I have to be honest, I didn’t really want to read this book. But the sequel, Olive, Again, came out this year and I knew there was a good chance it would show up on the list for the BookTube Prize. I am trying to read some of the books I think either will be on the list, or are prequels to books on the list. So I felt like I had to read this in preparation for Olive, Again.
I’ve heard good things about this book for ages, but I tried watching the first episode of the show and it didn’t do much for me. I didn’t like the characters much, and I wasn’t that interested in the plot. The whole thing felt awkward and uncomfortable. To its credit, the book felt the same, so it was a good representation.
The title of this book is misleading. I went into it expecting a linear story about one woman’s life. Instead I got a collection of stories about other people, but in each of their stories there is an appearance by or mention of Olive. She runs through the book connecting disparate lives and allows us to take what would have otherwise been a collection of short stories about people who happened to spend time in a small town, and find a connection between them through Olive. I liked that aspect of the book. It was clever, and it was a unique trope that allowed Strout a lot of flexibility and room for movement and lots of perspectives.
There aren’t many characters in this book that the reader will actually like. Most of them are messy, in one way or another, and some of them are just not nice people. (Including Olive herself.) But they are very real, and the dynamics of a small town play out through them. They are tragic, but their tragedies are small tragedies. These are lives no one will make note of, and people who will only be remembered by those closest to them when they pass. That is the strength of this book: that it is all about ordinary people, but it captures them brilliantly.
While I can’t say I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, if I take a step back from how I felt reading it and just look at the mechanics of the book, it is brilliant. I can see why it won awards, and I get why so many people raved about it. I’m glad I had a reason to read it, but at the same time I didn’t really like it, and if I don’t end up with the sequel on my reading list for the prize I’m not entirely sure if I’ll want to dive back into Olive’s world.
I’d love to hear from those of you who have read this book, and/or watched the show. What did you like about it? What didn’t you like? Have you picked up Olive, Again? Are you going to?
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
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. – Goodreads
Book Title: Olive Kitteridge
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Series: Yes – Olive Kitteridge #1
Edition: Paperback
Published By: Scribner
Released: 2016 (First published March 25, 2008)
Genre: Fiction, Small Town, Character-Driven
Pages: 337
Date Read: December 20-31, 2019
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.83/5 (143,267 ratings)
I don’t have to like the characters to like the book. It was the true-ness of the characters that I liked in Olive Kitteridge. I live in a small town and I’ve mostly worked among educators. Olive and the other characters feel deeply true.
Well, you know, you really aren’t supposed to like Olive, but… I’ve only watched the TV series, so maybe I got the wrong impression. I do have the book on my shelves and my husband loved it, so… I too think I should read it. I’ve read two other Strout books and loved them.