Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout 3 / 5	Published 2007 First Sentence "For many years, Henry Kitteridge was a pharmacist in the next town over, driving every morning on snowy roads, or rainy roads, or summertime roads, when the wild raspberries shot their new growth in brambles along the last section of town before he turned off to where the wider road led to the pharmacy."
Publisher's Description: At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.  As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life–sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition--its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
Dear Reader,  Yeesh. This book should have been called “Everybody Cheats, Sometime” (with a nod to R.E.M., of course). I couldn’t get past how every single character in the book seemed to either be cheating on their spouse or wanting to. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the biggest cynic I know, so I don’t think it’s necessarily unrealistic! I just would get my hopes up with each story that it would finally be one with a solid couple for once, and then: nope! Foiled each time. This didn’t influence my rating very much, but it was definitely the thing that stuck out the most! I have had this book on my Audible account forever; I wish I recall why I had added it, specifically. I did finally pick it up though because of the many comparisons to Kitchens of the Great Midwest, and I understand the connections people made: both books tell the story of one woman through the eyes of many others.  I did love the weaving of the stories of the people who reside in a small town in Maine, each interacting in some way with Olive Kitteridge. It was certainly a New England book. And there were some memorable characters and situations. Olive wasn’t my favorite, by a long shot - she was cranky and ornery 99% of the time. But she was definitely a strong character! And it makes sense why the book ultimately revolves around her - the ending sentence really does tie it all up nicely.  This book had the feel of a collection of stories, with the neat added bonus that they often subtly referred to one another. Despite some of the difficult subjects it tackled, t felt cozy and the perfect thing for a snowy day in front of the fireplace. Yours, Arianna

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of this book here:

Paperback:

Kindle:

Gilead

Gilead Marilynne Robinson 3.5 / 5	Published 2004 First Sentences "I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I'm old, and you said, I don't think you're old. And you put your hand on my hand and you said, You aren't very old, as if that settled it."
Publisher's Description: Twenty-four years after her first novel, Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson returns with an intimate tale of three generations from the Civil War to the twentieth century: a story about fathers and sons and the spiritual battles that still rage at America's heart. Writing in the tradition of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, Marilynne Robinson's beautiful, spare, and spiritual prose allows "even the faithless reader to feel the possibility of transcendent order" (Slate). In the luminous and unforgettable voice of Congregationalist minister John Ames, Gilead reveals the human condition and the often unbearable beauty of an ordinary life.
Dear Reader,  I know I was supposed to love this little book. I found it beautiful, and moving at times. But it was so slow. For such a slim volume, it felt like it took me ages to read. And it was so religious! It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I was able to look past the religiosity because I didn’t feel as if that was the writer’s point, but it was glaringly there all the while, as the book detailed three generations of preachers.  With her spare prose, the author manages to write some very memorable moments. She reminds me quite a bit of Faulkner. I felt the wideness of the prairie and the smallness of the town and of John’s life in every sentence. He never strayed far from Gilead, but that suited him. He was a preacher to a small congregation in a small and weary town, one which had an auspicious history but which now feels dusty and run-down. Quiet. Unassuming. And for John, home.  John Ames had a simple way about him, finding joy and beauty in the world, and I did appreciate that about the book. He found joy in the simple pleasures and noticed the smallest wonders, which is a thing I strive for always, and so I found a kindred spirit in him in this. I think I would have loved to have spent some time just sitting with the narrator on his front porch. I liked the juxtaposition of the town’s beginnings and the book’s ultimate conflict (if that is what Jack’s story amounted to), but I feel as if it just wasn’t enough for me. I got drawn in by the stories of John and his father and grandfather, all three very strong personalities in their own ways. But I found I just stopped caring, and I don’t have much interest in what happens to John’s son, when he finally begins to read the pages. The story was quaint, and sweet, and touching. I’ll give it that. And it had a lot of promise. But I just didn’t feel as if I was able to take anything away from it. And I think that should be the point of any book. Don’t you? Yours, Arianna P.S. Not that it should sway you one way or the other, but, just so you know -- this is one of Obama’s favorite books. P.P.S. Full disclosure: I read this for my book club. Would I have picked it up anyway? Probably. It’s been enjoyed by many. And it's a Pulitzer Prize winner, after all.

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of this book here:

Paperback:

Kindle:

The Good House

The Good House Ann Leary 3 / 5	Published 2013 First Sentence "I can walk through a house once and know more about its occupants than a psychiatrist could after a year of sessions."
Publisher's Description: A riveting novel in which an engaging and wildly irreverent woman is in complete denial — about herself, her drinking, and her love for a man she's known all her life. The Good House tells the story of Hildy Good, who lives in a small town on Boston's North Shore. Hildy is a successful real-estate broker, good neighbor, mother, and grandmother. She's also a raging alcoholic. Hildy's family held an intervention for her about a year before this story takes place — "if they invite you over for dinner, and it's not a major holiday," she advises "run for your life" — and now she feels lonely and unjustly persecuted. She has also fooled herself into thinking that moderation is the key to her drinking problem. As if battling her demons wasn't enough to keep her busy, Hildy soon finds herself embroiled in the underbelly of her New England town, a craggy little place that harbors secrets. There's a scandal, some mysticism, babies, old houses, drinking, and desire — and a love story between two craggy sixty-somethings that's as real and sexy as you get.  An exceptional novel that is at turns hilarious and sobering, The Good House asks the question: What will it take to keep Hildy Good from drinking? For good.
Dear Reader, Okay -- is it REALLY that illegal to sleep with a former patient? One you only saw professionally like once before you become involved and thus didn’t treat anymore? Totally unethical, yes. Ugh because they were also both married. Risky to his professional career, yes. But - illegal? I don’t buy it as being such a big thing as they are making it out to be! (Okay, I have learned after doing some research that there are states (anywhere from 15-23 of them) which do have laws criminalizing sexual therapist-patient relationships, and I do get that - there is a vulnerability there which can certainly be taken advantage of - but again, if a person removes themselves from the doctor-patient relationship for that reason, is it then illegal? - of course, we know that the characters in this book could have done no such thing officially, since they were both married…) Anyway! What an odd thing for me to focus on, but I just kept not being able to get past that while reading. Apparently, I should have - it is in fact the reason the author even wrote the book: originally, it was the story of the illicit relationship, but evolved into being the story of a recovering alcoholic, and the reader then sees affair story through her eyes. In other news, I could not STAND Hildy. She and her daughters clearly hated each other 99% of the time. Why were they even in each other’s lives? And she was so self-righteous even when she was clearly in the wrong. And so entitled! Believing she deserved a real estate listing just because she’d known the seller for so long. Granted, okay, I did believed she deserved it too, because she was the only local agent, but...it was just annoying. How she almost threatened Peter over it! I really disliked her right then. Part of it must have been the narrator’s voice. She always sounded so freaking SMUG, about everything! I don’t think she read the book right. Plus, if she wasn’t smug, she sounded like she was just about to laugh with everything she said. I like that SOMEtimes. Not with every single sentence of the book! And let’s not get me started on how awful I thought her Frank voice was…! However, I can’t say I disliked this book, particularly because it was not about the character of the narrator so much as it was her story of recovery - and I understand that the author wrote her very much the way she did so that she could show the true nature of denial and pride that many alcoholics hide behind. So I did appreciate that aspect of the book, and why Hildy had such a grating personality. (I guess I just  couldn’t see why everyone in town seemed to like her, too, though! Maybe it was just her longevity in Wendover...) Oddly, this was the second novel I have read this year where the protagonist has to sort through the broken memories of an alcoholic blackout in order to remember whether a crime had been committed! One of the things I loved best about this book was the strong connection to witchcraft - in a not-fantastical way. As in, Hildy had ancestors who had been tried as witches in the Salem trials, and she felt as if she still had a bit of that nature in her own blood. She was able to “read people’s minds” (a parlor trick she was quite good at) and she called her pet dogs her “familiars,” which I found cute. There was a bit of that old New England feel about the whole town, which I felt connected to - I especially appreciated that it was a story which took place in the North Shore of Boston. It felt cozy and comfortable and familiar to me.  I’d recommend this to a book club, as I think readers will have much they want to discuss. I think it is the perfect book for a group, with all of its layers and subplots. While not a favorite, an enjoyable and well-written read. Yours, Arianna P.S. Until typing out that first sentence above, I hadn't recalled its portentousness!

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of this book here:

Paperback

Kindle

Winesburg, Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson 3 / 5	Published 1919 First Sentence "The writer, an old man with a white mustache, had some difficulty in getting into bed."
Publisher's Description: To Sherwood Anderson, more than to any other American Writer, belongs the distinction of having converted mere sectional writing into a universal experience. As the interpreter of mid-western life, he wrought a change in mood and method that was revolutionary. His masterpiece,Winesburg, Ohio, became the forerunner of a new and vital school of contemporary humanity, its inescapable conviction of truth and its brooding, tender insight make it a book by which Anderson has earned a leading rank among the important novelists of America and certainly among the best of our storytellers.
Dear Reader, Fun fact: This book was published on my birthday...62 years before I was born (yes, you can do the math if you want).  That's pretty neat.  Apparently it was a Thursday.  Not sure if that was just a random day, or if publishers released books on that day of the week regularly, like how Tuesday is the preferred day for releases these days. In any case, to get to the book itself: it was all right.  I didn't love it, perhaps because it didn't feel like any character was given enough time for me to become familiar with.  This is due to it being a collection of related stories, rather than a cohesive novel.  I am not much for short stories (although Short Story Thursdays has helped me overcome that!), but this book appealed to me because it connected everyone's stories - you would be reading about one townsperson's tragic history, and you'd encounter characters who you had already met (with varying levels of intimacy) earlier in the work.  That was an enjoyable aspect.  The particularly outstanding character, who seemed to be at least mentioned in everyone's stories, was George Willard.  I think Anderson ultimately is telling George's story through examining those of his fellow townspeople, and how the character's life is affected by them in so many different ways. Anderson particularly seems to enjoy examining how people experience loneliness and isolation, even in the midst of a (small) town.  His characters almost all seem desperate and unhappy lost souls.  All of the characters seem to believe that nobody else could possibly understand or connect with them, and so they give up before they even try.  One wonders if that is characteristic of this small town which Anderson is writing about, or if he is indicating that this is more of a pandemic which was affecting small-town America in the early 1900s.  It was especially interesting to note the time pre-industrial revolution time period, when not everyone seemed eager to move to the city.  Some want to flee the small town life, but most are content (enough) with their lot. On a different note, I did find it quaint and charming how the book actually deals quite a bit with sex, but never mentions it by name.  Many women end up pregnant out of wedlock, and several of the men are Lotharios, but never once is the subject of sex broached so that people could cry indecency and ban the book.  I mean, not to say Anderson kept his book proper to that end.  I am guessing that was more because of the times during which it was written.  But it was still interesting to read and be forced to kind of read between the lines to get the true understanding of what Anderson was trying to convey. Yours, Arianna

Support Shelf Notes! Purchase your copy of Winesburg, Ohio here: