This week I read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It’s a set of linked short stories, with the character of Olive Kitteridge, an older woman living in Maine, appearing, sometimes peripherally, in all of them. From the first chapter, I was struck by the stories the characters told themselves, about how they developed into their present selves and why. It was, for me, a sad book — Olive isn’t particularly nice or likable and the plots are usually about some sort of betrayal. But the writing is excellent and made me want to read on.
As I’ve thought vaguely about storytelling throughout the week, I was taken with Radha Pandey’s post on the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team about the Katha-Peti (or story chest) from India. It’s a large and colorful artist’s book! Here are a few pictures below, but do look here to see many more, and a fuller explanation.
You know, I wasn’t going to read Olive Kittridge. I passed it up a couple of times. But I was flying down to LA and needed something to read and I picked it up at an airport book shop. Well, it was one of the most intense and interesting reads I’ve had in a long time. I can’t say I “enjoyed” it in the way I enjoy most of the books I like. But I was quite struck by it, by her character, by the ways in which we “advance in age” inevitably. It was very well written and kind of got me in the gut.
I didn’t so much read Olive Kitteridge as listen to it. I had to press pause on several occasions, the most poignant being the wedding where Olive hears what others have to say about her. It is beautifully written, but it pulls no punches. I will be listening to it again.
Hey, thanks for the link above. I count on Green Chair for the esoteric. As always, you’ve hit the spot!