Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Published 2009 · 288 pages · 94,007 words · about 8 hours at an average pace · Literary Fiction

How hard is Olive Kitteridge to read?

Olive Kitteridge scores 62 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it quite demanding. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 58 out of 100
The Italian translation employs standard literary vocabulary, enriched with evocative adjectives and nuanced descriptions of internal states. While occasional specialized terms related to medical professions appear (e.g., 'podologo,' 'gastroenterologa,' 'sclerosi multipla'), they are generally contextualized and do not impede comprehension significantly. The prose is more sophisticated than simple contemporary fiction but lacks the extensive allusions or invented language of higher-scoring anchors like *Ulysses*.
Sentence structure: 62 out of 100
The text features a moderate level of syntactic complexity, balancing direct sentences with longer, more elaborate constructions. Many paragraphs incorporate multiple subordinate clauses, parenthetical asides, and descriptive phrases, particularly in internal monologues, requiring careful attention to follow the flow of thought. This complexity is navigable but more demanding than consistently declarative prose.
Abstraction: 58 out of 100
While primarily a concrete narrative rooted in the daily lives of its small-town characters, the novel consistently delves into profound psychological and emotional introspection. Themes of loneliness, love, aging, and the human condition are explored through rich internal monologues and observations, elevating the content beyond simple storytelling without becoming overtly philosophical or theoretical like *The Brothers Karamazov*.
Information density: 65 out of 100
The narrative is rich in psychological detail, character backstories, and interwoven perspectives, demanding sustained attention to nuance and subtext. Each chapter introduces new characters or deepens existing ones, requiring the reader to track complex emotional landscapes and subtle interconnections within the small-town setting. This density creates a rewarding but attention-demanding reading experience.
Narrative indirection: 68 out of 100
The narrative frequently presents characters' actions and dialogue without explicit explanation, requiring readers to infer deeper emotional truths. For example, Henry's 'golden liquid' feeling for Denise or Olive's complex internal monologues about her son's 'difficult life' demand reader interpretation. The interconnected short story structure also necessitates piecing together the broader emotional landscape of Crosby's inhabitants.
Symbolic density: 48 out of 100
While primarily realist, the novel employs recurring motifs like the ocean, changing seasons, and specific objects (e.g., Olive's 'big explosions' and 'small explosions') that accrue subtle symbolic weight. These elements function more as embedded metaphors for psychological states rather than overt allegories, placing it closer to 'To Kill a Mockingbird' than 'Moby-Dick'.
Ironic distance: 55 out of 100
The author maintains a generally empathetic tone, but a subtle ironic distance emerges through the characters' self-deceptions and the contrast between their internal thoughts and outward behavior. Olive Kitteridge herself often employs sarcasm, and the narrative highlights the petty actions of characters like Olive stealing a bra, creating a gentle critique without resorting to the pervasive satire of 'Lolita'.
Resolution withholding: 75 out of 100
The 'novel in stories' structure inherently resists definitive closure, leaving many character arcs and emotional conflicts open-ended. Relationships, like that of Olive and Henry, remain in a state of flux, with profound truths (e.g., Olive's love for Jim O'Casey) revealed but not neatly resolved. The book emphasizes the ongoing, messy nature of life, similar to 'The Crying of Lot 49' in its resistance to neat conclusions.
Structural complexity: 65 out of 100
The book's structure as a collection of interconnected stories involves frequent shifts in protagonist, perspective, and timeline, demanding reader engagement to connect the disparate narratives. Within chapters, flashbacks and internal reflections further fragment the chronology, though the prose remains accessible. This episodic, multi-perspective approach creates a complexity akin to 'Midnight's Children' rather than a linear narrative.

How Olive Kitteridge is regarded

Olive Kitteridge holds a literary regard score of 58 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

Prizes

Where Olive Kitteridge sits in Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism

Placed by a full reading of the text (245 passages), not from reputation. Each verdict quotes the passage that earned it. On the axis from myth to irony, Olive Kitteridge scores 72 out of 100. A second mythos, comedy, pulls at it with a weight of 0.2. About the map of stories.

Mode: Low Mimetic
Olive Kitteridge, dalla corporatura massiccia, più alta di Molly di un'intera testa, si fruga nella borsa alla ricerca degli occhiali da sole
Symbol: Formal
Il parere personale di Olive è che la vita si basi su quelle che lei considera "grosse esplosioni" e "piccole esplosioni".
Mythos: Tragic Irony (Irony phase 4) (irony iv)
Quello che i giovani non sanno, pensò Olive mentre si sdraiava accanto a quell'uomo, con la mano di lui sulla spalla, sul braccio; oh, quello che i giovani non sanno.
Genre: Novel + Anatomy
Quando lavoravi come infermiera in una scuola, o eri una bibliotecaria dai capelli rosa, finivi sempre col venire a sapere chi aveva sposato un alcolizzato

Where the story of Olive Kitteridge takes place

  • Crosby and the Maine coast, 1960s-2000s (1960 to 2007), the main setting
  • Brooklyn brownstone and New York airport, 2000s (2004 to 2007)

7 things that are true of Olive Kitteridge, with the passage for each

  1. Kevin Coulson, a psychiatrist, plans to kill himself near his childhood home and has a rifle wrapped in a blanket in the car.

    In quel momento la coperta era avvolta attorno al fucile

  2. Olive steals her new daughter-in-law's bra and a shoe at the wedding and scribbles on her sweater.

    Olive lo rigira lentamente tra le mani tozze, poi lo appallottola e se lo infila dentro l'ampia borsa.

  3. Olive is held hostage in a hospital bathroom, wearing only a plastic gown, with her hands taped behind her back.

    Le avevano detto di sedersi, ma era difficile restare seduti con le mani legate dietro la schiena e la testa che ti girava.

  4. Henry collapses and falls out of the car door in the discount store parking lot.

    il movimento bizzarro e innaturale di lui che da quella posizione cadeva dritto a terra.

  5. Marlene Bonney, newly widowed, considers killing her husband's lover Kerry with a small knife while Kerry sleeps drunk.

    Ho pensato di uccidere Kerry

  6. At the airport, Olive refuses to take off her shoes at security.

    Non voglio togliermi le scarpe

  7. Olive and Jack Kennison e-mail each other that their children hate them.

    Tua figlia ti odia?

Scenes in Olive Kitteridge that Frye would name

20 sightings of Frye's terms in the text. The strongest:

Sparagmos, untitled
scambiando Henry Thibodeau per un cervo nelle tenebre del primo mattino, aveva premuto il grilletto del fucile e aveva ucciso il suo migliore amico. Violent accidental death of Denise's husband tears her world apart.
Anagnorisis, untitled
Bobby, per favore, dimmi la verità. Li hai incontrati all'aeroporto di Miami, vero? Jane uncovers Bob's affair at the concert aftermath.
Anagnorisis, untitled
Henry ha capito che Olive aveva amato Jim O'Casey, e forse era stata amata da lui Henry realises Olive's hidden grief, a recognition that parallels his own secret need for Denise.
Pathos, untitled
Ha avuto un attacco di cuore ieri sera Nina's death in the hospital is the sacrificial pathos of the Harmon story.
Sparagmos, untitled
il rumore del nastro adesivo dietro di lei, quella notte, il rapido strappo della striscia dal rotolo The hostage ordeal strips Olive and Henry of dignity and tears their marriage.
Demonic imagery, untitled
quel macabro volto di plastica con le sembianze di un sorridente porcellino rosa The pig mask is demonic grotesque.

Books that share these scenes with Olive Kitteridge

About the author

Elizabeth Strout