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A review by thebobsphere
Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout
3.0
Having read, and enjoyed the Lucy Barton books and the first Olive Kitteridge one, I decided to buy all of Elizabeth Strout’s books. While those books were either interlinked short stories or novellas. Abide With Me is a novel in the traditional sense of the word and is her second work of fiction.
The plot consists of a widowed minister, Tyler Caskey, in a small town. Slowly due to his grief he starts to lose himself be it with his parishers, daughter or his helper, Tyler commits actions which make him a mockery of the town.
To be honest I found Abide With Me to be a bit inconsistent. While I liked the Rev’s loss of reality, I did find it to fall into repetition and I did get bored. On the plus side Elizabeth Strout knows how to capture small town folk and their worries and concerns. Also as a theology student, I did like the mentions of Bonhoeffer and Tillich (who I studied) and how their teaching reflect on Caskey’s life.
I see Abide with Me as Strout edging to something great – Olive Kitteridge is the book that made her name and there are elements of that in Abide by Me but not fully formed.
The plot consists of a widowed minister, Tyler Caskey, in a small town. Slowly due to his grief he starts to lose himself be it with his parishers, daughter or his helper, Tyler commits actions which make him a mockery of the town.
To be honest I found Abide With Me to be a bit inconsistent. While I liked the Rev’s loss of reality, I did find it to fall into repetition and I did get bored. On the plus side Elizabeth Strout knows how to capture small town folk and their worries and concerns. Also as a theology student, I did like the mentions of Bonhoeffer and Tillich (who I studied) and how their teaching reflect on Caskey’s life.
I see Abide with Me as Strout edging to something great – Olive Kitteridge is the book that made her name and there are elements of that in Abide by Me but not fully formed.