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A Man Called Ove

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A Man Called Ove

Written by: Fredrik Backman
Narrated by: Joan Walker
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Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He isn't as young as he used to be. He drives a Saab. He points at people he doesn't like the look of. He is described by those around his as 'the neighbour from hell'.Every morning he makes his inspection rounds of the local streets. He moves bicycles and checks the contents of recycling bins, even though it's been years since he was fired as Chairman of the Residents' Association in a vicious 'coup d'état'.

But behind the surly pedant there is a story, and a sadness. And when on a November morning his new (foreign) neighbours in the terraced house opposite accidentally flatten Ove's letterbox, it sets off a comical and heart-warming tale of unexpected friendship which will change one man - and one community - from their very foundations. Quirky and bittersweet, heartbreaking yet outrageously funny, A Man Called Ove is a life-affirming fable for our times.

©2014 Fredrik Backman (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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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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