Olive Kitteridge - General (no spoilers)

[LindaJ^]

I read the book shortly after it was published and loved it. It was one of the first "linked stories" novels I read. Olive is a great and very believable character. I'd read it again except the book is in my second home in Maine where I won't be going for at least another month, when my vaccination is complete.

[Vesna]

This thread is for a general, no spoiler discussion of the book and I’ll shortly create the topic for our reactions to the entire book, spoilers included. It decidedly won our poll among the three moderator picks and I very much look forward to our discussion.

I already read its sequel Olive, Again and was spellbound by Strout’s writing, the way she linked the stories of the residents of a small town in Maine, and her memorable, quite original, character Olive. I now enjoy revisiting her as well as Crosby, Maine, learning about the past of some characters that appear in the sequel and those who don’t.

A couple of reviews can probably give a good idea about the overwhelmingly positive reaction at the time that also earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2009.

New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/bo...

Boston Globe
http://archive.boston.com/ae/books/ar...

NPR: “Who Says You Have To Like A Character?”
https://www.npr.org/2008/12/08/979417...

A couple of videos with Elizabeth Strout when her Olive Kitteridge was published:

Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhS01...

Book presentation with Q&A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djMFV...

I expect to finish the book in a couple of days and invite you all to share your comments, links, and questions.

Who else will be joining our discussion?

[Hugh]

I started reading on Saturday, and will probably finish tonight. I am looking forward to the discussion. My only previous Strout books were My Name Is Lucy Barton and its sequel Anything Is Possible.

[Vesna]

This is my first book discussion lead as a moderator and I already managed to make a rookie mistake in double-posting my opening comment that happened to be around the same time when Linda commented. That's fine but just to explain the sequencing of our comments :-)

Speaking of Maine, I have to say that I've wanted to visit Maine ever since I read Strout's beautiful descriptions of seasonal changes in its landscape in Olive, Again and now this desire to see it is definitely renewed. A couple of my friends are from Maine and I can understand better their longing to go back and live there. (Fantastic news about vaccination. I'm waiting for my second shot.)

[Ang]

Ha, I read your comment (Linda) as "when my vacation is complete" and then saw Vesna's reference to vaccination. I think I am having wishful thinking about vacations.

My first Strout was Lucy Barton which I absolutely loved. It was my favourite book that year. I then started reading more Strout, including Olive Kitteridge which is superb.

[Marc]

This is my first Strout. Started it last night and am about 50 pgs in. Already, I like Olive.