ONTD Book Club discussion

Discuss Orange is the New Black!

I'm going to read this one, I already bought it and I'm excited :)

I feel like I may be the only one who hasn't seen the show yet. Is it a good idea to watch it before reading the book? Or should I read and watch simultaneously?

I think it doesn't really matter...but maybe watch the show first? i wouldn't pick up a book like this if I hadn't seen the show. It made me actually interested in prison and what kind of life they have because of the show so I'm excited to read it. most people are saying the book is good but the show is better (but obviously the show adds more things because it's fictional.)

I couldn't help myself and already started reading the book last night (I'm on Chapter 3). So far, so good; I like her uncomplicated writing style. She tells it like it is, but isn't boring or dry.

I'll just watch the show once I finish the book :)

Very little between the book and the show are the same - except the character of Piper, so i don't think it matters which you do first.

I haven't seen the show either.

the show is great! y'all should get on that

I (get ready to gasp) have too slow of an Internet connection to have Netflix. It blows. I miss my queue.

Either way is fine, but I read the book after watching the show. You can tell that some of the characters in the show were based off of people in the book, but they were just a starting point. The show definitely goes off in a different direction.

I like the show better than the book, but I liked the book, too. Definitely got me interested in prison reform and sentencing issues, which I hadn't thought much about before.

I wanted to read the book anyway so I'm happy it was chosen :D I will be starting it tonight. I haven't seen the series (yet).

I read the book after having watched the series, and I thought the series was superior. Piper in the book comes off to me as a little bit too Mary Sue--she's always the special one. I get that one of the reasons is that she's from a more privileged background than the other prisoners, but I tired of the "Why are YOU here?" questions she saw in everyone else's faces.

I'm about 100 pages in right now. I've never been to prison (and I'd like to keep it that way) but the prison is so different from what I tough it would be. So many woman sleeping in one dorm, not people locked in their own cell. It sounds more like a university introduction camp from hell than what I thought a prison would be like.
So far I like the book, well like is not the right word since it is kind of sad but I don't know how ells to word this :P

I finished the book and thought it was only okay : | Of course I knew that she was locked up in a minimum security joint but at the same time, I did not expect the vibe to be like some kind of summer camp or huge slumber party. I had hoped that she would elaborate more on prisoners' rights (or lack thereof), but I did appreciate her concern about the lack of preparation for prisoners about to be released into the outside world (always a relevant issue). I'm intetested to see if she has joined or started any advocate groups pertaining to teaching prisoners what to expect once they're out in society again, since she seemed passionate about it.

Just read the part about the pacifist who where locked up for peacefully protesting. I was pretty shocked to find out things like that happen. :( I learn a lot by reading this book.

I'm about 25% in and it's okayish. /shrug

She seemed to be sort of blithely going through life as a rich white girl with a paid-for education... I knew a lot of chicks like this and I have a hard time feeling sympathetic for her. Spoiled and rich girl needs adventure, so she ignores common sense and effs up her life. Meh...

Krista wrote: "I read the book after having watched the series, and I thought the series was superior. Piper in the book comes off to me as a little bit too Mary Sue--she's always the special one. I get that one ..."

GOD YES...that got old so quickly. I get it; you're blonde, white, skinny, and apparently good-looking so there's no place for you in a FCI!

Yea...I think it's funny that a point of the show is that she's like that but it's not actually...fictionalized, lol. I've finished the first three chapters and so far I'm actually surprised how much the show kind of did the same things. I'm enjoying it though, prison is something I know really nothing about save from tv so I like the information and it's easy to read after the behemoth that was Les Miserables, lawd.

So I finished this today. It was okay. I gave it a very soft 3 stars. The writing style was fine, you could tell she is well-educated.

Mildly spoilerish, but not worth a cut:

I was disappointed that it just ended with her release, with no mention of her own struggle to adjust back to normal life. Since it was something she focused on so much throughout the book, I was hoping she would have included that.

It seems like she had a lot of support from family + friends even when in prison. And she was offered a job after being released. So maybe she did not struggle that much? It must be hard being released after 10 years, but after just (well, just...seems long enough) a year with such support it might not be to hard to return to a normal life.

Bookworm wrote: "It seems like she had a lot of support from family + friends even when in prison. And she was offered a job after being released. So maybe she did not struggle that much? It must be hard being rele..."

True, but she mentioned Larry buying a house that she had never seen and her grandmother's passing had to change her family dynamic. And no matter what, after 13 months away from society, it's going to be a shock to go back out. I went to Ireland for a month a few years ago, and the culture shock when I got back to the US was strange. The huge stores really bothered me.

I just wanted an epilogue or something. She had voiced a few concerns throughout the book, and it was surprising that she didn't circle back to them. It just seemed a little careless/unfinished.

okay so I'm almost done but I wanted to say, cuz I just read this.../omgggg/ about the two women that were caught doing it by the guard and then the guard demanded to watch. Jeeeeeeeez. Like going into this, even though I had watched the show and everything, I didn't realize that guards abusing inmates is a major thing in women's prison. That's fucking horrible.

I know that this was discussed back in Oct, but I'm just reading through it now..I hope its still ok to comment about the book.

I watched the show first, so I went into the book thinking that it would be a lot more (shall I say) X rated. But it wasn't. I can't help but compare the book to the show. In this case I like the real Piper more than her fictional counter part.

Piper Kerman did a TEDtalk about her time in prison and the work she does now in relation to it. Worth the watch.

Melissa wrote: "I know that this was discussed back in Oct, but I'm just reading through it now..I hope its still ok to comment about the book.
"

More than okay. We leave all these open in the hopes that people will keep posting. :D

I still haven't watched more than the first episode of the show. It seemed sort of annoying.

I love the show....I think it helps for you to know, Jess, that it's more like Lost in terms of the fact that every episode isn't about Piper, each one focuses on a different character and I think that's what makes it interesting, we get backstories on all the different inmates.

I'm glad that the show focuses on other characters. If it just focused on Piper, I don' think I'd enjoy it as much.

Wigs wrote: "I love the show....I think it helps for you to know, Jess, that it's more like Lost in terms of the fact that every episode isn't about Piper, each one focuses on a different character and I think ..."

Oh! That is good. I find Piper mostly insufferable. I'll give it another shot!

I hardly like movies or shows better than the book, but I must say that I am liking the show better than the book. I do feel like her prison experience is very camp like though Danbury Federal Correctional Institute is a low minimum prison camp (their words). I didn't really feel a strong connection to her, but I do appreciate her willingness to appreciate the fact that the women she shared her time with came from such different types of backgrounds, and she didn't sound like she was judgemental of them at all.