A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Ove is cranky. He’s the grumpy old man that lives on your
block and patrols the area each morning to make sure everyone is following the rules. He loathes technology and can’t understand
why people today can’t fix things themselves.
He desperately misses his wife and feels life really isn’t worth going
through any more. Then the new neighbors
move in and interrupt his sadness by backing their trailer into his
mailbox. And then they keep bothering
him, and he keeps helping them because they are obviously hopelessly
inept. Could Ove have found reasons to
stay around for a while longer?
I am not a big fan of feel-good
books, but every once in a while one will really get to me. The dark humor of the beginning is bitingly funny
and gives way to a blossoming in our understanding of the grump that is
Ove. You will find yourself wanting to
talk to that cantankerous curmudgeon you pass on the street to see what his
deal is. Ove is Ove for many reasons,
many of which you discover in the pages of this book.
Even though it’s embarrassing to
admit I did cry at the end of this book.
It’s got a great poignant, bittersweet and funny (all at the same time)
ending that is wonderful.
