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Alan Bray

The Abyss - Anything Is Posiible

First, here's a no doubt surprising but at the same time evident deviation. My usual habit is to publish a new installment of this blog...

Alan Bray

Is That A Polyphony I Hear? - Anything Is Possible

‘Kay, during our time discussing Elizabeth’s Strout’s Anything Is Possible, I know that you’ve been itching to suggest that the structure...

Alan Bray

The Hit-Thumb Theory - Anything Is Possible

Let’s continue our exploration of Elizabeth Strout’s Anything Is Possible. Last time, we began looking at a prime structural feature of...

Alan Bray

Transformative Hunt

Last time, we began discussing Elizabeth Strout’s Anything Is Possible, focusing on how the nine stories are linked by theme and...

Alan Bray

Anything Is Possible

This week, a new one, Elizabeth Strout’s 2017 book Anything Is Possible. Dena recommended Elizabeth Strout to me; I’ve read Olive...

Alan Bray

Synergy

One of the ways Olive K. is novel-like is the development throughout the book of the main character, Olive Kitteridge. The first chapter,...

Alan Bray

Where or When?

Is Olive K. a dis-continuous narrative in the manner of such modernist works as Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury? So says the Wikipedia...

Alan Bray

Overcoming Stage Fright

‘Kay. A long post today, so let’s begin. No interruptions, please, we can take questions at the end. Last week, we considered the concept...

Alan Bray

Willy Wonty

The fifth story in Olive, “Starving” begins: “At the marina on Saturday morning, Harmon had to work not to stare at the young couple.”...

Alan Bray

The Elephant in the Room

First, a personal note. For the first time in some sixty weeks, my blog did not have a new entry last Thursday. Readers were, I know,...

Alan Bray

Olive Kitteridge

This week, a new book, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, published in 2008. Ms. Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for...