OITNB - Book Club Discussion

MissDemeanor

Because OITNB is such a popular Netflix show, I thought we could start with a poll...

I've put a couple starter questions below, but this is an open discussion, so ready...set...DISCUSS


Do you feel that Piper Kerman accurately portrayed life in prison? What do you think would be the most difficult part of prison life for you?



There were many differences between the book and the tv show. Which bothered you the most? Which changes do you feel added to the tv show? Is there anything the show missed?




Do you believe that Piper was as innocent as she implies?



The book discusses Piper's relationships with her loved ones, with her fellow prisoners, and with the guards. Do you think you could have continued a strong relationship with your S/O? In the show, Piper ends up in prison with her ex, Alex, and renews their relationship. Given that Alex is the reason Piper is imprisoned, do you think this is realistic? How do you think you would relate to other prisoners? With the guards?



What else do you have to say about OITNB?

keags5496

I have to be honest, I didn't totally finish the book because I got frustrated.  I always read the books before I see movies and I did this the other way around...watched the first season of the show and then read the book.  I really fell in love with a lot of the characters on the show and I had a hard time drawing parallels to who was who in the book and spent more time focusing on that than the actual story. 

I was kind of shocked at the freedoms that the prisoners had.  I always had this image of prison being cells and that's it and to read about the "dorm" style arrangement was interesting.  I was also kind of shocked that they work they did was relatively untrained....an untrained electrician seems crazy to me!  And that the guards took them to do work at their houses.  Weird.

I don't think Piper was as innocent as she lets on.  She knew what she was doing and chose to do it.  Done.

I could talk about the relationships all day, but I'll keep it short.  I kind of feel like Piper may have had some acceptance issues.  She wanted to fit in and be liked everyone (hence agreeing to be a drug mule to begin with).  I felt like she did what she had to do to keep relationships with everyone.  She also needed to feel loved and needed.  I think that's the only reason that she reconnected with Alex.  I think the fear of not having someone when she got out made her try anything.

MissDemeanor

golfergirl08 said:

I watched both seasons and have a few pages left of the book, and will come back in a little while when I am not on mobile. But, are we allowing spoilers? I figured yes but just wanted to check first.

@golfergirl08 I say yes to spoilers

courtls22

I liked how the book sort of put things into reality that prison isn't just for the severe criminals like I imagine.  Piper was so easy to relate to that it seemed she could have been a coworker, friend, or family member easily.  She definitely isn't someone that I would think of when envisioning prisoners.  While I think it sort of sucks that she had to go since she had already made changes to her life and wouldn't be in a situation again to end up there or to harm others, I understand she made that choice and had to deal with the consequences.  Generally, people who commit crimes and end up in prison repeat them once released.  I agree with her that our prison system is flawed and found it interesting that we have so many more people jailed compared to other countries but don't really know what the right answer is.

I do think that a lot of people in prison based on drug charges should be in a rehabilitative program instead.  The root of the problems aren't being dealt with in our law system.  As I mentioned above it also makes repeat offenders commonplace because once prisoners are released, they may not always have the skills to live in the real world.  They most likely will struggle finding a job due to their past as well.  I have a relative who went down the criminal path as a young teenager (13).  He was sent to a juvenile delinquent center.  He would get out and then end up right back in there.  He admitted to his mom that he would commit crimes intentionally in order to go back because he was such an outcast and had no idea what to do/ how to live in society.  He is in prison currently at the age of 25.  I think the longest amount of time he spent outside of a facility in the past 12 years is 6 months.  He never finished middle school let alone high school.  It is sad really but I also don't know the steps needed to help the problem either.  

ETA: Sorry for the lack of proper sentence structure.  I was just kind of rambling as you can tell. 

MissDemeanor

@RosiePeare‌ I think you were away last week? Tell us about Piper's speech!!

djtippietoes

I read the book over a year ago (I don't remember how I heard about it, but it was before the show) so I don't really remember a lot of the book details.

Do you feel that Piper Kerman accurately portrayed life in prison? What do you think would be the most difficult part of prison life for you?

I really don't know.  It seemed sort of...relaxed?  Like in season 2 when they have that "family dinner" in the greenhouse.  I think the most difficult part would be that I'm not "tough" at all.  I'd probably cry a lot.

There were many differences between the book and the tv show. Which bothered you the most? Which changes do you feel added to the tv show? Is there anything the show missed?
This goes back to not really remembering the book, but of the things I do remember, I didn't like how Larry and Polly got together in the show.  I did like how they did all of the backstories of the other characters.
Do you believe that Piper was as innocent as she implies? 

I think she was more naive than innocent.  She knew what she was doing, but didn't think she'd get caught.

The book discusses Piper's relationships with her loved ones, with her fellow prisoners, and with the guards. Do you think you could have continued a strong relationship with your S/O? In the show, Piper ends up in prison with her ex, Alex, and renews their relationship. Given that Alex is the reason Piper is imprisoned, do you think this is realistic? How do you think you would relate to other prisoners? With the guards?

I think my relationship with my SO would suffer.  I think I would probably get upset that he was living his life, even though I'd want him to.  I actually think the Alex thing is more realistic than it seems at first.  If I was in a scary place and absolutely couldn't leave, I'd probably glom onto a familiar face, even if she was the reason I was there.