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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
After I picked up Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton, I knew that my reading life wouldn't be the same. Somehow, though, I let her other books fall through the crack until I saw her 2017 publication on the shelves. While I was waiting on Anything is Possible to come in from the library, I decided to pick up with the rest of Strout's cannon.
Abide with Me was the first novel by Strout, other than My Name is Lucy Barton that I picked up. Her insight into the human character, which she displays masterfully in the short, fictional memoir of Lucy Barton is also evident in Abide with Me. Additionally, the story, which follows the pastor of a small church in New England during the time when people began to turn from the church to psychology, gave the women of the story full, wonderful inner lives full of struggle, individuality, and even sexuality during an era when women were meant to be conform and be chaste.
For such a short novel, Strout uses her characters to touch on the topics of the meaning of life and death, the possibility of an afterlife, class differences, the complexity of marriages and families, and how to love, among so many other strong topics even though the community in which the story takes place is incredibly conservative and restrained.
I simply can't get over Strout's masterful, for lack of another better word, ability to bring complex characters to life through their inner lives, rather than dialogue.
Abide with Me was the first novel by Strout, other than My Name is Lucy Barton that I picked up. Her insight into the human character, which she displays masterfully in the short, fictional memoir of Lucy Barton is also evident in Abide with Me. Additionally, the story, which follows the pastor of a small church in New England during the time when people began to turn from the church to psychology, gave the women of the story full, wonderful inner lives full of struggle, individuality, and even sexuality during an era when women were meant to be conform and be chaste.
For such a short novel, Strout uses her characters to touch on the topics of the meaning of life and death, the possibility of an afterlife, class differences, the complexity of marriages and families, and how to love, among so many other strong topics even though the community in which the story takes place is incredibly conservative and restrained.
I simply can't get over Strout's masterful, for lack of another better word, ability to bring complex characters to life through their inner lives, rather than dialogue.
Book 79
I listened to Abide with Me about a minister in a small town where rumors go awry. It reminded me somewhat of Garrison Keillor's work (the one I read ;)). Listening detracted from my ability to enjoy Strout's writing and dry humor.
I listened to Abide with Me about a minister in a small town where rumors go awry. It reminded me somewhat of Garrison Keillor's work (the one I read ;)). Listening detracted from my ability to enjoy Strout's writing and dry humor.
I enjoyed this book, or maybe the better word is I appreciated it, but I didn't care as much about the characters as I did with her other two books. As in her other books, the characters are flawed and there is much that is bleak and unhappy about their ordinary lives, but some of the warm empathy I felt towards the characters in Amy and Isabelle and Olive Kittredge is missing. The ending mends much of this and it becomes a lovely study of grief and the beginning of healing, so it's probably more like 3 1/2 stars, but still not as luminous as her first two books.
So, I've had this book checked out for over 5 weeks. The bookmark is between pages 70 and 71, where it has sat for at least 10 days.
I'm giving up. The story is just not catching me--about a minister in a very small town in New England in the 1950s and his daughter who hasn't spoken since her mom...what?...left?...died? It's all very mysterious. The atmosphere and writing is really well done, but the story itself is just not grabbing me.
Too bad, really, because I've been singing "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide" the whole time the book has been lying around the house. Maybe that's why I'm giving up; I'm tired of the same song running through my head!
I'm giving up. The story is just not catching me--about a minister in a very small town in New England in the 1950s and his daughter who hasn't spoken since her mom...what?...left?...died? It's all very mysterious. The atmosphere and writing is really well done, but the story itself is just not grabbing me.
Too bad, really, because I've been singing "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide" the whole time the book has been lying around the house. Maybe that's why I'm giving up; I'm tired of the same song running through my head!
Remarkable. That word ends this novel, and it is a perfectly apt description of the book itself. I am a Christian, and though this book is not a "Christian novel" by any means, it deals with sincere matters of faith with more insight and skill than any other secular works, except perhaps those by Marilynne Robinson. How I wish some of my fellow believers would tackle this novel, rather than the shallow Christian bookstore stuff. I previously read and loved Amy and Isabelle, The Burgess Boys, and Olive Kitteridge by the same author, and Abide With Me Holds up just as well. Strout has a marvelous way of opening up the interior lives of her characters. I highly recommend this book.
If you like Marilynne Robinson, you'll like Elizabeth Strout. She's a bit earthier than Robinson. This is a great book with characters I could really relate to. A truthful book. Read it!
“Anyone who has ever grieved knows that grieving carries with it a tremendous wear and tear to the body itself, never mind the soul.”
“No one, to my knowledge, has figured out the secret to love. We love imperfectly... I think the ability to receive love is as important as the ability to give it.”
“No one, to my knowledge, has figured out the secret to love. We love imperfectly... I think the ability to receive love is as important as the ability to give it.”
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated