Fredrik Backman’s debut novel A Man Called Ove written in 2012. Back when I was working for a media company called The Tempest, they did a reading challenge for 2019.
I selected this book from their list in the category, ‘a book that was originally in another language’. This book was originally written in Swedish. In a Goodreads interview Backman says he doesn’t like to interfere with too much with his translator’s work. The translator for this was Henning Koch, and I have to say I felt that the book wasn’t lost in translation. Nothing felt out of place or missing. I came out of this experience a very happy customer.
I reviewed this book in an article back then, I’ll link that down in the description, and one of the things I said in that article was “If I could describe how this book would taste I’d say it tastes like Digestive biscuits. The original ones. Turns out to be a lot sweeter than you expect.” And as weird as that sounds, I can kind of see why I said that. I would still agree with that statement.
This book is about Ove, who is the classic definition of a grumpy old geezer. Ove is a total stickler for rules and guidelines and believes everyone else should strictly adhere to them too. Which is why he believes he’s surrounded by idiots. For all appearances, Ove is the neighborhood angry old man who will go out of his way to set others straight.
However, as the story unfolds, readers discover there is much more to him than meets the eye. This book shatters the idea that you can understand a person from outward appearances. As difficult a character as Ove tried to be, I would be very surprised if readers didn’t fall in love with him by the time the story ends.
This book had the ability to make me laugh and, within the same chapter, make me sad. I sympathized with Ove, (and not just because I already feel like an old man at this age).
A Man Called Ove has some hilarious scenarios, brought about by the new addition to Ove’s neighborhood of the interfering and eagerly friendly family that moves in right next door. Ove’s lonely lifestyle starts to crumble with the introduction of his new neighbors, a happy outgoing family that refuses to be put off by his attitude and unwillingness to socialize and despite his best efforts, want to bond with him.
The story also deals with its fair share of sadness. It deals with loss, illness, unfairness, and loneliness. And in the midst of it all, a man who has lost the will to keep living and wants to put an end to his life. I am not the kind of person who cries when reading, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t get overwhelmed with feelings at certain points in the book.
I would say that this is the kind of book that is deep, without being heavy. This is the kind of book that can make you believe that everyone, no matter how hopeless they may seem, have the capacity to love and be loved.
Notable quotes:
“And then they both stand there, a fifty-nine-year-old and the teenager, a few yards apart, kicking at the snow. As if they were kicking a memory back and forth, a memory of a woman who insisted on seeing more potential in certain men than they saw in themselves.” (page 227)
“One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead.” (page 325)
“People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was color. All the color he had.” (page. 45)
“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.” (page 131)
“We always think there’s enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and we stand there holding on to words like “if”.” (page 282)
Bonus points for:
The beautifully written chapter that outlines how the cars two men choose to buy symbolize the stages of their life and the breaking apart of their friendship.
One of the most hilarious things about this book was how the writer’s ways of describing how Ove sometimes looked at things and people:
Ove gives the box a skeptical glance, as if it’s a highly dubious sort of box, a box that rides a scooter and wears tracksuit pants and just called Ove “my friend” before offering to sell him a watch.
Ove looks at the book more or less as if it just sent him a chain letter insisting that the book was really a Nigerian prince who had a “very lucrative investment opportunity” for Ove and now only needed Ove’s account number “to sort something out.”
And I don’t know about you, but I knew exactly what those looks would be like.
I don’t often finish a book and say I have no complaints. But in this case, I really don’t. And I don’t say that very much. This book was also adapted into a movie in 2015, and while I’m afraid of ruining the perfect experience of the read, I might just overcome my doubts and give it a shot someday.
This book was so touching, without being cliché. It was hilarious without being crude. And it was sad without being overdramatic. The kind of book I would definitely recommend, especially if you’re a no-nonsense kind of person who’s still got a well-hidden but still in there somewhere, soft center in you.