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A Man Called Ove

The global bestselling phenomenon

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A Man Called Ove

Written by: Fredrik Backman, Henning Koch - translator
Narrated by: Joan Walker
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The international phenomenon: quirky and bittersweet, heartbreaking yet outrageously funny. Perfect for fans of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared.

The million-copy bestselling phenomenon: Soon to be a major film starring Tom Hanks.

Fredrik Backman's heartwarming debut is a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step.

'Warm, funny, and almost unbearably moving' Daily Mail

At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible...

'Rescued all those men who constantly mean to read novels but never get round to it' Spectator Books of the Year

(P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2014 Fredrik Backman Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction
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Critic Reviews

Delightful ... the perfect holiday read.
It's the most enchanting, beautiful tale. (Ben Fogle)
A warm and tender story about love, loss and second chances, peppered with memorable characters, wonderful set pieces and some beautifully black humour. Ove is a joy from start to finish. (Gavin Extence, author of The Universe versus Alex Woods)
An uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places.
A charming debut.
All stars
Most relevant
The strongest part of this book is, without a doubt, Ove’s character arc. Backman masterfully weaves in flashbacks that explain exactly why he is the way he is. You see how a man becomes hardened by the world, but you also see that deep down, he is incredibly compassionate and helpful. What really moved me was how the book handles grief and suicidal ideation with such nuance. It's a realistic look at how trauma and loss shape our present biases.
If you want a story that will make you laugh out loud and then cry five minutes later, read this book. It’s for anyone who believes in second chances and the power of community.

The Grump with a Heart of Gold

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a story about a grumpy lonely man, and love that transcends time. amazing listen

the beauty love

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A Man Called Ove is not, in my view, a comic novel about a difficult old man. It is a deeply poignant portrait of an incorruptible, duty-bound, and immeasurably loving man whose tenderness is often misunderstood because it does not always speak the language people expect.

Ove is disciplined, not rigid; social, not antisocial; gruff, not vulgar; wounded, not corrupted. His love is not ornamental. It shines through duty, through action, through showing up, fixing what is broken, protecting those who need protecting, and doing the right thing — without the desire to be so much as acknowledged — even when life has taken almost everything from him.

Sonja does not merely stand in contrast to Ove. She completes him. She fills the spaces he cannot fill himself: colour, warmth, imagination, tenderness, and a way of meeting the world that he could never quite manage alone. That is perhaps why losing her leaves him so completely unmoored. It is not simply that he has lost the woman he loved; he has lost the person through whom the world made sense.

And yet, the people who enter his life afterwards do not replace Sonja. They could not. But each of them fills an empty space in Ove’s life in their own small, individual way. Parvaneh, the children, the cat, Rune, Jimmy, and the others do not remake Ove into someone else. They accept him as he is, and in doing so, allow the love already within him to find new duties, new forms, and new people to protect.

When love takes the form of duty, there is nothing left to be demanded or even said. You can see it shine through actions. Ove’s life is a testament to morality as habit, love as responsibility, and goodness as something load-bearing rather than decorative.

Although I was initially sceptical about a female narrator, I think Joan Walker did a rather remarkable job of it.

A Man Who Loved by Showing Up

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It is a brilliant read with so much emotions one can feel throughout journey. Great read!

The practicality of it all

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i didnt like it very much in the beginning, but Ova’s character development is phenomenal!
Damn you Frederick backman, always making me cry at the end

such a heartfelt story

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