White Oleander

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I saw on you're Goodreads profile that you're very much into Russian literature and history. I must say, it didn't surprise me. But I was really happy to see it. One of my all time favorite stories is Anna Karenina. It also helped me grow a lot and taught me some important life lessons. It took me forever to sit down and write this review. I never wait this long after finishing a book to post some sort of review. I’ve just given up and realized it’s impossible for me to do justice to the book. It’s a full 5 star rating from me, though not (yet?) on my favorites shelf, maybe because the ending seemed a bit truncated/rushed to me; I wanted to know a bit more. Plot looks at how gender, race, class, sexuality, ability/disability, ethnicity, nationality, etc. shape us and our views of the world

Absolutely. I think whenever a person can survive extreme hardship with his ability to love intact, with his compassion and some kind of faith in the future and an ability to act in the world, that's a happy ending. Whenever a person can transmute the lead of bitter experience into the gold of creative work, that's a happy ending. It is too real, too raw, to conform to anyone’s preconceived notion of beauty. And yet Fitch makes it sing, with her beautiful, simple words. I wanted to hear what she was saying. I wanted to smell that burnt midnight again, I wanted to feel that wind. It was a secret wanting, like a song I couldn’t stop humming, or loving someone I could never have.” The wands," I repeated. I wanted her to know I was listening. Our tarot suit, the wands. She used to lay out the cards for me, explain the suits: wands and coins, cups and swords, but she had stopped reading them. She didn't want to know the future anymore.I will say, however, that I actually prefer the way the movie ends to the way the book ends. The way in which Ingrid allows Astrid to opt out. White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become. I've always been captivated by her as an actress (and let's be honest, her flawless ethereal beauty); but, in this movie, I was also endlessly fascinated by her character. Her passion. Her complexity. Her viciousness. Her powers of manipulation.

Beauty was my mother’s law, her religion. You could do anything you wanted as long as you were beautiful, as long as you did things beautifully. If you weren’t, you just didn’t exist. She had drummed it into my head since I was small. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth Anyway, I liked this book. I can't believe I'm so defensive about it! I must really have issues. But does anyone else on here know what I mean? I noticed that NONE of my friends have read this book, which makes me wonder whether there are others among us who have somehow "forgotten," as I had myself, until I sat down tonight to write a paper. Astrid Magnussen, 15, lives in Los Angeles with her free-spirited artist mother Ingrid. Too young to remember her father, she relies heavily upon her self-centered mother. Ingrid's relationship with a writer, Barry, ends when she discovers he is cheating. Murdering him with white oleander poison, Ingrid is incarcerated, leaving Astrid under social services' control. Starr Thomas, a former stripper, recovering alcoholic and born-again Christian is Astrid's first foster mother. Initially interacting well, Astrid is baptised into her church. Ingrid finds out, setting Astrid against them. Believing Astrid is sleeping with Starr's live-in boyfriend Ray, she falls off the wagon. In a drunken rage, she argues with Ray, then shoots Astrid in the shoulder. Starr and Ray disappear; the children beg her not to report her, so Astrid plays along.

Other teenagers scoff at Astrid at the orphanage, but she tries not to pay attention to them, and Paul, a boy, who also lives there, begins to communicate with Astrid. Initially, Astrid ignores him, but then she finds out that Paul had more terrible troubles than she has. It does not stop him from remaining an honest man and a true friend.

Well, capitalism is what makes it so difficult for an artist like Ingrid to live. It's why she's so stressed out. There's no other way to make a living than a minimum wage paste-up job. If society can be judged by the fate of the weakest of its members, the fate of children, an economically useless sector of society, capitalism is the necessary condition for such pressure on poor families and neglect of children. Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times, called it a "rich, turbulent adaptation," and described the performances as "superbly acted from top to bottom." Comparing it to other films on the same theme – Anywhere but Here (1999), Tumbleweeds (1999), and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) – Holden found White Oleander to be the only one to show "how children instinctively absorb their parents' attitudes and personalities." [5] Andrew Sarris, writing for The Observer, named it as a runner-up on his list of the ten best English-language films of 2002. [6] Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, was critical of the film, writing, "The performances are often touching and deserve a better screenplay." [7] White Oleander is a 2002 American drama film directed by Peter Kosminsky. The film stars Alison Lohman in the central role of Astrid Magnussen and Michelle Pfeiffer as her manipulative mother, Ingrid, with Robin Wright, Noah Wyle, and Renée Zellweger in supporting roles. The screenplay was adapted from Janet Fitch's 1999 novel White Oleander, which was selected for Oprah's Book Club in May 1999. [2] Plot [ edit ]

thanks for the add, janet! i love white oleander! the references in and around los angeles really amused me since i grew up in the area. my friend and i were really excited about the thrifty in alhambra, haha. :)

I love a big, intense book. I want to be immersed completely in its fictional world. I've loved the years I've spent with Marina, and I hope you find it as satisfying to read as it was to create.Turan, Kenneth (October 11, 2002). "Artful 'Oleander' Needs More Compelling Voice". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 31, 2022.