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Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
By Jenn · 25 posts · 78 views
By Jenn · 25 posts · 78 views
last updated Jul 29, 2010 05:10PM
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What book did you just start?
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
last updated Feb 27, 2024 08:11PM
What Members Thought
Olive Kitteridge is a book with many stories about the inhabitants of a small town who in some way or another have a connection to Olive. Olive is a cranky, judgmental woman who needs to mind her own business more than she does. Like most people, however, Olive just wants what most people want - to be loved, accepted and to have more control of the events that occur around her.
I highly recommend this book, because Strout takes many different threads and is able to weave them into one overall coh ...more
I highly recommend this book, because Strout takes many different threads and is able to weave them into one overall coh ...more
Wow ... I savored every word of this novel. Amazing. The writing was magnificent. The characters were so compelling. I didn't want to stop reading. And, I was sad when it was over. Olive is such a fascinating (and often unlikeable) woman and yet I really felt her throughout the book. I thought she was so well written and multi-layered. Very real. Her voice in the book would occasionally take my breath away - with her heartbreaking honesty. The interconnected stories were wonderful. I was concern
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Years ago, I had a co-worker I bickered with constantly, leading a mutual friend to predict that I was going to evolve over time into Shirley MacLaine's character from Steel Magnolias. She was probably right, as I've waited my whole life to have a reason to say some variation on, "Goddamn it, I AM pleasant! I saw Drum Eaton at the Piggly Wiggly the other day and I smiled at the son of a bitch!"
I guess what I'm trying to say is I was therefore probably destined to love Olive Kitteridge, the chara ...more
I guess what I'm trying to say is I was therefore probably destined to love Olive Kitteridge, the chara ...more
A friend recommended this book to me and I wasn't sure it was going to be my thing, I generally am not a big fan of short stories, but as it turns out this isn't a collection of separate short stories but more a collection of connected stories (Olive Kitterigdge being the character that ties them all together) about life in a small New England town. It's a poetic, profound and a extremely beautifully written book. Each story peels away a different layer and exposes more about Olive. I found myse
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I really enjoyed the way Strout created a whole world by giving you one piece at a time. The stories are out of order, and from different points of view, and at different times, but that's what I liked about it. You come in from all different sides to add pieces to the whole puzzle. Olive herself comes off as quite complicated. Most people haven't liked her character, but I wasn't all that put off by her. She was interesting and complex, and not always the nicest person. The book is well-written
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This book broke my heart in all the best possible ways. Strout's observations about marriage, parenting, and aging are so character-specific and yet so universal. Sometimes a book is well-lauded for a reason. Believe the hype.
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This was an amazing novel of short stories about the various residents of a small town in Maine. The stories were connected by an older abrasive woman, Olive who was prickly and opinionated but who mostly had good, honest intentions and for whom I couldn't help rooting for. The characters were complicated and sometimes unlikable and their stories often dark but yet I found myself empathizing with them and Olive.
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The characters in this book were interesting and overall the story was well written. I didn't really enjoy the format. The books consists, essentially, of a series of short stories surrounding the life of the main character. I love stand alone short stories but reading a series like didn't really work for me. Too disjointed, difficult to get in the grove and left me wanting for more depth.
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Excellent.
Aug 21, 2009
Sarah
marked it as to-read
May 25, 2017
Terri FL
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
short-stories,
america-maine
Oct 10, 2009
Paula
marked it as to-read
Aug 06, 2014
Stormnangel
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2012
jenna Hudrlik
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012-for-me
