Olive, Again: A Novel Hardcover – October 15, 2019

I read this book because, obviously, I had loved Olive in the prior book. Olive is a difficult, forthright and opionated woman who speaks her mind and forms uninformed opinions about everyone she meets. She is most definitely not loveable, and yet we had come to love her. Olive is barely in this book. And the final note of hope and peace that you find at the end of the first book is immediately withdrawn from this one. It only is found again at very nearly the end. Especially in the beginning of this novel there is a lot of profanity that the characters are saying--gratuious, unnecessary profanity. And Olive is not charming or endearing in any way. And virtually all of the characters that tell their stories have the saddest, most hopeless stories you can have. Sometimes at the very end of their recitation there is a small upbeat in positivity, but that is all you are given after having endured the prior hopeless anecdote. And I wsan't sure what the author was hoping I would take away from that. That life just plain sucks? You can try your best and are abused or neglected and there is no other option than that? Honestly, if this is all life can be or is to be expected then no wonder Olive is so mean. And the first half of the book most of the descriptions that Olive internally makes about anybody she meets usually regards the size of their ass or their stomach flopping onto the table. Real body shaming nonsense that is pretty atrocious. I was glad I did get to the end because Olive does conclude that she makes assumptions against people based on something as nonsensical as that fact they are from New York, for example. (and that is wrong in her mind, obviously). Finally, and I mean finally, Olive finds some peace and friends in an assisted living home and concludes (and I highlighted this) "I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing."I think the author wanted to finish up the charming book about Olive with a story about the end of life of someone like Olive. And if you are game for that, then read this book. If I had read that in the reviews, I don't know if I would have read the book. Death and the end of a life is rarely really dealt with in any form in our country. And it is certainly a topic everyone has to face. This books main topic is that. And even more than that. This book deals with death from the point of view of a person who almost certainly lives at odds with the world and alienates most people she meets--even though her honesty breaks through defenses of people in odds comforting ways at times. It deals with Olive's loneliness and her relationship with her son which had been a disappointment much of her life. I was glad that relationship was healed somewhat by the end of the book. I think everybody ought to read this book so that our end of life is more connected in peace before we reach our ends. I don't know if this was meant to be a cautionary tale, but it has to be. Because virtually every periphery character is a cautionary tale of their own in this story.

With Olive, a whole range of topics are explored. The meaning of life,love, motherhood, aging,death and dying are touched upon with humor and sadness.

Makes one think deeper of ones relationships with others and how little we take time to truly know the other party. That deeper knowledge would improve our feelings and response to friends and family.

It was a slow read to begin with but once I was captured in the story I couldn’t put it down. I will think about Olive for a very long time. I think the author had a deep understanding of life and I’m grateful I noticed the book, purchased and read it.

I invited Olive Kitteridge into my life again initially because, well, hell's bells, let's face it, every sports fan occasionally enjoys a greasy stadium hot dog topped with a bitter distrusting personality and a teaspoon full of vinegar-based unconsciousness. I reminisced at the bookstore counter, "She was a hoot. Let me see what she's been up to since the death of her dear husband, Henry." And so after non-stop reading, I burped, popped Tums and rubbed my guts, because Olive's still that agita producing, burrowing under your skin kind of antagonist that I remembered, with one notable exception: She. Is. Evolving.Still saying the kinds of things that most people only think, Olive is predictable and snarky but now, motivated by loneliness, she puts impatience and sarcasm on simmer to make room for Jack, the sports car-driving-widower forced into retirement from his sleepy career at Harvard. This grieving elitist conservative's emery board honesty--born from disastrous relational mistakes--wears away at Olive's rough edges, just enough.A chagrined and aging Olive slowly realizes that heaping large portions of sobering and heartless comments on others has kept her in an untenable self-imposed isolation. So, in fits and starts she begins engaging in an "Olive-styled" social etiquette, purposefully and clumsily sprinkling affirmations on grandchildren and select needy members of the community.If you're wondering if Olive, Again is a sappy disappointment, don't worry! Olive's jagged edges never truly disappear. You'll be gratified and occasionally stunned by how deep her candor can pierce through even the bravest heart. And conversely you may be surprised at how often Strout reveals Olive's rancor simply through thoughts that never pass her bitter lips.The power of this story is diluted by Strout's choices...missed opportunities to show the sparks that would've inevitably lit up Olive and Jack's relationship. In the chapter ironically titled "Light," instead of banging out her usual sparkling dialogue between Olive and Jack, Strout has Olive telling a peripheral character the details of a pivotal fight she has had with him.And the biggest disappointment with "Olive, Again" is the handful of chapters where Olive makes cameo appearances. Is this a contrived way for Strout to showcase her exceptional short story writing skills? Even though the characters in these chapters are in most cases engaging, Strout rarely circles back to connect them to the main story which is why I give "Olive, Again" a 3.5 out of 5 stars.I wanted this story to be all about the Olive Kitteridge I've been waiting to visit with, again. And even though the book has missed that mark, I loved that Strout once again decided to masterfully weave this colorful character from the inside out on the page.Don't hesitate! Jump into the cold coastal Maine waters to swim and age alongside this curmudgeon who in her second half of life, becomes a student of "loneliness abatement." Swirl with dread and delight through swift currents and rising tides.

Follow up to Olive Ketteridge. This is real life - lonely, imperfect folks doing the best they can…I laughed right out loud in parts and felt very sad in others. Highly recommend but read Olive K first. Woukd make a great movie!

The chapters in this book span about ten years as the relationship between widowers Olive and Jack develops, they marry, negotiate ageing and the ups and downs of coming to terms with the memory of their previous marriage partners. And indeed there is much about the oscillation of discomfort and comfort in human relationships, not just between Jack and Olive, but many inhabitants of Crosby, Maine, Elizabeth Strout's fictional town, which feels so real. Her unflinching prose drew me from one chapter to another, despite some difficult themes of loss, prejudice, cruelty, misunderstanding. Olive is plain speaking, but has her own blind spots, though honest in hindsight when she can see her own prejudices and self-deception. I enjoyed the chapter where Olive comes across one of her old pupils, who is now the poet laureate, which has an unexpected twist. There is much humour too, in how characters disclose to others or themselves what they really think and feel. This author has an unswerving ability to show our human contradictions. There are moments of beauty, when Olive is surprised by the "February light" or the rich colours of autumn, or the sudden realisation that despite her son's bristling towards her, he must love her too. This redemptive quality in the prose is what made me look forward to my next reading, as for all the varied truths of our human existence, there is this undercurrent of a striving towards love in Olive's downfalls and picking up again.

....which is to have written a second book about Olive as absorbing as the first. We all know an Olive, and once we get beyond seventy we can see a little of her in ourselves. She observes the natural world around her and accepts it gratefully in a way she finds extremely to do with the people around her. Her judgemental observations often alienate her from her neighbours (and sadly her son) but her two marriages are surprisingly successful. Henry, and then Jack, recognise her innate goodness and sensitivity, and cope with her alarming candour and honesty. The way her character is developed makes us, the readers care for her too. This is a book that deals with ageing in a forthright yet amusing way, and its great virtue is that it is never dull.

The name of the fictional town of Crosby is a tribute to the author’s room mate in college, Ellen Crosby. The first “Olive” novel was simply titled “Olive Kitteridge” and is described as a ‘novel in stories‘. Olive, Again is in similar format. Olive, the eponymous lady of the title, is the leitmotif throughout the book, some chapters are dedicated to her post retirement life, sharing snippets and insights as she deals with the ageing process. Other stories are about the people in the small town and Olive will make a cameo appearance. She has some connection to all the characters featured and it is a little like picking up a magnifying glass, and with the aid of the deft hand of the author, the inner workings of the characters and lives are prised open like a nut for the reader to appreciate.This is not a linear story per se, it is just beautiful writing and storytelling. Olive almost seems to be on the autism spectrum because at times her interactions can be quite curt, she says what she thinks without really giving thought to how her words are received. She really struggles to filter her thoughts before she voices her opinion. Yet, she can also be reflective and can try so hard. She tries to re-connect with her son, who comes to stay with her for a few days, yet she doesn’t know really how to dive in and mend the fractured relationship. When she discovers, left behind, a small garment she had knitted for one her grandchildren she feels ‘terror’. She corrects how others speak. She is just who she is, plucky and direct and that rare fictional character, yes, an older woman! Love her or hate her, she is a memorable character. There is quiet humour, too and it is at times quite moving.What really makes this novel work is the beautiful and stylish writing. Emotions are created with select, pertinent words brought together in a creative and fluid way. The author’s prose is just wonderful.

I am not sure that Olive is a character we can love, but she certainly is one we cant look away from. In this book, the Olive Kitteridge we already know is growing old, and she gives us a master class in ageing, and another in human nature. Everything about this book is intensely and hilariously real. It is human nature, acutely observed.As spiky and annoying as Olive can be, it was great to see her find love again. She believes she was probably not a good mother to her son Christopher, but her regrets fade when she grows old and needs him and he is there for her, attentive and loving.I waited months for for this book to appear and I read it in two days, but it was worth the wait. It has everything we have learned to expect from Elizabeth Strout, and more.

I still don’t like Olive. As a character she is unsympathetic. It is more an insight into her character and an understanding as to how she is the person she is, that is interesting. Like the previous book, I find the stories depressing and full of the disappointments of individual lives. There is little here to lift one’s spirits. Beautifully written, it is not really a pleasure to read. I would not like to know any of the characters in real life.