Olive Kitteridge: Fiction |
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Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
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
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Customer Reviews:
• Great Read - Not For Everybody
18 March, 2010
I LOVED reading 'Olive Kitteridge' and I did not expect that I would. Elizabeth Strout has created characters and scenarios that I found compelling and creative and unique and ... there are not enough superlatives.
This is no straightforward 'beginning-middle-end' novel. Instead. it is a study of the extraordinary emotional highs and lows that occur in everyday, ordinary life. Like life, it can be messy, confusing and unresolved. Characters appear and we don't always know what happened to their thread of the story.
I particularly enjoyed that Strout made me feel the discomfort that Olive Kitteridge experiences. For me, this is what reading is about - being transported into a different place and being able to see the world from a perspective that is different from my own. Kudos Ms. Strout! I'm already looking for more of your work.
- Amazon Customer Review
• Interesting Characters But Poor Connections Between The Stories
17 March, 2010
This reads like a walmart of sufferings of ordinary people, so quietly and privately taking place all around us--estrangement of emotions and interests among family members, depression, misunderstanding, unspoken hopes and disappointments that play out through their lives, too set by the time they were realized. Characters are realistic and vivid without overt melodrama, even their life changing decisions are played out very quietly as most of real life events are. But I thought their stories didn't feel very well connected with the main character and felt choppy at times. I would give 3 and 1/2 stars actually.
- Amazon Customer Review
• A Tapestry Of Characters
19 March, 2010
A delightful collection of stories, characters interwoven with one compelling prickly Olive. Love the ease of connecting to each story from Olive's perspective. Beautiful writing.
- Amazon Customer Review
• I Feel Stupid Since I Thought The Author Was Going To Tie It All Together Somehow.
20 March, 2010
Today I was reading the reviews for Olive Kitteridge on Amazon.com and was startled by finding out that it was a series of short stories! What an idiot I am! I have been reading a chapter a night before bed. Twice I was unable to find the book. When it was found I renewed my chapter a night routine. It seemed to be going nowhere. The book was closer to being finished and I was still wanting the author to tie it all together.
Now I find out why it had been so hard to refocus the story line during my nightly readings. The joke is definitely on me. I, as it turns out, am as dumb as Olive Kitteridge. Knowledge of my ignorance is only revealed, not through the Pulitzer prize-winning words of the the novel...but when I read reviews on Amazon.com. That is characteristically perfect!
- Amazon Customer Review
• So Honest...i Was Pleasantly Surprised
20 March, 2010
I have never read a book like this where it is a collection of short stories about small town people that help create the life of one main character. It was a really neat idea and very daring. It turned about to be a very interesting and heartfelt book. It was just an honest book that I think many people could relate to. I am excited to read other books by this author. I will definitley put a book by Elizabeth Strout on our local book club list! To the author: Thanks for trying this approach to story-telling! I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I really did! You've found another fan....
- Amazon Customer Review
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