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Comments (86)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 86 items
Dec 23, 2023sklein rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I thought it made me think about how one person can influence people in different ways both positive and negative. I also loved the way so much came through about the characters in the town through what were often fairly nuanced…
Oct 08, 2023lyndasclater rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Karen's choice for Book Club Oct/23. Enjoyed this book, some really unhappy, bad people in this book. Not very uplifting.
Aug 29, 2023barneydog rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I loved Olive..such a memorable character..reminds me somewhat of Margaret Laurence's Hagar..great writing and I found myself rooting for Olive..a flawed but a very likeable character..
Aug 26, 2023dgiard rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Some stories are best told indirectly. Elizabeth Strout's 2008 novel "Olive Kitteridge" tells the story of the title character primarily through the eyes of others. The book consists of thirteen short stories, most of which take place in…
Aug 09, 2023jakaleta rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, after great Amy and Isabelle.
Aug 05, 2023goodepk1 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this depressing story. The writing is very good. I felt very sorry for the characters lives.
Jun 19, 2023gardeniawonder rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I agree this is a quirky little book of short stories tied to Olive K. The story seems to be about the aging process - sometimes a bit depressing although I liked the writing style
Mar 19, 2023NYSandy23 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
What a quirky little book. One I never would have picked up except it was the chosen one for my book club. The book takes you to a small town in Maine and you live through its inhabitants and Olive’s view of the them and the world.…
Jan 23, 2023SunsetBranch rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Well written: telling details and perceptive descriptions of the lives of "ordinary" people in a small, coastal town, but overall a pretty grim collection of failed marriages, ungrateful children and lonely people living out their…
Jan 09, 2023warburk rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A novel told in short stories. The title character is a married retired schoolteacher, mother of one son. We learn her story through incidents involving her family and neighbours. I really enjoyed the reading experience
Dec 29, 2022beaver1948 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Loved Olive - a spunky, funny, outspoken unique woman - a character worth following - nothing cookie-cutter or sappy, predictable Harlequin romance about this book. Thank goodness! Will also read the follow-up OLIVE AGAIN.
Nov 28, 2022ekhdong rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Well written but ultimately boring....
Jul 03, 2022
Novel has movie made also
May 28, 2022
Books by women that every man should read
Feb 21, 2022katjespin rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Well, I am not going to go against the grain and give this less than the accolades everyone else has heaped on it. It is an exceptionally well-written, propulsive book, and the structured style (different perspectives in each chapter) is…
Jun 26, 2021
Fun characters and story. Slightly humorous
Jun 26, 2021
I was surprised by this book, and surprised that I was eager to go onto to read OLIVE AGAIN . Unlike so many North American novels, this one is not as plot based as most, which makes it all the more interesting. The reader gets past the…
Jun 25, 2021ellenorndorf rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I picked this book up while on vacation in Colorado. It tells the story of Olive in short story format through the people in her small Maine town and by her experiences. It explores how deeply flawed we as people are.
Apr 24, 2021Kidbean rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This was a good read that kept my attention all the way to the end, which surprised me because nothing really “happened “. It was daily life and I recognized so many people as myself. I also liked how the dialogue was presented because…
Oct 15, 2020LPL_SarahM rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I loved Olive Kitteridge and her complicated life. The way the stories were interwoven to show others' perspectives on her personality was a really fun way to get to know her. She is not perfect which made her all the more realistic and…
Jul 29, 2020Indoorcamping rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I read this one the minute it won the Pulitzer but back then I wasn’t at all into fiction. I think my brain was hungry for facts and thought that was the only way to learn great cocktail conversation. I don’t remember enjoying it half as…
Mar 31, 2020amml rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The strength of the book was the amazing descriptions of feelings.
Jan 28, 2020joeydog5 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Like the other comments below, I appreciated the fine writing and was moved by several of the stories but could only get through a portion of the book. If I owned the book I would read one or two stories and then put it aside for a time so…
saritaschwedes
Jan 20, 2020saritaschwedes rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
Am I the only person who really DISLIKES this book? Every character is horrible in one way or another. I read half of the book then decided i couldn’t go any further.
Jan 08, 2020Lori_Anne_Thornburg rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I began reading this book with the preconceived notion that I was going to like it. I found it slow going and very depressing. Maybe I felt this way because I am middle aged. Maybe I felt this way because my middle aged boyfriend died…