I didn’t read Olive Kitteridge, but my guess is that Olive is the protagonist in every one, and I’m guessing there is an external goal of some kind in every one. But perhaps there is a larger, internal goal that she acquires over the course of the stories? Was there a theme threading through all of them?

Some writers will publish short stories as a “collection,” but others (like Elizabeth Stout, I’m guessing) will put stories together in a careful way (often with the same protagonist) to convey a bigger learning arc overall. I’m thinking of Hemingway’s In Our Time, where Nick is the main character in all the stories, but his growth happens because all the stories took place. And didn’t Jhumpa Lahiri write her collection this way? With individual goals, but with a larger, more theoretical goal for the main character occurring over the entire book?

It’s similar to music artists, who sometimes put together an entire album where all the songs are disconnected. But other times (when it’s truly brilliant), they put the songs together because they are all connected by theme or tell a story (The Beatles, for instance).

I wanted to read Olive, though! — worthwhile?

The whole world loved “Slumdog Millionaire” and I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I really can’t put my finger on why I didn’t like it other than I thought it was really dull and boring. I wonder if it was the protagonist and his goal that I didn’t like?