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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
What exquisite writing, never have I read a book that speaks so beautifully but also describes pain so acutely. Astrid becomes a ward of the state after her mother commits a crime of passion and is imprisoned. Although her mother is behind bars, Astrid cannot shake her mother's deep hold on her. Her mother, beautiful Nordic Ingrid Magnussen. A true seductress a woman who can weave a web of destruction with her beauty, poetry and words, people fall in love with her, men in particular, she is dangerous and nobody knows this better than Astrid. This book delves into that most treacherous of relationships the mother/daughter dynamic. A relationship that is deeply destructive and insidious. Along the way Astrid meets many "mothers" foster mothers who have their own lessons to teach Astrid, although she goes through some horrific foster placements, she really tries to belong but always finds that her mother keeps a firm grasp on her and is able to manipulate her and those around her even though she is in jail and can't physically reach her, it's the mental scars and trauma that keep affecting Astrid and making it hard to move on however hard she tries to. A book that really exposes the complexities of women, how they shape and influence us, in good and bad ways. I loved this book but it was heavy going at times, it's a book I needed to take breaks from as if could become all consuming and depressing. The theme of this book touched a nerve so it affected me personally which is why I rated this 5 stars
I was absolutely blown away by this book! It's definitely a new favorite and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed 'The Language of Flowers.' As a matter of fact, I noticed Fitch mentioned a lot of flowers along the way so I started looking them up in relation to the Victorian language of flowers and it completely made sense! There's so many layers to this book and the writing is just fantastic. There are a lot of tough topics in this book but it really is a work of art. It was hard to read at times but I couldn't put it down.
It was an easy read, yet surprisingly and effortlessly beautiful.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Strongly mixed feelings that are going to take a lot of unpacking, so bear with me, this is going to be long.
Pro: a "literary" novel by a woman, concerned solely and entirely about women's lives, especially re: mother-daughter relationships. Even twenty years later, we still need more of these and less of Old White Men writing Old White Men stories.
Con: filled with ambiguous stances on problematic issues. The presence or absence of racism in the book is so complex I can't parse it, as a white person--some characters are unabashedly racist, and Astrid doesn't think she's one by comparison. Yet one of her mother figures is black, and also a prostitute...but her white mother figures aren't depicted as morally superior because of that, they're all flawed in their own ways, so maybe it's a wash? And then the dual symbolism imposed on the color white, on whiteness itself--beauty and death--carries its own racist underpinnings. I'm aware that I'm no scholar of racism in literature, so I'm not best qualified to really unravel this, but I couldn't help but be both aware of it and made uncomfortable by it.
Then, there's the sex. On the one hand, this novel acknowledges the desires of teenage girls to explore their sexuality, to even have sexuality in the first place and not be pure precious snowflakes, which I'd argue is good; but it's debatable whether or not Fitch does enough to really portray pedophilia as immoral. Astrid's relationship with Ray is one of her best memories for a time, something she longs for, even though they both knew it it was wrong; Ray is depicted in an incredibly sad, sympathetic light as a kindly man who knows his attraction isn't healthy but is so unappreciated by his actual, adult girlfriend that it's okay he's screwing a fourteen-year-old girl. And then a slightly older Astrid goes down the same path with Sergei, though it's not an innocent or idolized fairy tale of love this time, sleeping with a) an adult man who is also b) her foster mother's boyfriend. I can't make the argument here which causes me to abandon so many other works (usually by male authors, often "classics,") that the pedophilia is normalized or even glorified. It's not. But I don't know that it's condemned, either, as it should be. I don't think Fitch is wrong to write Astrid as a troubled girl with a complex relationship with sex, but I do think it could have been clearer than Ray and Sergei were in the wrong and taking advantage of her.
Pro: Ingrid is unabashedly evil, and that's just fun. How often do female characters get to be this narcissistic, this arrogant, this villainous, without restraint? And while I haven't seen the movie, I enjoyed picturing Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, hearing her voice delivering those acid-etched words.
Con: By contrast, Astrid spends most of the book coming off as insipid or downright bland. I understand this, to an extent--this is her journey, and she needs to find herself, so she can't be fully formed to begin with. If her mother weren't such a blazing light, I don't think Astrid would be in as much shadow, but I do think it's an issue when the protagonist isn't nearly as captivating as the villain.
Pro: Some of the language was beautiful and memorable.
Con: Some of the language was overdone and ridiculous. (I know the appreciation of linguistic style is a matter of personal taste, but I experienced both the good and bad extremes over the course of this novel. I cringed at a line nearly as often as I stopped to be transported by one.)
Final pro: I always enjoy books that display appreciation for art. Ingrid is a poet, and while her style isn't precisely to my taste, I didn't hate her poetry, either. A major thread in Astrid's journey is finding herself through her art, and while the ending fell a little flat for me in most respects, I was enthralled by the depiction of her salvaged-goods, mixed media pieces. That's my jam, I cut things up and slap them back together differently, I made things out of other things, I get that. I knew Astrid better then, than I did for the entire rest of the book.
Pro: a "literary" novel by a woman, concerned solely and entirely about women's lives, especially re: mother-daughter relationships. Even twenty years later, we still need more of these and less of Old White Men writing Old White Men stories.
Con: filled with ambiguous stances on problematic issues. The presence or absence of racism in the book is so complex I can't parse it, as a white person--some characters are unabashedly racist, and Astrid doesn't think she's one by comparison. Yet one of her mother figures is black, and also a prostitute...but her white mother figures aren't depicted as morally superior because of that, they're all flawed in their own ways, so maybe it's a wash? And then the dual symbolism imposed on the color white, on whiteness itself--beauty and death--carries its own racist underpinnings. I'm aware that I'm no scholar of racism in literature, so I'm not best qualified to really unravel this, but I couldn't help but be both aware of it and made uncomfortable by it.
Then, there's the sex. On the one hand, this novel acknowledges the desires of teenage girls to explore their sexuality, to even have sexuality in the first place and not be pure precious snowflakes, which I'd argue is good; but it's debatable whether or not Fitch does enough to really portray pedophilia as immoral. Astrid's relationship with Ray is one of her best memories for a time, something she longs for, even though they both knew it it was wrong; Ray is depicted in an incredibly sad, sympathetic light as a kindly man who knows his attraction isn't healthy but is so unappreciated by his actual, adult girlfriend that it's okay he's screwing a fourteen-year-old girl. And then a slightly older Astrid goes down the same path with Sergei, though it's not an innocent or idolized fairy tale of love this time, sleeping with a) an adult man who is also b) her foster mother's boyfriend. I can't make the argument here which causes me to abandon so many other works (usually by male authors, often "classics,") that the pedophilia is normalized or even glorified. It's not. But I don't know that it's condemned, either, as it should be. I don't think Fitch is wrong to write Astrid as a troubled girl with a complex relationship with sex, but I do think it could have been clearer than Ray and Sergei were in the wrong and taking advantage of her.
Pro: Ingrid is unabashedly evil, and that's just fun. How often do female characters get to be this narcissistic, this arrogant, this villainous, without restraint? And while I haven't seen the movie, I enjoyed picturing Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, hearing her voice delivering those acid-etched words.
Con: By contrast, Astrid spends most of the book coming off as insipid or downright bland. I understand this, to an extent--this is her journey, and she needs to find herself, so she can't be fully formed to begin with. If her mother weren't such a blazing light, I don't think Astrid would be in as much shadow, but I do think it's an issue when the protagonist isn't nearly as captivating as the villain.
Pro: Some of the language was beautiful and memorable.
Con: Some of the language was overdone and ridiculous. (I know the appreciation of linguistic style is a matter of personal taste, but I experienced both the good and bad extremes over the course of this novel. I cringed at a line nearly as often as I stopped to be transported by one.)
Final pro: I always enjoy books that display appreciation for art. Ingrid is a poet, and while her style isn't precisely to my taste, I didn't hate her poetry, either. A major thread in Astrid's journey is finding herself through her art, and while the ending fell a little flat for me in most respects, I was enthralled by the depiction of her salvaged-goods, mixed media pieces. That's my jam, I cut things up and slap them back together differently, I made things out of other things, I get that. I knew Astrid better then, than I did for the entire rest of the book.
The first time I read this book was about 2008/2009 when I was in high school, and I remember absolutely loving it. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I've returned home to be with family and have been perusing my old bookshelves to reread some of my past favorite books.
I remember loving White Oleander, but had no recollection of what it was about. Rereading it for a second time, I was not disappointed, I was only reminded of how much I love this book! The writing is beautiful, even though the story is filled with vignettes of characters who are all screwed up in their own way, especially Astrid. Being more than 10 years older when I first read it, I can still relate to Astrid's feelings and desires of just wanting to be loved, which is a very simple need that all human beings crave. Really great book and I look forward to rereading it again in the next decade!
I remember loving White Oleander, but had no recollection of what it was about. Rereading it for a second time, I was not disappointed, I was only reminded of how much I love this book! The writing is beautiful, even though the story is filled with vignettes of characters who are all screwed up in their own way, especially Astrid. Being more than 10 years older when I first read it, I can still relate to Astrid's feelings and desires of just wanting to be loved, which is a very simple need that all human beings crave. Really great book and I look forward to rereading it again in the next decade!