A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

Books that are originally written in another language usually have so much of the culture of that country within it’s pages. I think this is the best part of reading international. This book did not disappoint in this aspect. You could really see a lot of references to the Swedish culture and environment

The book in short
A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior, there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.
I found this information here.

What did I think about the book?
It took a while for me to get into the book. At first, it was really sad, especially because the main character was a very closed-off old person. It took a while to get a good feel for his personality. The book does contain certain descriptions that aren’t very nice, which is addressed in the book a little bit. More along the lines of ‘we cannot say this anymore’ which I think is the opinion of a lot of older people. It is however still not alright to say it, no matter your birth year. It wasn’t so offputting to stop reading but it wasn’t great.

Once I got into it more, I felt my heart break. Mainly because the world was so much less fun when Ove lost his wife. It was devastating to me. However, when Ove got to know his neighbors my heart felt so much lighter. I think the book showed a lot of growth on Ove’s part and the wonderful relationships between him and his neighbours. We learn a lot about Ove’s life and it’s one thing after another, so when he finally has some really amazing happy things in his life I got really excited.

The ending made me cry and was beautifully written. In the end, community is very important and that is the main takeaway from the story, it was lovely to read. If you read this book you do have to push yourself at first because it isn’t great at first but once you are through that part and you get to know Ove it gets so much better.