Olive is, in turn, the protagonist and antagonist of this collection of vignettes centering on the residents and visitors of a small, coastal Maine town. While each chapter is essentially a story in and of itself with new characters being the focal point of each, Olive is woven througout the plot as a both a significant and secondary element. She touches the people she comes into contact with, whether for good or ill (mostly ill, it would seem) and is fleshed out in the book through Strout's depictions of these encounters. The primary theme of the book seems to be the marching on of time and how this affects Olive's view of herself and others, and I was left with a lingering challenge to "seize the day", as it were and not squander the time or people I've been given.
While it was a well-written book, I was left feeling cheated that there is essentially no real closure especially concerning the changing characters in each chapter. We are introduced to them, given a snapshot of their life, and left hanging on the path their circumstances then take. However, this seems to be the clever way in which the author has chosen to focus on Olive without really focusing on her.
Bottom line: While not a book I would say I COULD NOT put down (the fact that each chapter is basically a new story lends itself to this really) it was definitely one that made me think about humanity, personalities, attitudes, and decisions, and how one can never really know what is going on behind the scenes to affect these things.
No comments:
Post a Comment