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Apr 08, 2011

Nancy rated it:

This is a collection of stories about a group of ordinary people living in a small town in Maine, their joys, sorrows, tragedies and grief, all centered around the main character, Olive Kitteridge. Normally, this is the kind of fiction I stay away from. I was afraid it would be an overwrought melodrama about provincial people living in a boring town. Yet, I was so absorbed by the lives of these people and had a difficult time putting the book down.

The characters were very well develo More...

10 comments like (46 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2010

Lesley rated it:

first and foremost, i would like to congratulate myself for finishing this. for what i thought would take no more than two days to get through; it took about a week. A WEEK! i read the same paragraphs over and over, thinking that perhaps i was missing something. something elegant, ruminating, and unforgettable that the pulitzer board saw, which clearly i couldn't. but no, i wasn't missing anything (except for maybe hours of my life). ooh, i feel like old ladies will see this and hate me ... but More...

38 comments like (69 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2011

Teresa rated it:

4 and 1/2 stars

We all have known an Olive -- or at least, we think we know her. Strout shows us the parts we don't know, what's behind the prickliness and the 'attitude.' Through fiction, we now have a better understanding of such a person.

It's a rare writer who can embody a character so well. And the minor characters too -- they are all living, breathing people. More than one of these 'minor' characters are so well-drawn and intriguing that I wouldn't have minded kno More...

24 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

I've listened to 4 stories out of 13 and I think I've had enough. This book should come with a Depressed Senior Citizen Characters warning. I am sure my impression of this book is colored by the awful narrator/actor who read every character, regardless of the age and gender, as a 80-year old screeching and bleating elderly person (no offense to elderly), but the fact is the majority (if not all) of characters are old and/or miserable.

1/4th of the book is over, and I have encountered: More...

24 comments like (20 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2008

Chris rated it:

When I saw this as the #3 book of 2008 in "Entertainment Weekly," the review intrigued me. So much so, I went to the library yesterday afternoon, took it out, and finished it this morning!

There are 13 stories interwoven together in this small town in Maine, with the one character, Olive Kitteridge, playing a part (sometimes small) in each one of the stories. Olive is a somewhat larger than life character, physically and emotionally, sometimes is crass and rude to people, bu More...

1 comment like (15 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2012

Sparrow rated it:

If I could use one word to describe this book, it would probably be “boring.” “Awkward” is a close runner-up. I think Elizabeth Strout must be the type of person who is less of the entertainment school of writing and more of the vitamins school of writing. But, I am left wondering what nutritional value I got out of this. Mostly, it just seemed like a bunch of people sitting around being petty, judging other people’s Issues, and thinking about cheating on each other. Like, whoa, deep.
More...

8 comments like (11 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2009

jo rated it:

don't know if it was me being meditative or moody or under the sobering influence of the recession, but i found this absolutely gorgeous book SO DAMN SAD. there are, let's see, at least two suicides but it might be three, three deaths but it might be more (one the death of a very young person), intolerably sad aging folks, a myriad broken relationships, and a ton of god-awful loneliness. how can a town as sweet and stably populated as crosby, maine, foster so much loneliness? aren't small towns More...

16 comments like (52 people liked it)

Apr 30, 2008

Rilla rated it:

Elizabeth Strout has come back strongly after the disappointing Abide with Me to fashion a novel of small town life from interlinked short stories. Put yourself in coastal Maine--smell the pine needles and the salty air. The sense of place and strong characters reminded me of the best of Lee Smith's portraits of life in Appalachia. Olive Kitteridge figures in major and minor ways in most if not all of the stories, but she is far from the only "main" character. A former 7th grade mat More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2008

marg rated it:

Eh.
Strout is such a good writer that when I heard she had a new one out I went to buy it without even knowing the title, let alone the plot. And while she is still a wonderful writer, she seems to have reduced herself (prematurely, I would hope) to the pre retirment plan of Maeve Binchy; the incredibly unpleasant world of the multiple narrative novel.
Her characters are sketched very well and her use of language pulls you in, but I really hate these snippets that aren't short stories More...

6 comments like (20 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Mikki rated it:

In Winter Concert, one of the thirteen linking short stories forming the novel Olive Kitteridge, Jane Houlton peers through her car window at the many passing houses strewn with holiday lights and muses to her husband, "All these lives. All the stories we never know."

And in most novels, this is the case as we, the reader, are usually only privy to the thoughts and actions of the main characters while those in supporting roles do just that…support. We never really know the More...

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 10, 2011

Karen rated it:

WOW!
How appropriate that Olive should be large: she is larger than life, human but more so. She's angrier, more unrepentant, and far less tolerant, of herself as much as of others, but at the same time she's also more feeling, more compassionate, more sensitive than the average member of the human race. She's raw, as if an insulating layer had been stripped away, leaving her to feel and see more than most. The magical thing is that you feel and see too, you develop a kind of preternatural s More...

10 comments like (13 people liked it)

May 05, 2010

Barbara rated it:

Elizabeth Strout has penned a beautiful book, which has left me deeply pensive and tearful. I am not generally attracted to the short story, but this is not truly of that genre. It is a series of vignettes, many of which have Olive Kitteridge as the main character. Each story is about the inhabitants of Crosby, Maine, a small seaside village, all with complicated tales of their own. Olive is ever present, even fleetingly,to tie the people to her in some manner.

When I first started re More...

31 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

K.D. rated it:

This Pulitzer-winning book of 2008 is simply brilliant. The book is composed of 13 short stories of people who live in Crosby, Maine where the lead protagonist, Olive Kitteridge also lives. The stories are all about simple people but the way Elizabeth Strout told them are just engaging as if you were there watching these people from afar. The way Strout described the sceneries was very effective in a way that if Crosby was just an hour from here in Manila, I would just hop in the next bus so I’l More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2007

Elaine rated it:

Olive Kitteridge is subtitled a "novel in stories". Reading this book is like looking through a family photo album. Each short story is a snapshot portraying life in small town Maine. Strout expertly constructs each snapshot for us with her beautiful prose, adding layer upon layer, and often adding a slight twist at the end of the story which completely changes the picture we thought we were seeing into something we weren’t quite expecting at all.
Olive is of course our title char More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

May 27, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

"Who does not have their basket of trips?"
Who indeed. I think that's the line that will stay with me long after I've forgotten the rest of the book.
I got a big kick out of the parrot trained to say "Praise Jesus" whenever anyone says a swear word. I wonder if you could really train a bird like that.
I LOVE it that we have a Pulitzer Prize book that slams Bush. LOVE IT! She doesn't mention his name, but the identity is unmistakable:
"That idiot More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2011

Susan rated it:

While I didn't always like Olive, I did enjoy this novel. Strout's writing is terrific; she fleshes out each of the characters with all their flaws, and through Olive's intervention with the characters, we gain insight into Olive's psyche. I detested her malicious cruelty in sabotaging Christopher's wife's belongings, yet I appreciated Olive's kindness to the anorexic girl and her love for her husband. At the same time I felt compassion for Olive's because of her loneliness and empty-nest syn More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2010

Quiltgranny rated it:

Even though, I usually don't care for short stories, this book of "not quite short stories" is so well written and tightly connected on to the other, I'm not sure that it WAS a collection of stories. The main character, Olive, is not one that you want to get to know. As the stories continue, and Olive is woven through them all, either in character or thought, you begin to see many traits of yourself or others in your family or your friends. Elizabeth Strout's writing skills make thi More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2009

Tom rated it:

I loved this book, set in coastal Maine. It is really a creative novel, composed of 13 short stories that share the common protagonist, Olive Kitteridge.
Olivve is all of these: retired middle school teacher, sourpuss of a human, opinionated nasty, wounded human, wounding human, know-it-all, and in the end a genuine person.
The dialogue is genuine, terse, and minimized. There are some stunning portrayals here. The first and the last chapters are the best. I have not been moved More...

0 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Michelle rated it:

The characters are so friggin' human ("deeply human" is more blurb-like). Saw this on Nancy Pearl's Best of 2008 list, and figured it must have good characterization (it does). I like the concept of getting to know a character--and a place too--through other characters that touch her life (husband, son, former student, local lounge singer, among others).

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2010

Seth rated it:

I'll begin with my finale, so those who don't want to take the time to read several paragraphs will get the gist of it upfront: Elizabeth Strout strikes me as being an Alice Munro cover band. And with that, my review.

Really, my problem in reviewing Strout's collection of short stories is that I didn't hate it or love it. I didn't even like it or dislike it. I'm not in any sense ambivalent toward it. Save for the fact that I'm baffled by its Pulitzer status (and the other fact that I More...

8 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2009

Will rated it:

Olive Kitteredge is a collection of stories that constitute a novel. They are not as closely woven together as the multigenerational tales in works by Louise Erdrich, another writer who likes to collect small parts into a larger whole, but Strout has, in telling stories of many characters, put together a compelling portrait of a small town. I was reminded of Spoon River, as we learn some of the secrets each of the main characters protect. Lake Wobegon came to mind, as well, but this is much less More...

7 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 18, 2011

Tamsen rated it:

I think Elizabeth Strout is a fantastic writer - and I'm sure I'd love her novels. In fact, I have Abide by Me sitting on my beside table now, and I look forward to reading it. But, this book pissed me off. I actually liked Olive Kitteridge herself (it seems, from reviews on GR, that most people didn't like this book because of Olive). She was a great character - and a character that we got a lot of story on. Strout followed through with Olive. I got irritated with this book because of Strout's More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

Alex rated it:

In quiet sleepy town, typical for Main
Old ways of Yankees life, as use to be, without change remain
Apart from melting pot and shock of sexual revolutions
Apart from Jews and lesbians and gays and other modern and progressive social institutions

1. Memorable 3
2. Social Relevance 4
3. Informative 4
4. Originality 5
5. Thought Provoking 5
6. Expressiveness 3
7. Entertaining 3
8. Visualization 1
9. Sparks Emotion 2
10. Life C More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 08, 2011

Paola rated it:

Abbacinata da questa scrittura. Brilla come un diamante da 100 carati. Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates e ora Elisabeth Strout, la triade delle migliori scrittrici che ho letto sin'ora nella mia oramai lunga carriera di lettrice.
La capacità di descriverti la realtà dell'animo umano come ce l'hanno queste tre, semplice, diretta, profonda, é cosa rara. Da gustare e assaporare, sono quelle letture che vorresti durassero una vita.
Fine lettura:
Olive K. é una donna, una moglie, una madre, poteva esser More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2010

Daniel rated it:

Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is not so much a novel in the classic sense as it is a series of small town vignettes. Set in the northeastern United States, the book tells the stories of several interconnected families, focusing specifically in each one on the titular character, a hardened, stubborn woman whose outlook on life often clashes with those close to her.

Olive Kitteridge is not for the weak of heart. Each chapter focuses on one or two characters and a p More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2010

Christine E. rated it:

I admired the writing (beautiful sentences, etc), and I think Olive Kitteridge herself is an interesting character. But I didn't quite feel like I knew her at the end, or that her character arc was sufficiently satisfying. I didn't like her, but that's not the problem. Several books I've absolutely loved center around characters I'd never want to hang out with! Also, I found it more difficult to keep track of all the characters than I'd have thought from such a slim book.

Maybe I ju More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2010

Lisa rated it:

This is one of those books that literally changed the way I think and feel and respond to others. Elizabeth Strout brings much wisdom and insight to common themes like family dynamics, love, marriage, aging, death, grief, loneliness and betrayal without ever coming off as sentimental or seeming to arrive at an obvious conclusion. The messages of Olive Kitteridge are honest and real: that we need to love and be loved, that we need compassion and understanding both for and from the people in our l More...

4 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2009

Roxanne rated it:

I finished this book 10 days ago and had to think about it. In short, I would say that this book gives us a new female heroine. Not meant to be liked, not meant to be revered, not meant to fit in, but totally and absolutely real. This is not a fantasy. Thus, many may not like the book. It does not tie up into a neat bundle. And for the first time I see and appreciate the value in this style of literature and film. It is more representative of reality to me. This book changed me as a reader a More...

4 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Tiffany rated it:

EW #3 FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

This was an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking collection of stories. I was completely enthralled and also completely satisfied by the ending. The title character, Olive Kitteridge, is a harsh not quite lovable woman who ages through each short story. A few are told from her perspective, but many just feature her as a passing figure in others' lives.

The final story, 'River,' is what catapulted the book from a 4-star to a 5-star ratin More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2010

Judith rated it:

I have mixed feelings about this book. Each chapter opened with two run-on sentences comprising the first paragraph. Make sure you give yourself enough time to read past "Incoming Tide" or you'll want to accidentally throw yourself into the sea while picking lilies too. "The Piano Player" didn't fit well into the story. I wanted her to be African American and a friend of Olive's. Other than the rampant mental illness in the town, the characters weren't fascinating. I think th More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)