Olive Kitteridge

    
     To be honest, I did not like this book at first. In fact, I stopped reading after a few chapters because I just didn't like it, and I happen to be a firm believer that life is too short to keep reading a book you do not like (obviously school and work materials are exceptions). To be fair, I did not like the book because some of the character flaws I found in Olive I recognized in myself and that is never fun for anyone. Needless to say, I was completely fine with my decision to move on to greener pastures when a friend at work mentioned that this was one of her all time favorite books. You know those people in your life that no matter what the subject, whether it is books, movies, or restaurants, you always trust their opinion? Well this friend is a trusted literary go-to. After talking with her I decided to give this novel a second go and I must say that I am glad I did. While I do have mixed feelings about this book, it is absolutely worth a read.
    
     The premise of this novel by Elizabeth Strout is the character of Olive Kitteridge as seen from 13 different points of view. The 13 stories all present a different facet of Olive, but more often than not she comes across in a less than favorable light. This is not a novel about a lovable heroine that the reader is drawn to; in fact, the author said in an interview that she wrote this novel in short story format partly because she thought the reader might need an occasional break from Olive. She was right. The piecing together of these narratives present Olive as a blunt and over-bearing wife, mother, and former school teacher. She is unapologetic, harsh, and sometimes callous with fleeting moments of real depth and insight that force the reader to wonder "Who is Olive Kitteridge?" and "How did she become this way?"

     Without taking away all of the intensity that is this novel, one central idea in this book is recognized by Olive on p.211,
"Sometimes, like now, Olive had a sense of just how desperately hard every person in the world was working to get what they needed. For most, it was a sense of safety, in the sea of terror that life increasingly became. People thought love would do it, and maybe it did."
The thoughts in this passage are reflected not only by Olive but also by the other narrators that intersect with Olive as they struggle to get by in their own lives. Loneliness is also important to this novel, as that passage suggests. While reading these stories it becomes clear that loneliness is not only the driving force that has shaped her life, it is also what continues to haunt her daily. One of the best examples of this is on p. 68,
"She knows that loneliness can kill people--in different ways can actually make you die. Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really."
Direct interactions and revelations, like this one, were the most intriguing part of the book, for me, and they were made even more significant by the alternating storylines of the surrounding characters.

    One part of this novel that I am taking away, first and foremost, is the idea that maybe the hardships we go through in life are so we can help someone with them in the future. I think Olive Kitteridge continually illustrates this theme, despite her seemingly cold exterior. This novel is above all poignant and extremely thought provoking. Some thoughts, you may wish it had not, but it will absolutely force you to look at life in a different light. Added bonus: the vocabulary in this book was exceptional!
One review of this novel said, "Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge....You'll never forget her...."
I think they may be right.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

      I love the artist Johannes Vermeer so when I saw this book, I knew it was a must read. A few years ago I went to Amsterdam and my favorite part of the trip was probably the Rijks museum. I was lucky enough to see some phenomenal works, including a few by Vermeer. Johannes Vermeer painted many portraits and the majority of the paintings were of women. The most intriguing part about a well done portrait is always the story behind it. This book Girl with a Pearl Earring is the imagined story of the girl that inspired Vermeer's most popular painting.

   Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier tells the story of Griet, a young maid that is sent to live with the Vermeer family in order to earn money for her struggling family. The story takes place in 1660s Holland and does a wonderful job of illustrating the daily life and social structures that make up the small town of Delft. The story develops as Griet  struggles to find her footing in a new environment which includes a mysterious master and his mistrusting wife, skeptical servants, and an ever expanding brood of children.

      There are many beautiful things to be said about this novel. There are many references to and images of light in this novel and the way it transforms ordinary into beautiful. The most significant quality of this book, in my opinion, is the way in which it describes art and the processes behind it. The following passage in particular breaks down the way Vermeer creates each painting; it also provides a completely new way of viewing life for Griet,

He began the painting of the baker's daughter with a layer of pale grey on the white canvas. Then he made reddish-brown marks all over it to indicate where the girl and the table and pitcher and window and map would go. After that I thought he would begin to paint what he saw--a girl's face, a blue skirt, a yellow and black bodice, a brown map, a silver pitcher and basin, a white wall. Instead he painted patches of color--black where her skirt would be, ocher for the bodice and the map on the wall, red for the pitcher and the basin it sat it, another grey for the wall. They were the wrong colors--none was the color of the thing itself. He spent a long time on these false colors, as I called them...When at last he began to add colors on top of the false colors, I saw what he meant. He painted a light blue over the girl's skirt, and it became a blue through which bits of black could be seen, darker in the shadow of the table, lighter closer to the window. To the wall areas he added yellow ocher, through which some of the grey showed. It became a bright but not a white wall. When the light shone on the wall, I discovered, it was not white, but many colors...After that I could not stop looking at things. (p.100-102)

There were two things that I did not love about this novel. The first being that the author did not foreshadow any of the events, the opposite in fact, she went ahead and told you exactly what was going to happen. I never realized how important I find foreshadowing, but apparently I am a big fan. My other problem with the book was the lack of climax. I felt like I was continually waiting for a big event that never came. On the other hand, maybe that was the idea. Maybe there was not supposed to be a groundbreaking event but rather a series of subtle happenings that create the themes of awakening and self-discovery. I, however, felt a little let down at the end because the things I had been waiting for never occurred. Despite these criticisms of the novel, I did enjoy the book and it is a good read, especially for art lovers!

The following images are some of my favorite Vermeer paintings and are quite interesting to look at and compare while reading this novel.

He saw things in a way others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face. (p. 60)