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Olive Kitteridge: Fiction | 
| Author: Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $7.10
You Save: $17.90 (72%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 53139
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 140006208X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400062089
ASIN: 140006208X
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: CRISP CLEAN COPY!
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Product Description
In a voice more powerful and compassionate than ever before, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout binds together thirteen rich, luminous narratives into a book with the heft of a novel, through the presence of one larger-than-life, unforgettable character: Olive Kitteridge.
At the edge of the continent, Crosby, Maine, may seem like nowhere, but seen through this brilliant writer’s eyes, it’s in essence the whole world, and the lives that are lived there are filled with all of the grand human drama–desire, despair, jealousy, hope, and love.
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 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 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. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 A Bunch of Short Stories November 19, 2008
I kept thinking that the different stories were going to have more in common than the characters living in the same town and knew Olive or were her students. The book is filled with character portrayals that never intertwine with the main story line or are resolved individually. Some of the portrayals are brilliant, such as the pianist, but I wanted more of her. As literature, this is a wonderful book, and the writing is rich and evocative. As a story, it is pretty weak. The development of Olive's son and husband is well done, but the other characters never work into the book. It is just like a bunch of short stories - some of them unresolved. Also, this is about the third book I've read that puts September 11 into the story. Why do authors feel the need to work 9-11 into their writing? Something like half the population doesn't believe the offical 9-11 story and trying to work it into the novel gives the book a propaganda edge to it and ruins it's originality.
 A "Maine" Character not to be Forgotten! October 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Elizabeth Strout is a master of characterization. She has insight into the multilayered dynamics of what makes us human. Her portrayal of Olive Kitteridge is immensely intuitive. Olive is a sixty four year old retired math teacher who lives in coastal Maine. Through 13 short stories we come to know Olive from a variety of perspectives ...and in turn we also learn about the complicated relationships of the people in this insulated Maine town. Olive is a character who will long stay in the mind and heart. She encompasses the best and worst of what makes us human. Her relationship with her son and husband, Henry, is both the warmest and the coldest that one can imagine.It is this dichotomy that makes Olive so intriguing .There are times you will cheer for her, scold her, cry for her and ultimately root for her. She is many women, many mothers, many wives........the best and worst in all of them. In a masterfully written novel, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life an immensely complicated Olive who flits in and out of the lives of the people in this Maine community.......bringing with her doses of sarcasm, pushiness,narrowmindedness,as well as great sensitivity and compassion.These same qualities create major issues with those closest to Olive.The themes of loneliness,depression,growing old,being loved,and being needed,run through all 13 stories. There are two journeys of discovery in this novel. As the reader comes to discover Olive, she, too, begins to discover herself. She is forced to confront the darker sides of her nature as she faces the uncertainties of getting older. Strout is particularly sensitive to the issues and emotions of older characters.The last chapter is a tour de force and packs an immense emotional whallop! All in all this is a masterwork of character study.Kudos to Strout.I would love to know more about the younger Olive....her courtship to Henry and the early years that shaped the woman we come to know late in life. Another book, please.........Elizabeth!!!
The book is marvelous. A treat. I savored each line. October 14, 2008
This review was written by my good friend LEONTINA LERGIER-CAVIEZEL who is an accomplished writer in Switzerland:
The book is marvelous. A treat. I savored each line.
This is actually one of the reasons why it took so long to respond.
Some passages I just had to read over again right away.
The author has a good eye for details, she names and describes inadequacies, embarrassing situations, and intimate moments,
without compromising or judging her characters,
Even when Olive Kitteridge plays a judgmental role - from the very beginning the reader is aware that she is not a perfect person - her opinions, which she often expresses with short gestures or monosyllabically, qualify the various situations and put them into perspective.
The book conveys a deep felt humanity, the author gets very close to her characters, but still retains a certain distance, she never becomes inconsiderate of them. Brilliant!
To "embed" O. Kitteridge as a link within the various stories, to me that's
the clincher.
This almost turns the book into a novel, as the reader continues to read her (O.Kitteridge's) story as it were in passing, and becomes acquainted with her in various situations. Her sudden appearance in the various stories never feels artificial or inappropriate.
The finale is impressive and surprising, since one did not expect it of
O.K. - or perhaps it is?
As I said, the stories are very human and compassionate.
Thank you again, for giving me this wonderful book.
sentences October 12, 2008
"Her father turned around. `Pancakes?' he asked her.
Winnie didn't want pancakes. `Sure,' she said."
You will find these simple sentences, which take you to the heart of Winnie, at the end of the story "Ship in a Bottle," which, with twelve other linked stories creates the book, Olive Kitteridge, new this year by Elizabeth Strout. I had loved Amy and Isabelle, but Abide with Me, not as much. Olive Kitteridge is beautifully written. The second story, "Incoming Tide," will make you pause-in an attempt to hold onto the moment. OK takes off from there.
A Wonderful Audiobook September 12, 2008
OLIVE KITTERIDGE was an audio book I picked up on a whim, as I generally do not like short stories. I am so happy I listened to this one. It was such a treat.
In this book of short stories we are introduced to Olive Kitteridge, a retired math teacher in Maine. She's married to Henry, a sweet pharmacist and they have one son. Olive, is something else, quite a character to say the least. She is large, stubborn, highly opinionated, and enjoys speaking her mind. The thirteen stories concern her relationship with all the people in her life: husband, son, neighbors and her former students. Olive is such a complex and feeling individual, more that it may seem on the surface; she struggles with the changes in her life.
What I loved most about this book was that the characters were everyday people with issues you as a reader/listener could relate to. Olive was so memorable; at the end of the book I wanted more of Olive.
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