Monday
Mar082010
Olive Kitteridge - Book Review
Monday, March 8, 2010 at 4:47PM 
In Olive Kitteridge, Strout presents thirteen vignettes so subtlety woven that a novel as complex, rich and multi-hued as any Kilim carpet emerges. Olive is a wife, mother, one time teacher, neighbor and townsperson. No one who has ever known Olive can remain ambivalent in their feelings about her, including her husband and son. Olive is a big woman, in size, stature and in personality. She is complex. bold and brash, often tactless. Olive is a dichotomy, smart and shrewd while also oblivious to others’ needs and perceptions of their relationships with her.
Olive’s husband Henry is the perfect foil for her bombastic mélange of emotions. Henry is calm, kind, patient and beloved by townspeople who wonder how in the world he ended up married to Olive. On the surface Henry adores Olive and suffers her abrasiveness stoically. Henry wrestles with demons of his own that are quietly presented as the novel progresses. If the reader snoozes, the reader loses pieces of the puzzle that is Henry.
Kitteridge's son, Christopher, is the sun around which the Kitteridge planets orbit. He is at once coddled and browbeaten, smothered with love and emotionally neglected. His choices in life as he matures reflect the emotional chaos that eddied about his childhood.
In various vignettes we meet former students of Olive’s, townspeople who are quirky, flawed and oh so very human. The human condition in its many guises is elegantly offered for our consumption, reflection and understanding. As we follow Olive and other residents of Cosby, Maine from the early years of her marriage to visits with her stroke ridden nursing home domiciled husband, stories of suicide, murder, anorexia, adultery, lost loves, found loves, hope and despair and most importantly, peace and acceptance, Strout holds a mirror to our eyes that reflects all that real life has to offer in human relationships.
The beauty of Strout’s exceptional writing and character development is that Olive and all of the novel’s characters are multi-faceted, just like real live human beings. We meet them warts and all. Olive reflected things I don’t like to admit I have seen in myself. She also reflected strengths I hope I have and the courage we all need in order to navigate the journey we call Life. There but for the grace and forgiveness and love of our fellow humans goes each of us. I think this is an expertly crafted book.
Olive’s husband Henry is the perfect foil for her bombastic mélange of emotions. Henry is calm, kind, patient and beloved by townspeople who wonder how in the world he ended up married to Olive. On the surface Henry adores Olive and suffers her abrasiveness stoically. Henry wrestles with demons of his own that are quietly presented as the novel progresses. If the reader snoozes, the reader loses pieces of the puzzle that is Henry.
Kitteridge's son, Christopher, is the sun around which the Kitteridge planets orbit. He is at once coddled and browbeaten, smothered with love and emotionally neglected. His choices in life as he matures reflect the emotional chaos that eddied about his childhood.
In various vignettes we meet former students of Olive’s, townspeople who are quirky, flawed and oh so very human. The human condition in its many guises is elegantly offered for our consumption, reflection and understanding. As we follow Olive and other residents of Cosby, Maine from the early years of her marriage to visits with her stroke ridden nursing home domiciled husband, stories of suicide, murder, anorexia, adultery, lost loves, found loves, hope and despair and most importantly, peace and acceptance, Strout holds a mirror to our eyes that reflects all that real life has to offer in human relationships.
The beauty of Strout’s exceptional writing and character development is that Olive and all of the novel’s characters are multi-faceted, just like real live human beings. We meet them warts and all. Olive reflected things I don’t like to admit I have seen in myself. She also reflected strengths I hope I have and the courage we all need in order to navigate the journey we call Life. There but for the grace and forgiveness and love of our fellow humans goes each of us. I think this is an expertly crafted book.
Reader Comments (2)
This was one of my all-time favorite books - read it twice. Olive is a fabulous character. Claudia
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