Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Orchid Thief

I read this for my online book group this month. It's one of those books I wouldn't have picked up myself, but I'm kind of glad I read it. It certainly isn't one of my favorite books by any means, but I learned some things, so that makes it worthwhile.

Susan Orlean uses the story of John Laroche, a Floridian orchid grower who has been charged with stealing orchids out of a state park, as a framework for her book. The book, to me, is more about the uniqueness of Florida--the land, the people, the flora and fauna. But, maybe that's what I glommed onto because I love Florida and that's the part I liked.

I actually don't like orchids. I've always thought they are kind of weird and creepy. But, it was interesting digging into the whole "orchid world" and looking at the history of orchids. I'm still trying to figure out why people have been so obsessed by them over time. People do some crazy things for plants!

5 comments:

nanamoo said...

I am looking forward to reading it as I am a Florida lover myself!

Booklogged said...

I like orchids, but am definitely obsessed with them. One of the highlights of our trip to Newfoundland was finding the beautiful lady slipper orchids down a little dirt road. They were in their prime and beautiful.

This book sounds quite interesting.

Sarah McBride said...

it does sound interesting.

The movie "Adaptation" with Nicholas Cage was based around this book. (premise:cage was a screenwriter hired to write a screenplay adapted from this book.)

Sounds like an interesting book though, I may put it on my "to read" shelf.

Corinne said...

I agree. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I loved it enough to ever read it again :)

Lynda said...

Thanks for reviewing this book - I'll add it to my 'to read' list ;0)