A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
I passed this book a million times before I actually picked it up to read it. It kept catching my eye but for some reason (perhaps the other 20 books sitting on my nightstand) I didn’t pick it up right away. But, boy do I wish I had!
This will be a short review because (1) it was not part of my book club list; (2) I’m not sure its needs discussion other than to be in sheer admiration of a beautiful story; and (3) it was phenomenal and I could never do it justice!
So, what is this book about? It is about a curmudgeon on the verge of killing himself. He is rude, picky, daunting, intimidating, a bully and closed off from society. He is a hermit who inflicts his beliefs on others. So the fact that he wants to kill himself should make the reader happy, right? Well, like an onion we begin to peel back the layers and it’s within those layers that we begin to see the man that is behind the curmudgeon mask. You may not begin the story liking Ove but the more you understand him and the more you learn about him, you learn that he could be you.
Every event in our lives shapes who we become…our love, our family, our upbringing, our pets, our homes and our education. We are what we absorb through life and Ove is no different. His character is an introspective look at ourselves…who we are and who we can become. What do we want to be in life and who do we want to be to other people?
This was an exceptional study in the human condition with the past and present selves meeting to form a whole person. It is a beautiful account of a regular guy who begrudgingly is a good person. A person who doesn’t want to help but helps anyway. A person who does not want to like or love but does it anyway. Isn’t that who we all are deep down? Sometimes the things we don’t want to do, turn into the best things in our lives.
I hope that you’ll read this wonderful book and share with me what you took away from it. Was it to never judge a book by its cover? Or was it that love exists inside of us all?
What was your take away?
I just finished this book today and I bawled like a baby.
I really didn’t like Ove’s character for the first few chapters of the book. He is such a bitter, difficult person and comes across as such a jerk to everyone and anyone. But just when you think you know Ove, he takes on a new dimension and his story evolves into something beautiful.
As the book unfolds and you learn more and more about Ove and his past, his imperfections grow on you more and more. After meeting a new neighbor, Ove begins to come out of his shell. He slowly starts interacting with the outside world and making a valuable impact in the lives of those around him. And when you learn about Ove’s wife, and their beautiful love story, you are absolutely hooked.
This book is written beautifully. It is witty and humorous, touching and honest. I could see bits of Ove in several people I know, which makes me smile inside and warms me heart. This book was a wonderful reminder that everyone has redeeming qualities and that you should never judge a book by its cover. Or a curmudgeon by his snarky exterior!
This book was so emotional on so many levels!!! I am so glad that I finally chose to read it. It was life changing and heart warming. Things are not always what they seem…no truer statement was made for Ove.
I think theirs a foreign film about it…I need to see it! So glad you enjoyed it too!
I watched the movie on YouTube with subtitles. It was excellent! I thought they did a great job with casting. A beautiful book and an equally beautiful movie.
I’ve been wanting to watch it! Maybe this weekend if I can find some quiet time 😉
I finished it this morning (after many failed attempts to read it over the past four months – I blame Jacob) and I was crying on the couch! Such a great story and such an important message. I think so many people are going through hard times and put up a wall and people just think that they’re mean and rude, but when you get to know someone you start to understand that they’re in pain and maybe just need some love.
What I love about this book was the love he had for his wife. I think he truly showed his ability to love when speaking of her and how he visited her like she was still alive. I think he found his reason to live when he met her and when she was gone, he didn’t have a reason anymore until he met his neighbors. I think he found passion and reason in helping them and being a part of their lives. He finally realized that if he did end up killing himself that he would be hurting so many people.
I think the ending was so sad because he spent so much of his life hating all these people and he when he did end up opening up himself and his home to these people, his life was cut short. He could have spent more time as a “grandpa” and friend to all these people. I think he left a huge impact on everyone from learning how to drive to teaching them how to fix things.
This was a great story that at the beginning you didn’t know where it would lead. I can’t wait to see how they do the movie!
I think we all had the same reaction to this beautiful book. Its not always about one moment…Its about all the things that bring us to that moment. I feel like it was his wife intervening in his suicide. I think her positive outlook transcended her death and she was still showing him the good in everyone and everything. It wasn’t until he was completely joyful that she allowed him to peacefully pass away.
Such a well told story. It’s almost like a fable in its moral lesson. I really loved this book and I am trying to get to one of the authors other popular books that I heard was excellent too. I am really looking forward to the movie but I think I will still try to watch the foreign film before the Tom Hanks version comes out.
Glad you enjoyed it through tears 🙂