Ratings7
Average rating3.9
Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes-each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned-becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
Reviews with the most likes.
Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. An intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you'II ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.
Wasn't for me. Honestly, I just didn't care much about anything. Didn't click with the writing from the beginning, it is too descriptive. Not every single sentence has to have a flowery writing and similes, methaphors and the like. In fact, it's about knowing when to do it and stir the reader's emotions. Some people have said the book is one of those angsty novels where the author makes the main character go through the worse things imaginable just for the sake of it or for the shock value. Having read 30% of White Oleander I see how that may be true.