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Jun 28, 2018bktm2586 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Elizabeth Strout is one of the best authors writing in America today. And most of the other comments reflect her skill and impact. However, I noticed one commentator who was confused by the book and gave up on it. It is important to note that this book builds on characters Strout has used in her previous novels. Furthermore, this is not flow fiction; the chapters are free-standing, almost short stories, but with the same characters sometimes occurring in each. And this can be off-putting, or, at worst, confusing. It's like you didn't get the memo, or weren't let in on the joke. And the worst thing a writer can do is piss off the reader. This is why I have sometimes recommended that people read her other novels first, in the order she wrote them. I read them as they came out over the years, but there are only six, so it shouldn't be that onerous. A comment about 'no plot.' I thought most people, by now, who read literary fiction, have learned that this genre is not about the big finish; it's the journey, not the destination. Every paragraph has something in it worth reading and thinking about; don't skim. That's not what this form is about.