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vanessakm 's review for:
White Oleander
by Janet Fitch
So, I will review this, but first I want to talk a bit about the Oprah books thing. There are these people who won't read books with the Oprah label, to the point where they admit they will like a book less for earning the Oprah seal. I've never paid much attention to Oprah, but I hate to be that elitist about it. And she's legitimately picked some good books, like [b:The Poisonwood Bible|7244|The Poisonwood Bible|Barbara Kingsolver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1412242487s/7244.jpg|810663], [b:East of Eden|4406|East of Eden|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441547516s/4406.jpg|2574991] (one of my favorite books by my favorite writer), [b:Anna Karenina|15823480|Anna Karenina|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352422904s/15823480.jpg|2507928], and she did famously try to pick [b:The Corrections|3805|The Corrections|Jonathan Franzen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1355011305s/3805.jpg|941200] until the author had a hissy fit. I have a few thoughts on the matter:
1.) I'm not ready to say a book is bad just because it bears the Mark of the Golden O. That's, what's the word, dumb.
2.) I am more inclined to research an Oprah book before I read it and let's face it, there are some bad ones.
3.) Oprah does tend to gravitate towards "women's fiction." I'm not saying everyone who shuns the Mark of O is sexist, but it bears considering that books about women and directed at women are ipso facto perceived to be of less literary value (yes, that means YOU Jonathan Franzen, although I still like you.)
4.) Reviewers who snark on an Oprah book on here often get trolled by a group of Oprah acolytes who are doing their mentor no favors with their behavior. Who gives a shit if someone doesn't like Oprah? Not Oprah.
Ok, reviewing times.
I probably would never have picked this up had I not caught the movie. I really liked this book. Teenaged Astrid lives with her beautiful, mercurial mother Ingrid. Ingrid had this boyfriend who she thought was beneath her, so it really burned when he unceremoniously broke up with her. So naturally she poisons him with white oleander sap. Ingrid's kind of like the flower, you see--beautiful, but she's poisonous when mixed with DMSO (I hate making obvious similes.)
As they have no other relatives, when Ingrid is arrested Astrid is thrown into the foster care system and it's kind of a nightmare. The book really got me thinking about the fate of children who don't have families. Astrid is a smart kid, but she makes some stupid choices which she pays heavily for (like getting shot, for example.) It's a good book, with an interesting topic that isn't often dealt with in fiction. I was also really invested in Astrid, despite her flaws. Ingrid was a much tougher sell.
1.) I'm not ready to say a book is bad just because it bears the Mark of the Golden O. That's, what's the word, dumb.
2.) I am more inclined to research an Oprah book before I read it and let's face it, there are some bad ones.
3.) Oprah does tend to gravitate towards "women's fiction." I'm not saying everyone who shuns the Mark of O is sexist, but it bears considering that books about women and directed at women are ipso facto perceived to be of less literary value (yes, that means YOU Jonathan Franzen, although I still like you.)
4.) Reviewers who snark on an Oprah book on here often get trolled by a group of Oprah acolytes who are doing their mentor no favors with their behavior. Who gives a shit if someone doesn't like Oprah? Not Oprah.
Ok, reviewing times.
I probably would never have picked this up had I not caught the movie. I really liked this book. Teenaged Astrid lives with her beautiful, mercurial mother Ingrid. Ingrid had this boyfriend who she thought was beneath her, so it really burned when he unceremoniously broke up with her. So naturally she poisons him with white oleander sap. Ingrid's kind of like the flower, you see--beautiful, but she's poisonous when mixed with DMSO (I hate making obvious similes.)
As they have no other relatives, when Ingrid is arrested Astrid is thrown into the foster care system and it's kind of a nightmare. The book really got me thinking about the fate of children who don't have families. Astrid is a smart kid, but she makes some stupid choices which she pays heavily for (like getting shot, for example.) It's a good book, with an interesting topic that isn't often dealt with in fiction. I was also really invested in Astrid, despite her flaws. Ingrid was a much tougher sell.