She has taken the novel-in-stories and used it to introduce us to the many diverse and far-flung characters upon whose disparate lives her title character has imparted some bit of change, some bit of love, or wisdom, or influence, and in doing so Strout has shown that we are infinitely complex creatures who, no matter how long or short our duration on this plane, will leave change in our wake. And through it all, Olive Kitteridge’s impact on those characters and their lives comes peeking through again and again until I begin to realize, 'Wow, this woman, for whom I didn’t care so much, has had a profoundly positive impact on her world'.Īnd this, I think, brings us to the real genius behind Elizabeth Strout’s work here. Throughout Olive Kitteridge she introduces us to characters whose situations resonate and whose responses to those situations are as believable as they are often maddening.

Strout's character development is a subject worthy of a college course. And here is the beauty of Strout’s use of this form she lead me to discover that the assumptions I’d made about a complex human being (as each inherently is) were necessarily as narrow as the context of their formulation. Then, through the use of deeply honest and insightful chapters about nearly unrelated characters, she paints a picture of Olive Kitteridge that is infinitely richer than I'd originally assumed. She introduces us to a title character who appears to be considerably less than worthy as the subject of an entire novel. Strout’s use of the novel-in-stories form, however, is pitch-perfect for the fundamental story she tells. To make matters worse here, the first chapter in Olive Kitteridge introduces us to the title character and she’s just not a very nice person, at least where her treatment of her husband is concerned. Sure, I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad but that was the exception proving the rule for me. I’m not a fan, by nature, of the novel-in-stories format. I came to this book reluctantly and I’m not sure why - anything with a Pulitzer usually draws me like a bear to honey - but perhaps it was due to the structure. The subtlety of its beauty is indeed the mark of a great novel. Appreciating the reasons why, however, required from me considerable introspection. So let me start by just saying this book was awesome. I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and I’ve struggled since to find the reasons why Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge struck me so deeply.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout