Olive, Again

as olive got older throughout the book (& series), it got more difficult for me to relate to her. i still enjoyed the writing style, atmosphere and humanity that was brought to these short stories, but overall it was just good... nothing to write home about. maybe i will enjoy it more as a re-read when i'm older!

As an aging human, this made me sad. But it's a fine book. When I read Olive Kitteridge when that book came out I didn't like Olive much, but that was beside the point, or maybe it was the point but it didn't matter. The stories made me think and they were beautifully written. The stories in this volume are also beautifully written and thought-provoking, but somehow I'm a lot fonder of Olive than I used to be. She tells it like it is and she's earned the right to do that. Olive also hates Trump, which is going to lose Strout some fans, but maybe gain some others.

I am not a fan of sequels, but I loved Olive Kitteridge book one and I had to take a look at book two. And, oh Olive. I'm not letting out any secrets when I tell you that Olive forges on into deep old age, forthright, brusque, oblivious, stomping through the underbrush, crushing anything she sees that appears to be in need of trimming, and continually becoming bewildered by her reception on this path of destruction by others.

Olive is a real person, completely human, deeply flawed, yet also deeply loving, and she lives among other real people, equally human, deeply flawed, and also deeply loving. On she goes, stomp, stomp, stomp, crush, crush, crush, everything she sees. And it always comes back to her, stomping on her in return, crushing her in return.

A story of the pain of life. A story of life's occasional redemptions.

Olive is one of my favorite characters because she is so prickly, and disruptive, and honest. I loved spending more time in Crosby, Maine. Elizabeth Strout is a genius at writing about ordinary people and situations, and making them unforgettable. She allows readers to see and understand the struggles underpinning the lives of everyone around us, and gives a voice and a purpose to those who might slip by unseen. This book is full of melancholy, but also glimpses of hope. One of the best of the year, for me.