Altering Olive:  A Look at HBO’s Adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s <i>Olive Kitteridge</i>

This paper discusses the HBO adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, with a focus on revealing the level of depth and nuance that gets lost in the translation from short story cycle to mini-series. By analyzing the cycle form, this paper considers the risks involved in neglecting the form of a source text during adaptation. While the author ultimately refrains from commenting on the quality of the mini-series as its own entity, she does conclude that as an adaptation, the mini-series is disappointing in its replication of the source text's complexity.