I read two more books that were coincidentally similar to Single, Carefree, Mellow, in that they were SORT OF short stories and SORT OF not. In all three cases, SOME stories had the same characters, and SOME stories were separate. Olive Kitteridge holds together even more, since the stories all involve one particular woman to some degree or another: the stories are from different points of view, but they all add more to what feels like the main story.
(image from Amazon.com)
Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout. I was pretty sure I’d read it before, and I had, but it had been long enough that I only barely remembered a few small things. Like, I might think, “Ohhhhh….doesn’t something happen between these two?,” but not in a way that spoiled the surprise. I really liked the book, and would read it again. I thought it was a really interesting idea to show a person from a lot of points of view, especially since the person is a rather…difficult person. And the whole book has an appealingly gossipy, getting-to-know-other-people’s-secrets feeling to it.
(image from Amazon.com)
Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri. I saw this on the library shelf and recognized the author as one my sister-in-law was seeking out the last time we went to a bookstore. As I was checking out, the librarian got to this book and said “Oh! I love her. I love all her books.” So that was TWO recommendations, and I’ll add my own: I liked it a lot. I want to read a non-short-story book by her next, because there were a couple of stand-alone stories that I REALLY wanted to read more about.
I love Jhumpa Lahiri. Unaccustomed Earth is my favorite by her. For her novels, I just read The Lowland last year and preferred that over The Namesake. But all of her books are excellent.
I liked Lowlands better too, but I think this is not the general wisdom. Most people seem to prefer the namesake.
I loved Olive Kitteridge, and went on to read another book by her — very different — about a mother/daughter relationship (Amy and Isabelle). If you have the chance to watch the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge with Frances McDormand, it’s wonderful.
Wasn’t it so good? I love Frances McDormand anyways, and she was soooo spot on for that character.
Ahhhh, Jhumpa Lahiri! I adored those short stories too, and also haven’t read her novels yet. But it reminded me of The God of Small Things a little, which is SO good. And it’s got twins in it!
Oh I have both of these books on my ever lengthening “to read” list. Thanks for reminding me!
I definitely liked The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Haven’t read The Lowland but thanks to you and your commenters I will now look for it!
Chiming in with love for The Lowland (and Olive Kitteridge, too).
I love Lahiri’s short stories. The Namesake was good, but I didn’t care for The Lowland. I loved the story itself but it was so slow and the political stuff at the beginning was interesting and educational but slowed the good stuff down too much. She did get me interested in reading more Indian authors. I find immigrant stories so fascinating. One novel I really liked about an Indian growing up in Canada was “Everything Was Goodbye.”
I’ve only read The Namesake by Lahiri (who I just now realized has the same last name as Mindy in her show and I’m finding that fact bizarrely delightful) and really liked it. In my ideal reading life where I read all the books by authors I like all at once or groups of books that go together (I just finished The Paris Wife and in that life I’m now reading Z a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald and Under the Wide and Starry Sky which is about Robert Louis Stevenson and his American wife – I have both of those books, but I’m probably not actually going to read them next), I then read all her other books. In my read reading life I haven’t read anything else by her yet. I loved Olive Kitteredge too – I really enjoy the linked story cycle sometimes. Frances McDormand strikes me as perfect casting for the miniseries – will have to track it down.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really a “short story person”…but I have to admit this Olive Kitteridge sounds intriguing…because it’s all about one character and not jumping around to a dozen different ones.
Sometimes the connection is verrrrrry slight—like, the story will be about a totally different couple, with a mention of Olive Kitteridge. I did still get some of that thing I don’t like about short stories: wishing to know more about a plot that happens in only one story; feeling like I have to start all over with a new cast with each story; that sort of thing. It’s hard to know whether to encourage you or discourage you from trying it!
I’ve read each and I felt like Olive seemed like a loosely structured novel but Lahiri’s collection felt like unrelated stories. Both are really good!
I read a different Lahiri collection of short stories (The Interpreter of Maladies) and enjoyed that, so I will have to add Unaccustomed Earth to my reading list!
I actually liked Unaccustomed Earth much better than Interpreter of Maladies, which I was only so-so on.
I want to add my gushing recommendation for Olive Kitteridge. For me, it’s top notch and one of my favorites, but I do know people who got a depressed feeling from it. So there’s that. But the writing, and the nostalgia, oh. So good.