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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Thirteen linked tales from Strout (Abide with Me, etc.) present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection. The opening Pharmacy focuses on terse, dry junior high-school teacher Olive Kitteridge and her gregarious pharmacist husband, Henry, both of whom have survived the loss of a psychologically damaged parent, and both of whom suffer painful attractions to co-workers. Their son, Christopher, takes center stage in A Little Burst, which describes his wedding in humorous, somewhat disturbing detail, and in Security, where Olive, in her 70s, visits Christopher and his family in New York. Strout's fiction showcases her ability to reveal through familiar details—the mother-of-the-groom's wedding dress, a grandmother's disapproving observations of how her grandchildren are raised—the seeds of tragedy. Themes of suicide, depression, bad communication, aging and love, run through these stories, none more vivid or touching than Incoming Tide, where Olive chats with former student Kevin Coulson as they watch waitress Patty Howe by the seashore, all three struggling with their own misgivings about life. Like this story, the collection is easy to read and impossible to forget. Its literary craft and emotional power will surprise readers unfamiliar with Strout. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2008 BY:
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
In love with Olive,
By
This review is from: Olive Kitteridge (Paperback)
I had no idea the book had won a Pulitzer when I put it on my wish list two years ago. I didn't read it until early 2011 and was delighted from the beginning. I found every story captivated me. Olive's presence in each is the glue that makes the novel whole. Often, she shows up surreptitiously, like Alfred Hitchcock in his films. Sometimes, she is the star. Always she makes a profound impact. Throughout, Olive is totally herself, imperfections on display. However, she's not just an irascible retired school teacher. Even though she's crotchety and difficult, she's also compassionate and wise. She's displayed in full colour. I don't always like her. But I care about her. Olive is real--complex. Then there's the stories themselves. The characters of Crosby, Maine are not extraordinary. Their stories aren't thrilling, Hollywood happy, or even complete, but they are exceedingly engaging. I read one story per day, drawing out the pleasure. I commend Ms. Strout for an inspired, subtle study of humanity. It matters not a whit to me where the stories were first published. The collection is suitably arranged and presented. This is not just good literature, it's good storytelling.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
OLIVE K, A FORCE TO CONTEND WITH!,
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This review is from: Olive Kitteridge (Paperback)
This is a collection of thirteen short stories, all taking place in Crosby, Maine with the main character, Olive Kitteridge. She is the link that makes these stories read like a novel.Olive Kitteridge is a retired math teacher in her 70s, married to Henry, a likeable retired pharmacist. Henry himself finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse. They have an adult son named Christopher, a podiatrist. Olive loves her son to the point of being overly protective and possessive. This makes Christopher absolutely miserable, so miserable that he is seeing a therapist. Olive is a grouchy, bossy and pessimistic woman, who has a hard time adapting to change. She wonders why bad things only happen to her. To some people in town, Olive is likeable, to others, she is controlling. People may say she doesn't care what people think about her, but the truth is she really does care. With time, she does eventually see more and more of herself, but it may be too late. The many characters that we meet is Kevin Coulson, a former pupil of Olive, now a med student, who has returned to his home town. He is sitting in his car, watching the incoming tide and contemplating suicide. There is also Julia, who was jilted on her wedding day. Angie, the pretty alcoholic piano player, who is now in her 50s, single and in love with a married man. We also meet a grieving widow and a mentally ill woman, who never leaves her home and on it goes. This book is beautifully written and straightforward. It explores the topics of loneliness, the lack of understanding between people, how behaviour can damage relationships and chase people away, aging and life and death. I enjoyed this book immensely, particularly the colourful character of Olive Kitteridge, who made this book a winner. This book gets my highest recommendation of FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS. Elizabeth Strout's book, Olive Kitteridge, is the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Olive: overbearing but insightful,
By
This review is from: Olive Kitteridge (Paperback)
Olive Kitteridge, a retired teacher, is not a likeable woman by average standards. She is strong, obstinate, resolute, set in her views. Married to an infinitely patient husband, they love each other in an almost contradictory way, unyielding and at the same time sort of shattered. They have a son who is oppressed by her solicitude and, when she used to teach, all of her pupils were scared of her.Yet Olive is capable of a gentleness that is surprising in a woman who is always-right. She can touch lives with a heart that proves to be extremely kind, and although she is always, always brutally honest with herself and others, the advancing old age is making her see things under a different perspective. This is a well written novel, moving at times, funny too in certain parts. It is mainly, in my opinion, an exploration of the human condition when getting older. I would not say this has become one of my favourite books (for no particular reason actually, it just did not "blow me away") but it is definitely a book that deserves a try. 3.5 Amazon stars.
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