme. Overall I don't think it takes away. Third, it is ridiculous that so many of these things could happen to one girl. But seeing such a tough personality grow was exciting and each of the situations were well written. I would not hesistate recommending this book to anyone. It is different from a lot of things you will pick up which was very refreshing. |
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