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Olive Kitteridge (HBO)

It’s always an interesting discussion as to whether the book – or the film of it – is better.

I reviewed Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud on this website in May 2017.

It’s a collection of short stories set in Maine which won the writer the Pulitzer Prize.

The HBO film version stars Frances McDormand and Bill Murray both fine actors as Olive and Henry Kitteridge.

The two main problems with it are that a collection of short stories has been adapted into a continuous story – requiring both new scenes not in the book and the omission of others – plus the central character Olive is a large, outspoken woman.

Frances McDormand is the latter, but not the former.

Still, she interprets this abrupt and brusque woman well and all credit to her for taking on an unglamorous rôle.

Bill Murray is more convincing as the decent but dull pharmacist, always doing the right thing but someone who would irritate anyone, let alone the intolerant Olive.

The theme is that Olive’s sharp-eyed, waspish, perception reveals the hypocrisy of a provincial little seaport and the mould and insects under the stone.

It’s a triumph of both book and film that – for all her faults – Olive emerges as a vulnerable, sympathetic character, like (in a different way) Emma Bovary.

I prefer the book – no adverts and more left to the imagination.

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About Melanie Gay

A former literary agent with three published novels of her own, Melanie retains her life-long love of the written word and recently mastered the Kindle. She is currently writing a historical novel set in 17th Century Britain and Holland. More Posts