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Olive Kitteridge Fiction Editorial Reviews
Source: Product Description
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life–sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
Praise for Olive Kitteridge:
“Perceptive, deeply empathetic . . . Olive is the axis around which these thirteen complex, relentlessly human narratives spin themselves into Elizabeth Strout’s unforgettable novel in stories.” –O: The Oprah Magazine
“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her. . . . [Elizabeth Strout] constructs her stories with rich irony and moments of genuine surprise and intense emotion. . . . Glorious, powerful stuff.” –USA Today
“Funny, wicked and remorseful, Mrs. Kitteridge is a compelling life force, a red-blooded original. When she’s not onstage, we look forward to her return. The book is a page-turner because of her.” –San Francisco Chronicle
“Olive Kitteridge still lingers in memory like a treasured photograph.” –Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Rarely does a story collection pack such a gutsy emotional punch.” –Entertainment Weekly
“Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force. . . . [She] makes us experience not only the terrors of change but also the terrifying hope that change can bring: she plunges us into these churning waters and we come up gasping for air.” –The New Yorker
Olive Kitteridge Fiction Customer Reviews:
Average Rating: 4.0 (454 reviews)
Rating: 4 (Snapshots of a Complex Woman) Was helpful to 688 from 706 votes
I am not normally a fan of short stories. While I appreciate the technical abilities of the short story writer, I find "shortness" troublesome. Generally, the longer a book is, the more appealing. Consequently, I was initially leery of the descriptions of Elizabeth Strout's newest novel, "Olive Kitteridge," which calls itself "a novel in stories."
All of the stories in this book occur in the town of Crosby, Maine. At the center of many of the book's stories is the person, Olive Kitteridge, a retired teacher. In the stories that don't feature Olive, her name may appear only once in an effort to tie it to the larger work. That the stories center on one town, and a limited number of that town's inhabitants, who also reappear from time to time, I did not encounter my usual problems with short stories. This book gently reminded me of what is best about short-stories: a brief slice of a life, a snapshot that tells a complete-enough story. In having all these stories bound together, one feels a bit like the proverbial "fly on the wall"; a fly who may spend most of, but certainly not all, it's time in one particularly interesting home (Olive's).
I especially enjoyed reading about Olive in her post-retirement years, the ways in which she deals with other people and herself. In many ways, I can identify with Olive, having doled out bits of malice in angering situations; or having been soft and tender-hearted during others. Like Olive, I too have been both fool and sage.
I really enjoyed "Olive Kitteridge." Olive is a complex person vacillating between viciousness and compassion. In the way all people are puzzles, so is Olive. In one story she does something deplorable, in another she potentially saves a life. People can never be fully known, merely experienced in bits and pieces, from which a general portrait may be formed. This book is a testament to the mystery that is humanity: why we do what we do, what motivates us, how even self-knowledge is warped and lacking, and how ultimately, all people are fundamentally incapable of seeing themselves as a whole. Olive also embodies hope: one is never too old for surprises.
Many of the "stories" in "Olive Kitteridge" are deeply profound and thought provoking. I will not be at all surprised when this book does very well. It's structure is unusual; it's message is penetrating and accessible and universal. Olive causes me to think of the many complex, and at times unlikeable, people in my own life in a different way. Strout is a master of revealing the many onion-like layers of interpersonal relationships. Halfway through "Olive Kitteridge" I went out and bought two of her other books. I am also tentatively considering reading some other short-story collections by authors whose novels I've loved.
Like any great book, "Olive Kitteridge" slightly shifts the way in which I look at the world and other people, and perhaps most importantly, myself.
Rating: 5 (360 degree character study) Was helpful to 12 from 16 votes
In the "Pharmacy" in a small coastal Maine town, Olive and Henry Kitteridge are opposites. Whereas she is a reserved school teacher, he is an extroverted pharmacist; she is attracted to a younger man while he likes "The Piano Player", but neither so far act on their feelings. Over time they raise a child, Christopher, who becomes a podiatrist, marries Suzanne, and moves to New York in "A Little Burst" of next generation. He does all this while his ethical mom watches the "Incoming Tide" chatting with her former student Kevin Coulson about is that all there is. Now a septuagenarian, Olive has financial "Security", but is lonely so she visits her son, her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren in New York, but is disappointed in the behavior of the children. After she dies, her family and townsfolk think of Olive as a "River" flows.
Each new tale builds off the previous tale so that the audience obtains thirteen related short stories that enable fans to get deeply inside the soul of Olive. The tales have differing leads, as Olive is the prime player in most of the entries, but also plays a secondary role in a few or serves as a memory of another person like her son relating his fears of his mom. Well written, OLIVE KITTERIDGE is an enjoyable "novel in stories" that provides a deep character study of the life of a woman told from a 360 degree feedback perspective.
Harriet Klausner
Rating: 5 (Breathtaking, achingly beautiful writing.) Was helpful to 6 from 9 votes
Every time Elizabeth Strout writes a new book, my love for reading is renewed. After having the great pleasure of reading this book, I have to agree wholeheartedly with the words of praise written on the back cover by Ann Packer, "delicate, nuanced, insightful, and profoundly moving" indeed! Astoundingly so! Now, sadly, I must endure the wait until my next dose of Elizabeth Strout's extraordinary writing. Thank you Elizabeth, for another gem!
Rating: 5 (beautiful book) Was helpful to 25 from 31 votes
I have read all of Strout's books. I loved "Abide with Me" and thought it was the best book I had read in many years but this book was even better. I read a lot of current fiction, but reading Strout is like reading Willa Cather or William Faulkner. She has created a place in Maine that I picture perfectly in my head just like I did with Cather's Midwestern towns and Faulkner's town in Mississippi. She is such a talented writer. If you have not read her books, start now!
Rating: 4 (Character study set in small Maine village) Was helpful to 0 from 2 votes
Have you ever wondered what life is like in a small town? Ms. Strout takes the time with this collection of short stories based in the shore side town of Crosby, ME to illuminate facets of the title character Olive Kitteridge. Viewed as teacher, neighbor, wife, mother and town matron over several decades, Olive reveals the strengths and weakness we all are heir to-pettiness, generousity, denial, sacrifice and enduring strength. Sometimes Olive appears just in passing; sometimes she's the focus of the story. Family conflicts and loss, collisions of modern life in a traditional New England village, the gradual acceptance of one's morality and limits, the support and caring of neighbors in unexpected ways are explored. Ms. Strout quietly crafts the small details of Olive's life into someone you know and connect with. I look forward to reading her past work and anticipate further gems to come!
