Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Olive Kitteridge

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TL;DR REVIEW:

I’m late to the game with both Elizabeth Strout and Olive Kitteridge, but I’m so glad I finally arrived! What beautifully rendered characters. I loved it.

For you if: You like linked short stories.

FULL REVIEW:

“Had they known at these moments to be quietly joyful? Most likely not. People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.”

I’d been meaning to read Olive Kitteridgefor a good long time, because I love linked short stories and of course it’s a modern classic. Finally, my friend Bernie forced it to the top of my TBR, and I’m so glad! This book is full of really beautifully rendered characters, tender moments, hope and heartbreak.

The stories could almost be chapters, as they move more or less linearly in time and give us a progressive amount of information about Olive (a strong-willed, brusque, no-holds-barred kind of woman) and her life. But they’re not quite chapters, because they hop and bop between main characters; they’re not all about Olive herself.

Elizabeth Strout’s magic is in creating her characters very quickly and efficiently; the dialogue, details — everything — come together into sharp, lifelike relief and BOOM there goes your poor little heart, fallen for another one of them. Olive isn’t really even a nice person, and you still love her, quickly and fiercely.

Strangely as I read, this book reminded me of The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. They don’t have a ton in common at first glance — linked stories vs a 500-page family saga — but they both look closely (and heartbreakingly) at what happens to marriage in old age and navigating tricky adult child/parent relationships. (Also the patriarch is named Henry in both books, lol.)

Content Warnings

dball1203's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Although this is a set of short stories, you really feel the connection between the stories

Content Warnings

leemused's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is a series of stories about the life of Olive Kitteridge and the people in her community. Main themes include loss and navigating complicated relationships/people. Although, I wouldn't stay the characters are loveable, an empathetic reader cannot help but feel the sadness of these characters lives. The story is centered on average people and in that vain the plot and the character development are some what predictable. The writing was very enjoyable and the "mundane" plot provides a foundational element for the normalcy of the characters in the book.

Content Warnings

hankhank's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is the story of a woman's life told in lots of different mini stories, each from a different person's perspective. The mini stories are not all equally as strong as each other, but the parts told from Olive's perspective are blindingly good.

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