A Man Called Ove
A Man Called Ove Book Review by Fredrik Backman
As every avid book reader knows, there is something people loveeeeeeee to do once they know you like reading.
They love to recommend books to you.
Now, sometimes this is good. Sometimes the books they recommend have genuine merit and you berate yourself for not knowing about them earlier.
Even more rarely, someone may recommend a book to you that becomes one of your favorite reads and you celebrate the instance of reading something outside of your normal circle that you found to your immense surprise that you loved. You tell yourself to read different things more often. This is a once in a blue moon occurrence.
99% of the time, it’s just really really annoying.
People tend to think that just because you like reading, you must like every book ever written.
This is so inaccurate it hurts.
Just like with anything else, people have specific tastes and preferences within something that they like. Just because you like watching movies, that does not mean that you enjoy every movie ever made. The same goes with music. Or TV shows. Or clothes. Or food.
People have nuanced opinions. People can like something particular within a larger subset. I do love reading, that is true.
But what I like reading is very specific.
In general, as you’ve seen from my other reviews, I almost exclusively read young adult fiction. There are some outliers of course, a book here or there that will pop up that doesn’t fit that category and I welcome it wholly when that happens.
But. When I tell people that I really enjoy YA and stick almost entirely to it and then they still Insist on having me read a non-fiction biography that changed their life-
Well. Like I said: really really annoying.
I know I must sound ungrateful, but I do find this to happen to me quite a lot. People even give me their books even after I’ve told them that I have my own pile and that no, I don’t really read biographies or non-fiction or horror.
They give it to me anyway. I even have a separate pile of books in my apartment for the ones people give me that I have no interest in reading.
Sometimes I donate them to the library. Sometimes I just put it on my shelf and call it a day without having cracked it open. And sometimes I actually read them and then one of the three options listed above occurs.
A Man Called Ove was one of these occasions.
As my boyfriend’s favorite author and one of his favorite books and having bought me a copy I felt like I owed it to him to try it.
Is it YA? No. Is it something I would have picked up for myself? Again, no.
Did I enjoy it?
Well. That’s what the rest of this review is about.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman is, you guessed it, about a grumpy curmudgeon called Ove. He lives in a cul-de-sac filled with pesky neighbors that just can’t seem to leave him alone in peace.
At first, Ove is trying very hard to accomplish something that is just out of your understanding as a reader.
As the book progresses, you learn more about Ove, why he is the way he is, his past, his relationships and what he is trying to accomplish.
What is this lofty goal you may ask?
Well, to kill himself, unfortunately.
As a reader you learn quickly that Ove is currently in the process of grieving the loss of his wife, a woman that lit up his world like the sun, someone who gave his whole life meaning and purpose.
Their relationship is told in memories, anecdotes, and the conversations Ove has about her with others. It becomes apparent to Ove (and to the reader) that life is not worth living without her.
So he attempts to join her once again in the afterlife only to find his attempts thwarted each time by a vexatious neighbor or someone knocking on his door or running over his mailbox.
Instead of driving these people away, Ove is forced and commandeered into helping the others with a variety of tasks: fixing a radiator, teaching someone to drive, repairing a bike, giving rides to the hospital and so on it goes.
Even though he yells and grumps and harrumphs, nobody seems to care. Instead they all seem to immediately be able to see his-not-so-subtle soft squishy insides instead of his prickly exterior.
By the end of the novel, Ove has found other things to live for. He lives for the cat he never wanted, the house that needs constant repairs, the woman next door and her children that call him granddad. He lives for the teenager that needs refuge, an old friend he’s forgiven, and the little boy next door he’s watched grow up.
So Ove lives. He lives and finds other purposes to keep on living for until he can see his beloved wife once again.
Quite honestly, the comparison didn’t hit me until afterwards, but this book is literally an adaptation of Disney’s Up.
Old Scrooge-like character? Check.
A deceased beloved wife that was said main character’s whole world and reason to live? Check.
Nettlesome neighbors that he eventually comes to love? Check.
Government officials being assholes? Check.
An adorable animal companion? Check and check.
The similarities are uncanny. As A Man Called Ove was published in 2013 and Up was released in 2009, I'm willing to give most of the credit here to Disney.
The book is by no means bad. It’s a very simple, very cute read. It’s wholesome to the core and the language is fluid and uncomplicated.
The plot is easy to follow and while the ending was predictable, it was still warm and fuzzy.
Nothing about this book is bad.
Nothing about this book is particularly great either.
The premise is undeniably basic, all of the characters are so exaggerated with their characterizations that they become archetypes of characters instead of fleshed out representations of people, many moments throughout the novel were laughably predictable, and while yes, the book does have some good lessons, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before done better somewhere else.
*cough cough like Up cough cough*
If you want an easy read for the holidays that will fill your heart with joy and satisfy your need for cheesy, fluffy moments then this book could very well be exactly what you’re looking for.
Or, you know, you could save yourself time and money and just watch Up and get the same thing out of the movie that you would get from this novel.
Recommendation: Watch Up. And then watch the other Pixar creations because damn are most of them still really good.
Score: 5/10
