You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Really good read. Kind of insane that Charlie Kaufman took the tack that he did because the core narrative of the book isn’t abstract or non-linear (like he implied), it’s just memoir. When the Nic Cage version of Charlie said “There’s no story” he was being very uncharitable
funny
informative
medium-paced
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Look. I loved a lot of the humor in this book. I also found that while the narration had a lot of examination of others... it did not have as much examination of the narrator herself. She did change over the course of the story, but like often I felt, by way of her observations like both herself and the people she typically surrounded herself with were isolated lonely people with only an interest in small talk and the stock market, bc every time she met someone who had. Literally anything else going on she acted befuddled and shocked. Even a family gathering in a park became shocking to her bc I guess. She didn't expect to see a working Pakistani family? Eating together?
On that note- the book does have some like. Unexamined racism. She intentionally frames a Japanese man speaking broken English as funny... just bc he's speaking English brokenly I guess. She follows this Pakistani family through a park bc she's so confused by their presence, questions why they're there, and then refuses their hospitality. She tries to harass multiple Seminole people to invite her to a native only event.
All in all I learned some about orchids place historically, (I am a Plant person so like. I guess I need more plant people based conversation to learn more, which you will not get here), a small small bit about the plant trade and colonialism, a small bit about the Seminole, and a LOT about how one apparently very lonely woman who by her own profession cares strongly about nothing views people who like. I guess have better community and interests than a circle of probably primarily white writers and journalists in NY in the 90s.
If you don't know about orchids or plants I suppose it's fine to start here, so long as you remember that this lady by her own profession barely likes anything as a hobby, by her own profession doesn't understand how to have a community, and also for a large portion of the beginning of the book treats the idea of a hobby as some sort of malign addictive force that she has to "not even once" her way through, lest she... like orchids. It definitely made me want to try more books about colonization and plants, and learn more about the Seminole nation specifically
On that note- the book does have some like. Unexamined racism. She intentionally frames a Japanese man speaking broken English as funny... just bc he's speaking English brokenly I guess. She follows this Pakistani family through a park bc she's so confused by their presence, questions why they're there, and then refuses their hospitality. She tries to harass multiple Seminole people to invite her to a native only event.
All in all I learned some about orchids place historically, (I am a Plant person so like. I guess I need more plant people based conversation to learn more, which you will not get here), a small small bit about the plant trade and colonialism, a small bit about the Seminole, and a LOT about how one apparently very lonely woman who by her own profession cares strongly about nothing views people who like. I guess have better community and interests than a circle of probably primarily white writers and journalists in NY in the 90s.
If you don't know about orchids or plants I suppose it's fine to start here, so long as you remember that this lady by her own profession barely likes anything as a hobby, by her own profession doesn't understand how to have a community, and also for a large portion of the beginning of the book treats the idea of a hobby as some sort of malign addictive force that she has to "not even once" her way through, lest she... like orchids. It definitely made me want to try more books about colonization and plants, and learn more about the Seminole nation specifically
Susan Orlean's book is not merely about John Laroche, the Orchid Thief; it is a natural history of orchids, of the state of Florida, of Florida native peoples and of many other species of plants.
John Laroche is a foul mouthed, self proclaimed genius who is obsessed with orchids. We meet him at different times throughout the book and he grated on my nerves every time. Here is what I did not like about this book:
*She described every single people of clothing that everyone she met was wearing. I don't know why that got on my nerves, but it did.
*All the legal stories and law talk bored me - especially Native American law, it's just not my thing.
*She felt she had to describe every sign and shop she drove by in Florida, again I think just the repetition of it just bugged me.
*The narration jumped around a lot - it didn't feel cohesive for me and I kept looking to make sure I hadn't skipped a page or something.
There was a lot that I did like:
*Not being a plant person in any way, I did like broadening my knowledge - I had no idea there was such a huge world out there of plant-obsessed people and the flower and plant talk did not bore me - I really enjoyed it.
*I liked reading about when Orlean went to flower shows - where there werre lots of displays and colorful characters around.
*I really liked the Florida history lessons - these were engaging and always had an interesting personal element to them.
*I enjoyed her writing style, for the most part - I liked the words she chose and her self depreciating humor. I also admired her pluck - she went out on rides in cars with a lot of weird strangers and really put herself out there to get the full story (meeting international plant smugglers, and the like).
If you think this sort of thing interests you, then you should read it. I think I would've liked an abridged version better, but I'm still glad I read it.
John Laroche is a foul mouthed, self proclaimed genius who is obsessed with orchids. We meet him at different times throughout the book and he grated on my nerves every time. Here is what I did not like about this book:
*She described every single people of clothing that everyone she met was wearing. I don't know why that got on my nerves, but it did.
*All the legal stories and law talk bored me - especially Native American law, it's just not my thing.
*She felt she had to describe every sign and shop she drove by in Florida, again I think just the repetition of it just bugged me.
*The narration jumped around a lot - it didn't feel cohesive for me and I kept looking to make sure I hadn't skipped a page or something.
There was a lot that I did like:
*Not being a plant person in any way, I did like broadening my knowledge - I had no idea there was such a huge world out there of plant-obsessed people and the flower and plant talk did not bore me - I really enjoyed it.
*I liked reading about when Orlean went to flower shows - where there werre lots of displays and colorful characters around.
*I really liked the Florida history lessons - these were engaging and always had an interesting personal element to them.
*I enjoyed her writing style, for the most part - I liked the words she chose and her self depreciating humor. I also admired her pluck - she went out on rides in cars with a lot of weird strangers and really put herself out there to get the full story (meeting international plant smugglers, and the like).
If you think this sort of thing interests you, then you should read it. I think I would've liked an abridged version better, but I'm still glad I read it.
Orlean turns the most seemingly mundane subjects into passionate works of art. It’s hard to explain the allure of this book - simply about orchids - except to say a talented storyteller uses her journalistic prowess to weave a tale of obsession, danger, and intrigue around one of the world’s most elusive flowers.
informative
slow-paced
Overall this is a very good book which I would recommend to others. When the author is quoting John Laroche or describing his thought process and appearance or highlighting his absurdity the book is 5+ star material.
I thought the book was less successful when it introduced other obsessive orchid people. They were okay enough but they suffered in comparison to the material about Laroche (which was significant early on). Laroche was described vividly and hilariously. I'm certain I will skim this book several times in the future to re-read the Laroche material. You really got a sense of who this guy was. All of the other people were less dimensional and less interesting.
The book was least successful when it provided historical information about Florida and the hunt for exotic orchids and plants. While the historical information was interesting enough and provided a good background to the present day orchid culture it seemed to fit awkwardly into the story.
I thought the book was less successful when it introduced other obsessive orchid people. They were okay enough but they suffered in comparison to the material about Laroche (which was significant early on). Laroche was described vividly and hilariously. I'm certain I will skim this book several times in the future to re-read the Laroche material. You really got a sense of who this guy was. All of the other people were less dimensional and less interesting.
The book was least successful when it provided historical information about Florida and the hunt for exotic orchids and plants. While the historical information was interesting enough and provided a good background to the present day orchid culture it seemed to fit awkwardly into the story.
I listened to this on audio after having heard great things about it and very much enjoyed The Library Book. The subject matter isn't as interesting to me personally as was The Library Book, and I'm afraid the format might have lessened my enjoyment a bit--I'm still a reluctant audiobook person. But I enjoyed Orleans's deep dive into the world of orchid obsessives and her general fascination and appreciation for people of passion, whatever the passion. She has an incredible ability to set a scene--so much so that I wondered about her note-taking systems and/or recall ability. She describes people and places better than most anyone I've ever read, certainly in narrative non-fiction.