First off, it is a unique genre, described in the appendices/supplements as `literary non-fiction.' This rings true to me, although I wouldn't have phrased it quite that way. The story is not told in a linear, chronological fashion. We are not given an objective and detached narrator. Rather, we bounce from topic to topic, and because the narrator is subjective and involved, I found the book involving.

Bouncing tangentially from topic to topic ultimately yields a lot of information. I felt I learned just enough about the evolutionary history of orchids, as well as the history of orchid collection; a chapter or two on each was just right. Other interesting side stories included the current and historical plights of southeastern Indians and of Florida itself.

In many ways it is the latter that centers this novel. Florida is described as a richly diverse and impenetrable wilderness, a land of stark contrasts. Orlean takes the pat cliche of `the melting pot' a step further, comparing Florida to a "cauldron of ...stew." The point seems to be that as our homogenized culture expands, the world is paradoxically in some ways becoming bigger and more complex. Hence new frontiers have opened in the old story of the American struggle for an individuality nestled in a broader sense of community.

These new frontier subcultures she encounters in South Florida provide the bridge to the two person character study that defines this book (as much as anything else defines it). She is fascinated by how Laroche can build an entire world out of something like orchid collection, only to leave it completely as he embarks on his next obsession. She sees his pursuit as a quest for meaning and optimism in a world of `petty cynicism', even if it means `living for a myth.' She also describes Laroche in the appendix as one "in need of attention", who must "succeed in an unusual way." As one prone to escaping in such obsessions myself, I agree with much of her explanation. Ironically, she seems closest to really understanding in the book's climax, when she decides that (rather than becoming lost in the swamp) she prefers to depart without seeking her ghost orchid. If she does not see it, it can remain something of myth, something which "will never disappoint." Yet Laroche's own experience seems to suggest that totally giving in to one's obsession is the only way to ultimately escape it. Perhaps she is the real romantic, the truly uncompromising one. While she admits that as a `parasitic' reporter she like Laroche dumps one fancy as she departs to another, she seems not to recognize that by going back to the swamp it is Laroche, not her, who is showing an ability to change by (for a change) taking account of his past.


Diagnosis: Orchid Fever   November 27, 2003
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

What a fascinating read! I was so impressed how Orlean undertook this research--all of the interest stemming from a small blip in the paper about Laroche. I particularly enjoyed the historical parts about the orchid hunters in the 18th and 19th century when the British Orchid Craze began. Her descriptions of Florida as the "last wild frontier" in the USA were quite interesting because I have never seen the state in such a way.

Wonderfully intriguing and an absolute delight to read!