I read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout last month but have not had time to post my review. My cousin, Carol, recommended it because I absolutely adored "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." In a way Olive is similar but still very different. My final verdict on this book though, is uncertain. I did enjoy reading it and noted several phrases but didn't like the ending. The descriptive writing is outstanding, but a peculiar darkness seeps in at times. The link to this post indicates that this won a 2009 Pulitzer; a merited achievement. While the main character is Olive, a mathematics school teacher in Maine in her sixty's, it looks back over the area and features short tales about many characters. I kept waiting for Olive to appear prominently or heroically in each story but that was not the way it happened, sometimes she was annoying but each character reveals more about Olive's character and the area. the town, the times the choices people make. I am not sure whether I admired or pitied Olive. The book is a significant commentary about people, aging and life; perhaps on the more quiet morose side, but certainly from Olive's eyes with many memorable lines. I love the description of hope. Actually I hilighted many lines in the book
Pg. 35, "Does everybody know everything?......Oh, sure, what else is there to do?"
Pg. 60. "..that must be the way of life, to figure something out when it's too late..."
Pg. 122. "..when the years behind you are more than the years in front of you...."
Pg. 125 "..life picked up speed, then most of it was gone..."
Pg. 126 "..one of the things about getting older, so many moments weren't moments but gifts...."
Pg. 162 "..quietly, joyful....Most people did not know enough when they were living life, that
they were living it..."
Pg. 203 " hope...The inner churning that moves you forward...."
And in the beginning of the book, a comment on pg. 33 during Kevin's look back at his childhood home, "States and traits....Traits don't change, states of mind do." That stuck with me, confirming that often there is nothing to be done; things about a person that cannot ever change no matter what influences are pressed on the person. No manipulation or intrusion by someone else really changes traits. Distinguishing wisely and truthfull accepting traits is part of the wisdom we can gain on our life journey.
Olive Kitteridge is a book to ponder on, especially the ending comparison page 270 of two lives as Swiss cheese slices, "..pressed together, such holes they brought to this union--what pieces life took out of you."
I created this blog to record our RV trips and ;morphed into life in our retirement lane and telling my tales of life. Now my tales of life are on widowhood, my new and probably my last phase of l I have migrated to Facebook where I communicate daily, instantly with family/friends all over. I write here sometimes. COPYWRIGHT NOTICE: All photos, stories, writings on this blog are the property of myself, Patricia Morrison and may not be used, copied, without my permission most often freely given.
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Blogger insists on showing my posts and comments to others as my Books Blog, You can click on it to get here and vice versa....the Book blog is just that while this one, my first, original has miscellany
Link to BookBlog https://patsbooksreadandreviewed.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Olive Kitteridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olive Kitteridge. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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