Olive Kitteridge

Fiction

By: Elizabeth Strout

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • The beloved first novel featuring Olive Kitteridge, from the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Oprah’s Book Club pick Olive, Again

“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge.... You’ll never forget her.” (USA Today)

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post Book World • USA Today • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • Seattle Post-Intelligencer • People • Entertainment Weekly • The Christian Science Monitor • The Plain Dealer • The Atlantic • Rocky Mountain News • Library Journal

At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life - sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition - its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.

The inspiration for the Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, and Bill Murray

©2008 Elizabeth Strout (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Olive Kitteridge still lingers in memory like a treasured photograph.” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

“Rarely does a story collection pack such a gutsy emotional punch.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force.... [She] makes us experience not only the terrors of change but also the terrifying hope that change can bring: she plunges us into these churning waters and we come up gasping for air.” (The New Yorker)

Olive is a complex soul

I often have difficulty with books that don’t have a clear, positive protagonist. Olive is painfully oblivious to her own cold rudeness but occasionally rises to great compassion. A frustrating gal to be our protagonist.
I recommend the book to those with patience for complex souls who are not always easy to be around.

Interesting, wistful book. Multiple short stories,

The book is interesting but also annoying at times. It is unclear when you start reading that it's multiple short stories. I found the ones where Olive is the main protagonist to be most interesting - the rest, not so much. The stories are mostly sad, brutal in their honesty. Olive is an imperfect, at times endearing, at times infuriating human being. I found it interesting to hear the perspectives on aging- this is something not talked about much at large. The descriptions are detailed and really beautiful at times and really tedious at times but the effect is to create a richly detailed world. Yes, the themes can be hard and depressing, but they are all things that are common to the human experience - complex parent/child relationships, marriage issues, infidelity, divorce, and loneliness.

Never came together

So many different story characters. With each chapter I felt as if I was starting a new book. I was shocked when the narrator said “ this concludes..”. I was like “what??” The book totally baffled me how it was written. I like a book with a plot that builds and everything is tied together at the end.

Wow.

Just wow. I just finished listening to this and I don’t know whether I should laugh, cry, jump for joy or be very mad that the book ended! It’s a very good thing there is already a follow up book to this! I can’t wait to start Olive, Again! This book is not a light, beach read type of book. It’s not super heavy and depressing either. It has a bit of everything in it - just like life. Heartbreak, joy, concern, angst, laughter and awe. Okay, I’m done. I have to hurry and start the next book.

extremely well written...timeless story

loved this...I've read it three times and it never gets old. Eccentric Olive is at the center of a story that explores love, aging, the random injustice of illness and our pedestrian but determined efforts to remain connected to the world and people around us.

Wonderful story, beautifully narrated

What a wonderful book. The interwoven stories blended beautifly and Kimberly Farr is a perfect narrator.

Olive

The narrator was superb in bringing Olive's character to life. I looked forward to listening as every self imposed pain she inflicted on herself unraveled with each chapter. Could she ever become self aware of the consequences of her words and actions?

Best Narrator Performance, so much in this story

I was so moved by this book, and the imperfect Olive. This book is heartwarming, inspiring, life affirming in ways so quiet you don’t realize it’s captured you until you’re far away. Wonderful!

Great read!

Shades of Raymond Carver. What a beautiful, universal character. Whether we like it or not, were all a little Olive.

Overall good

The narrator should have used a Maine accent. That was a lost opportunity for sure. She was very skilled overall though.