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Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout — An Audiobook Review
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel I wish I had gotten from the library so I could return it
It’s sometimes difficult to understand why certain books, movies, or television shows garner such acclaim and popularity. What was it about the series Shameless that took hold so fervently when everyone in the show was a trainwreck? Why is White Lotus so popular when it’s a show about debauchery stacked on top of morally corrupt elitist spawn? How do they justify never-ending sequels about a brain-dead race car crime show like Fast and Furious?
How did Olive Kitteridge win the Pulitzer Prize, and how are 90% of its reviews 5 stars? I’ll be scratching my head over that one for a while to come.
Listen, I hate giving up on a book. It feels like a betrayal to the author, and thankfully, it is a rare occurrence when I close the flaps and toss one aside. Or, in this case, tap the app and listen to something else. Anything else.
But Olive Kitteridge is a terrible book.
Annoyed at having spent my monthly Audible credit on what I soon began to fear was a dud, I kept on with it, listening to narrator Kimberley Farr ramble on about people whom you can’t get invested in with a story going in every…
