Tag Archives: Life and Death

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

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“People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.”

I absolutely loved this novel compromised of short stories. Taken from your normal everyday situations, the lush phrases and varied character dimensions created an emotional and heartfelt journey of small-town people experiencing small changes in life that often have the biggest impact. At times, I wanted to eat the words off the page.

An appearance from Olive Kitteridge in each short story is what makes for such an enjoyable read. Her character orbits around her strong personality and unparalleled voice. Each story begs the spirit to rekindle emotions that make us appreciate life, although most stories are sad, melancholy, or starkly realistic.

“…that one of those things getting older was knowing that so many moments weren’t just moments, they were gifts.”

It is deeply expressive to the value of life and how the beauty of the world changes as we do. Respectfully, I do feel like you must be a certain age or experienced certain things in order to truly appreciate this piece of literature to its full capacity.

I recommend this piece of literature for those who enjoy contemporary American fiction, short stories, and psychological literary fiction.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. To read more about this, click here.

Elizbeth Strout accepting the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Olive Kitteridge. Photo taken from https://www.pulitzer.org
The book was later developed into a miniseries by HBO. A preview can be watched below.

|Purchase on Amazon| Goodreads Review |

The Book of Dreams, By Nina George

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I will not be summarizing this story. Instead, I will be reviewing my likes and dislikes. I feel the summary for the story that is provided by the publishers is accurate.

The premise for this book is a challenging but rewarding experience.
It is difficult to predict the story, characters decisions, and the ending due to the natural unknown elements in life that the author attempts to tackle. The topics of dreams, life, death, after-life, and those in between are poetically posed and philosophically pondered throughout this story. The characters feel real and are easy to relate to.

The chapters are told through three different characters point of view (Henri, Sam, and Eddie). It was refreshing that the author did not conform to the predictable switching back and forth, or follow the typical character pattern between chapters. It was alleviating to be surprised, not knowing who would come next….or if it was a dream, in this world, or perhaps another. The only pattern anticipated is the day, since it does go in order of Day 1, Day 2, etc…
My favorite aspect of this novel was the foliage of words and manipulation of language the author used.

I did not completely like the ending, but I respect it as it fully engrossed the leitmotif. I thought it was cliche that Eddie works for a publishing company, and that Sam likes to write and wants to be a writer. There is a small romance involved, but it is not domineering to the story itself.

To enjoy this novel, you must have an open-mind…particularly with the subject of comatose.

| Purchase on Amazon | Goodreads Review |