Review ~ A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ove was already a serious man and learned from his father how to be an upstanding man. He’s suffered lots of loss in his life, but when he met the woman of his dreams, he snatched her up.
The story is started in the present, and we get flashbacks of his life from the past off and on. It explains a lot and shows us how he got where he was (or more, why he was the way he was).
I found his gruffness hilarious and his lack of keeping up with the growing world very funny, even though he didn’t mean it to be. But throughout the whole story, we find he just wants to be with his wife. She’s dead and he misses her greatly. He’s closed himself off from everyone he knows until his new neighbors move in and invade his life, and that’s really when Ove’s story begins.
Seriously, this story was so endearing and funny and touching and lovely. I laughed and sobbed and even got mad a few times. But to watch Ove change without even realizing was so beautiful. He became alive and had purpose again. All the side characters were amazingly done and such a huge part of the story.
It’s really a must read!!!
Summary:
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.
