A Book Club Dropout’s Review: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
James DuganOlive Kitteridge is a character you will not forget. She is worth the time you spend in Crosby, Maine while reading the connected short stories by Elizabeth Strout. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the book celebrates an elegant style of descriptive prose that makes it an enjoyable and fast experience. The strength and weakness of the book is the portrayal of the diverse characters and ages that are painted across the novel’s landscape. There is someone here you will connect with and that is a worthy accomplishment with the book being just over 250 pages. And yet somehow while reading, I felt that Olive could not make it an enjoyable experience because a gray day loomed over its pages as the author refused anyone to be happy. And perhaps, no doubt, that was the point.
The writing is worth the trip to the book store. Strout has the ability to write like a Victorian author. Her prose is clear and dialogue unforced. She reveals the internal language of the character that makes reading a unique experience and yet she is capable of hard hitting dialogue. Her descriptions of Maine’s seasons and sea coast are rich in detail and important to the mood of the story. She sometimes goes a little too far with the metaphors that make the book seem amateurish, but the reader will not find too many qualms in the relative ease of the engaging prose.
The novel is made up of stories that are somehow connected to Olive Kitteridge’s life. They focus on the relationships that exist in Crosby, Maine as Strout captures vignettes of people in different stages of their lives. Olive is a unique and worthy character. You will enjoy her spirit as she reveals her town truthfully and without sentimentality. She comes across crass and judgemental, like her suggested profession of teacher has made her, but she is human and kind. If the book had more characters as well rounded and complex, loving and judgmental as Olive, than this would become a classic. When the writer is with Olive, she is at her best. The best and memorable times in the book is the beginning and ending. This is when Olive is in full focus and her character overwhelms us with empathy and understanding. To be able to write a character like this and only use her for half or 1/3 of the book was a disservice to the reader and a loss for the novel in whole.
There are other characters in the book; I enjoyed Henry, Olive’s husband, for his kindness and latent desires that he would not follow because of his loyalty. He is the most honest and good person in the town that needs him. We hear from him in the beginning, then Strout takes him away for good; a habit by the writer I became quite frustrated with. Angela the piano player should have a whole book devoted to her. Again and again I came against Strout for her unique ability to cast a dynamic character and yet when I pulled up my fished rod thinking this was going to be someone I could really devour for a meal, I was left with just hunger for more. This is where the structure of the book fails. The short stories all have the theme of wanting more, needing that hunger for relationships and love, excitement and fulfillment, but just as the characters will find, life is no place to be happy. The glimpses of happiness soon fade into the winter of Maine and personal tragedy and no one is unscathed by Strout’s devotion to this theme.
The beauty of the novel, over short stories and poetry, is learning to understand and become empathetic with few characters that have the ability to transform our ideas and lives with their creation. Strout undermines this experience by her devotion to the lack of fulfillment in relationships because all humans are weak, judgmental, and incapable of lasting happiness. Her strongest ability is to create characters and yet she never allows them to take full bloom. Strout is as smothering to her characters and the plot as Olive is towards her son and her flowers. Her theme is poignantly felt and expressed, but the cost of sacrificing the characters and plot leaves the reader hungering for more, much more.
In the end, this is a book one can learn from and enjoy. Relationships are hard. Age makes them more difficult. The person who attempts to control will one day realize how little control they actually have on their own happiness, especially if we rely on others. People are weak and will let you down. And yet it is the individual’s determination to continue to live and struggle that is most remarkable. Relationships are the journey of the individual. Strout’s Olive Kitteridge offers us many glimpses of this theme and ponderous thoughts on age and desire. If we leave the book unfulfilled, that is just what her style, her characters, and her theme meant for you.
Reader Comments (1)
You wrote a remarkable review. It is so interesting that everyone that I have talked to feels the same way about the book that you do. I loved the structure of the novel. I did not feel unfulfilled by the glimpses into other people's lives - I was fascinated by them. I loved each story for itself and what it revealed about Olive. There were only a few times that I was disappointed by not knowing more. Overall, I think Strout achieved a strong balance in revealing what the reader needed to know.
I think the themes of the novel had a more dominant impression on me than the characters. I think that Strout explored the complexity of relationships and marriage through the characters, and that was of primary importance, not character development. Although the book seemed to portray a dismal outlook on life in Crosby, Maine, it didn't really. It was honest and beautiful as well as dark. There were moments of beauty and kindness and comfort - just enough. I think that it is good to be left a bit hungry.
After I read the book, I was haunted by what Strout did write, rather than by what she didn't write. That is all what we really get anyway - glimpses into people's lives. We form our opinions and make our judgements based on the little information that we know about them. Sometimes you learn more, but never really enough. I love that I am still thinking about the lounge singer and the man who brings donuts to his lady friend. I know these people and yet I don't.
Thanks for the review. I wish that you were not a book club drop-out!
P.S. I am a sucker for amateurish metaphors.