Olive Kitteridge

By: Elizabeth Strout

Random House Publishing Group

ISBN: 9781588366887

eBook Format:


  • Adobe
    Adobe Ebook Reader
  • Epub
    EPUB
  • Palm
    eReader (AKA Palm Reader)

Available Only in:  US

Front cover

Summary

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.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

  1. Goodreads Review, Review by bookczuk

    One of those books that is extremely well written, but that I didn't like. What a miserable person Olive is. I'm glad I don't know her. Characters in this novel, which is more a collection of stories or vignettes, are beautifully drawn, even the sour Olive. And the individual stories contained s...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78438625">more...</a> (Posted on 1/17/11)

  2. Goodreads Review, Review by Barbara

    Elizabeth Strout has penned a beautiful book, which has left me deeply pensive and tearful. I am not generally attracted to the short story, but this is not truly of that genre. It is a series of vignettes, many of which have Olive Kitteridge as the main character. Each story is about the inhabitant...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62965199">more...</a> (Posted on 5/5/10)

  3. Goodreads Review, Review by Quiltgranny

    Even though, I usually don't care for short stories, this book of &quot;not quite short stories&quot; is so well written and tightly connected on to the other, I'm not sure that it WAS a collection of stories. The main character, Olive, is not one that you want to get to know. As the stories conti...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43728473">more...</a> (Posted on 4/24/10)

  4. Goodreads Review, Review by Teresa

    We all have known an Olive -- or at least, we think we know her. Strout shows us the parts we don't know, what's behind the prickliness and the 'attitude.' Through fiction, we now have a better understanding of such a person.
    <br/>
    <br/>It's a rare writer who can embody a character so well. And t...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/96606383">more...</a> (Posted on 4/7/10)

  5. Goodreads Review, Review by jo

    don't know if it was me being meditative or moody or under the sobering influence of the recession, but i found this absolutely gorgeous book SO DAMN SAD. there are, let's see, at least two suicides but it might be three, three deaths but it might be more (one the death of a very young person), into...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/46358640">more...</a> (Posted on 3/24/09)

  6. Goodreads Review, Review by Tom

    I loved this book, set in coastal Maine. It is really a creative novel, composed of 13 short stories that share the common protagonist, Olive Kitteridge.<br/>Olivve is all of these: retired middle school teacher, sourpuss of a human, opinionated nasty, wounded human, wounding human, know-it-all, a...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43512731">more...</a> (Posted on 1/18/09)

  7. Goodreads Review, Review by Chris

    When I saw this as the #3 book of 2008 in &quot;Entertainment Weekly,&quot; the review intrigued me. So much so, I went to the library yesterday afternoon, took it out, and finished it this morning!
    <br/>
    <br/>There are 13 stories interwoven together in this small town in Maine, with the one charact...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41395889">more...</a> (Posted on 12/31/08)

  8. Goodreads Review, Review by Rilla

    Elizabeth Strout has come back strongly after the disappointing Abide with Me to fashion a novel of small town life from interlinked short stories. Put yourself in coastal Maine--smell the pine needles and the salty air. The sense of place and strong characters reminded me of the best of Lee Smith'...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21332467">more...</a> (Posted on 4/30/08)

  9. Goodreads Review, Review by marg

    Eh.
    <br/>Strout is such a good writer that when I heard she had a new one out I went to buy it without even knowing the title, let alone the plot. And while she is still a wonderful writer, she seems to have reduced herself (prematurely, I would hope) to the pre retirment plan of Maeve Binchy; the ...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20847646">more...</a> (Posted on 4/24/08)

  10. Goodreads Review, Review by Elaine

    Olive Kitteridge is subtitled a &quot;novel in stories&quot;. Reading this book is like looking through a family photo album. Each short story is a snapshot portraying life in small town Maine. Strout expertly constructs each snapshot for us with her beautiful prose, adding layer upon layer, and oft...<a target="_blank" href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10476635">more...</a> (Posted on 12/20/07)


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