Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Blog written by Melissa

Olive Kitteridge is a Pulitzer winning  “novel in stories”, set in a town on the coast of Maine, USA. The interlinked short stories form a cohesive whole with a through line focus on the ‘unapologetic’ and ‘controlling’ protagonist called Olive, and her relationships with family and community.

What’s particularly interesting about this middleclass maths teaching character, is that, in the words of the New York Times review by Louisa Thomas, “She isn’t a nice person”.  Much of our book club discussion focused on our varying degrees of sympathy or distaste for this character. All felt she was a woman who was ‘stuck’. Some felt she should work to become ‘unstuck’ and therefore a happier and more loving person. Others perceived a sadness that this seemed impossible for her.

Discussion ensued about people we may have experienced in our lives who showed a similar inability to express love, especially within their family context and the impact of this on their own wellbeing and those around them.

I think all agreed the book is written in a beautiful, sensitive, detailed and highly naturalistic style, with a sophisticated, original and pleasing structure. One or two members were unhappy with the last story. Some members found the content and atmosphere of the book ‘too bleak’, due to a focus on tragic and emotionally painful situations and the requirement to journey within Olive’s uncomfortable interior landscape. Others found the focus empathic, realistic, intriguing and moving. Some found aspects comical and endearing. Most enjoyed reading the book.

An interesting literary technique is used in this book and illustrated well in the NYT review:
“Just as Olive’s self-awareness and empathy develop over the course of the book, so does the reader’s. Strout’s prose is quickened by her use of the “free indirect” style, in which a third-person narrator adopts the words or tone a particular character might use. “The tulips bloomed in ridiculous splendor” is a narrative statement — but “ridiculous” is very much Olive Kitteridge’s word. Similarly, in a description of a pianist, the clucking of communal disapproval creeps in: “Her face revealed itself too clearly in a kind of simple expectancy no longer appropriate for a woman of her age.” These moments animate Strout’s prose in the same way that a forceful person alters the atmosphere in a room.”

One member shared her enjoyment of the adapted tele-series, saying the casting of Frances McDormand in the lead was inspired and that all the characters perfectly reflected the provincial location. She discussed how they interpreted Olive’s husband in the film version as being somewhat questionable in relation to his pharmaceutical assistant. Readers disagreed with this choice, perceiving Henry to be an endearing man, yearning for love, warmth, someone to care for - but in a non-lecherous manner. One member imagined Kathy Bates in the lead role of Olive which others agreed would also have suited well.

The main focus of discussion was on Olive’s complex character and the degree to which she was able to see herself as well as her capacity, or challenge to change.  As the NYT review states, ‘The pleasure in reading “Olive Kitteridge” comes from an intense identification with complicated, not always admirable, characters… There’s simply the honest recognition that we need to try to understand people, even if we can’t stand them.”

Some themes that were discussed included:
• Those who have an inability to express and receive love, particularly with their intimate family.
• People’s capacity to change
• Hope versus hopelessness
• Narcissism and it’s impact on self and others. People’s capacity to ‘see’ themselves.
• Betrayal, grief and emotional hunger.
• What could make a person stuck in the first place and what might render them unable, or able to change.
• People’s capacity for kindness, empathy, understanding and the need for these.

We rated this book 8 out of 10 for those who wished to give it a rating
It was described as "brilliantly written"

Our last meeting of the year will be on Thursday Dec 10th at Marty's and we will be discussing The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

The Girl on the Train

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Blog written by Lee

The Girl On The Train is a first time thriller by Paula Hawkins a
journalist by profession.  It is a well plotted story with an ending
that thrills, and unlike a number of literary works it does have a
satisfying and surprising ending.  The parallels between the narration of their stories by the three main characters is easy to compare with Gone Girl which is a much blacker story with a less resolved ending but one that provokes more debate on the 'who dunnit' ending.  In The Girl On The Train there is no question as to who the killer is as the confession is clearly made and in doing so the perpetrator even more clearly shows his disdainful character and shows his socio-pathological personality, managing to blame all those in his life for his becoming what he is.

None of the main characters win our sympathy, Rachael is an unpleasant alcoholic manipulated by her ex-husband Tom and is forever apologising to the extent that no one can believe her.  Cathy her long suffering flat mate is just another character in the back ground and very little is revealed about her other than she seems to have infinite patience. Anna is a very shallow housewife and mother and nothing she says can endear her to the reader, while the victim, Megan, is a complete mess unable to cope with any relationship.  Each of these three woman have been unknowingly manipulated by Tom, their lives intertwined and ruined by his lies and seemingly good looks.

The premise of the story, the fantasing of the life and relationship of a couple that Rachael observes each day in their garden and terrace as she passes by on the train as it slows down near the backyards is familiar to anyone who has ever done a regular commute on a train. Melissa observed that it was great idea but a pity that now it has been used no other writer will be able to elaborate on it.  The
idealistic fantasy that Rachael creates soon turns to a nightmare, worse than anything she could imagine, as she sets out to 'help' in what Megan's husband Scott describes as her playing at Nancy Drew.

As far as stories of domestic violence go, and it has been a theme in several of the books we have read this year, this one is a doozy.  The malevolence of Tom in his relationships with three women leaves you gasping but easy to imagine.  This is not just a story of a wife beater but a psychological sociopath who so easily manipulates all those who love him.  We thought that the red headed man was a 'red herring' but he is actually the catalyst for Rachael recalling the details of the crucial events that she can't remember through her drunken haze.

Everyone agreed that it is a good page turner and an easy read but possibly because it was difficult to feel empathy for any of the characters, it wasn't a pleasant read.  And certainly not an inspiring literary work.

We rated this book 6.5 to 7/10.

Our next meeting is on November 26th Thursday at Melissa's.  The book is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Your Voice in My Head

Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest

Our group met at Robyn's and unfortunately, your blogger could not attend the meeting.

I gather that the book was not well liked in general. However, it did generate an good discussion.

Rating 2/10

Our next book is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and we will meet at Lee's on Wednesday Nov 12, 2015.