Meet Ove

I recently finished reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. *POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 3.35/5 stars

"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."

A brief review because there are so many good ones already. Ove is a curmudgeon. His life is lived in black and white. There are rules to follow and if you don’t follow them, look out. He posts warning signs in his suburban townhouse development in Sweden and he bangs on your car window if you bring your vehicle in where they are prohibited. Or if you park illegally. Or if you rest you bike against the tool shed. Or walk your dog on his piece of lawn. He even gets mad at a feral cat trespassing. He can’t understand why any normal person would buy a car other than a Saab. Needless to say, he has no friends and doesn’t want any. He’s particularly adept at battling bureaucrats. It’s one of his few enjoyments in life.

He’s even worse now that has his wife has died. We know this at the beginning of the story. She kept him in line and his love for her was his only purpose in life. Now that she’s gone – and let’s put it this way: he wants to join her on the other side. He brings flowers to the cemetery and talks with her. He makes several attempts to ‘join her’ but each time he gets interrupted by having to take someone in the neighborhood to the hospital.

A newly arrived Iranian family is particularly persistent in trying to befriend him and get him back into society. We know that underneath that prickly exterior, Ove has a heart of gold, which is why he had a wife he could only dream of. Grudgingly, resisting all the way, he takes tiny steps back into society, getting involved with the neighbors’ kids and taking into his home a young man thrown out by his father when the boy revealed he was gay.

So, a good story with humor but I guess I didn’t like all the farcical attempts to join his wife and it got repetitive for me.

Check out A Man Called Ove, and take on day-to-day life with a man called Ove.

Happy Reading :)