Reviews

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

saraoona's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

angelica_jardinerica's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad

5.0

febender's review against another edition

5.0

“The truth is that Olive did not understand why age had brought with it a kind of hard-heartedness toward her husband. But it was something she had seemed unable to help, as though the stone wall that had rambled along between them during the course of their long marriage- a stone wall that separated them but also provided unexpected dips of moss-covered warm spots where sunshine would flicker between them in a sudden laugh of understanding- had become tall and unyielding, and not providing flowers in its crannies but some ice storm frozen along it instead. In other words, something had come between them that seemed insurmountable.”

“And it came to him that it should never be taken lightly, the essential loneliness of people, that the choices they made to keep themselves from that gaping darkness were choices that required respect”

debbie261158's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

jennyluwho's review against another edition

3.0

Olive Kitteridge is the original Coca-Cola, and reading Olive, Again is like cracking a Diet Coke. I still found both equally refreshing, fulfilling and so very honest about the messiness of each and every life that is inevitably barreling toward death.

Also, I’ve read few fiction authors who’ve attempted to give voice to the over-60 crowd and I’m grateful Elizabeth Strout has chosen to showcase that age group. I come away from my reading with a broader understanding of my parents’ generation.

nina_reads_books's review against another edition

4.0

How do I love thee Elizabeth Strout? Let me count the ways.

This is Strout at her brilliant best. She writes people and their ordinary lives in such a perfectly human way. Moving, melancholy and sad. A focus on death, ageing, the passage of time and the pain of being human. I didn't love Olive Kitteridge but I really enjoyed this sequel as I just adore the way Kimberley Farr narrates Strout's novels. Olive totally won me over by the end!

Elizabeth Strout has got to be one of my favourite authors. I've just finally got my hands on her first book The Burgess Boys which I can't wait to read. Then i will have read all of her books that is until her new novel is out later this year. I believe that it will brings together many of the characters from her earlier novels. I'm so keen! These books are my jam.

Highly recommend listening to Strout on audio especially if Kimberly Farr is the narrator. I've alternated between both physical reading and audio across her books and I love both options.

threegoodrats's review against another edition

4.0

My review is here: http://blog.threegoodrats.com/2020/02/olive-again.html

amywebb's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bhnmt61's review against another edition

4.0

We all have our reading peeves and lord knows I’ve told you about a bunch of mine. One of my most visceral is that I will always be creeped out by a story about sexual attraction between an older man and a young woman—because of my own history, which is certainly not the fault of the author.

There is a story about that exact situation early on in this book, and it took me several tries to get through it. Then that dynamic showed up again in another story, not as blatant but as subtext, and I came very close to quitting, because I don’t think reading should make you nauseated. But I just quit another book and I didn’t really want to DNF two in a row, so I pressed on. And then the stories began to be about Olive and her friendships with other women, and those were excellent, so excellent that I really loved the second half of the book. And there are her ruminations about her son and her two husbands and death— it’s beautifully done. I really love Olive. There aren’t enough curmudgeonly women with hearts of gold in American lit.

mary_elizabeth's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5