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krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/review-1360-abide-with-me/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/review-1360-abide-with-me/
margaretmechinus's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very intimate book. Stroud lets us hear the private thoughts of this widowed minister, his family, and the people of this small New England town. Stroud’s excellent writing and character development lets you feel sympathy even for those you did not want to like.
It has been one year since his young wife died and Tyler Caskey is struggling. He quotes often from his hero, Bonhoeffer, who died a martyr for resisting Hitler and the Nazis during WWII. But what he will learn is that the very act of living with all of life’s sorrows, disappointments and demons can also be heroic.
It has been one year since his young wife died and Tyler Caskey is struggling. He quotes often from his hero, Bonhoeffer, who died a martyr for resisting Hitler and the Nazis during WWII. But what he will learn is that the very act of living with all of life’s sorrows, disappointments and demons can also be heroic.
jbarr5's review against another edition
4.0
Abide Wtih Me by Elizabeth Strout
Tyler Castkee is a minister and has lost his wife. He has a 5 year old girl who he doesn't communicate much with. He has many other community problems besides his own:
How can love best be served, a married woman approached him and is beatten by her husband, his mother always on his case, school teacher threatening to toss the girl out of school,
The story also follows Charlie and his wife Doris and their kids. He's been to the city and had a sexual fling and it is on his mind a lot, when he should be thinking of other things..
The book also talks of Tyler's wife before she had passed away. He wants both of his girls to live with him, not just Katherine.
Murders and missing things add to many mysteries...
Tyler Castkee is a minister and has lost his wife. He has a 5 year old girl who he doesn't communicate much with. He has many other community problems besides his own:
How can love best be served, a married woman approached him and is beatten by her husband, his mother always on his case, school teacher threatening to toss the girl out of school,
The story also follows Charlie and his wife Doris and their kids. He's been to the city and had a sexual fling and it is on his mind a lot, when he should be thinking of other things..
The book also talks of Tyler's wife before she had passed away. He wants both of his girls to live with him, not just Katherine.
Murders and missing things add to many mysteries...
tizianav's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
aaanieta's review against another edition
4.0
It's one of those small, quiet books that resonates long after you finish reading it.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
I seem to really enjoy books about family's having to deal with hardship such as loss of a loved one, just as in this book. So it shouldn't have surprised me that I enjoyed the book a lot.
emilyisreading2024's review against another edition
4.0
This is a quiet little introspective book that I really enjoyed reading. If you are looking for a lot of drama or action, this isn't for you. But I think it is a good look at human nature and it is well written.
leevoncarbon's review against another edition
4.0
We are quick to form opinions of people when we first meet, but initial impressions are usually incomplete and often inaccurate. How ready are we to adjust those views? To put it another way: How might we think differently about what another person just said or did if we knew more of their story? I loved the way this novel compels the reader to think deeply about such questions. Then there is this question: if we are deeply impacted and shaped by past experiences is real positive change possible in the present? This novel offers a definite yes and points to the impact of faith in God, steadfast love of family and neighbor, confession of sin, and the graciousness of our community.
nina_reads_books's review against another edition
3.0
I have been slowly making my way through Elizabeth Strout’s back catalogue and I am such a fan of her writing. She is so keenly aware of the humanness of her characters, her writing is quiet and contemplative and she writes the New England area of America so well.
Having said that I don’t always love the actual stories she writes and this was the case with Abide With Me. Tyler Caskey is a minister in rural Maine in the 1950’s. We meet him in the aftermath of his wife’s death and as the story goes on his grief begins to become insurmountable. His daughter Katherine all but gives up speaking and is struggling at school, his housekeeper is accused of a crime and disappears and the entire congregation begin to gossip about Tyler.
In this particular case I found the heavy focus on religion a bit much. The judgment of many of the female characters was also so uncomfortable to witness – though this may indeed be Strout’s intention! Nevertheless I still enjoyed the writing as always. This is a book about the weight of grief and the power people have to impact others in both wonderful and terrible ways. The way that this is expressed through the interactions between characters is very clever. Abide With Me was another one of Strout’s books that I listened to on audio and I really enjoy consuming them this way.
Having said that I don’t always love the actual stories she writes and this was the case with Abide With Me. Tyler Caskey is a minister in rural Maine in the 1950’s. We meet him in the aftermath of his wife’s death and as the story goes on his grief begins to become insurmountable. His daughter Katherine all but gives up speaking and is struggling at school, his housekeeper is accused of a crime and disappears and the entire congregation begin to gossip about Tyler.
In this particular case I found the heavy focus on religion a bit much. The judgment of many of the female characters was also so uncomfortable to witness – though this may indeed be Strout’s intention! Nevertheless I still enjoyed the writing as always. This is a book about the weight of grief and the power people have to impact others in both wonderful and terrible ways. The way that this is expressed through the interactions between characters is very clever. Abide With Me was another one of Strout’s books that I listened to on audio and I really enjoy consuming them this way.