Wednesday, October 22, 2014

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

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.