A review by madelinedalton
A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Maybe I’m heartless, but this book unfortunately did not emotionally wreck me like I hoped it would. Don’t get me wrong, it was very sweet, but all I did was think “aww, that’s nice” instead of bawling my eyes out like other readers.
I think the book was just a bit too slow-paced throughout for my taste, and because of that, I found it hard to stay engaged.
I also found Ove’s (and, let’s face it, the author’s) comments about women and fat people to be pretty offensive at times. The reader would have still found Ove to be just as curmudgeonly if he hadn’t been so misogynistic and fatphobic. Ove is homophobic and xenophobic too. These comments were much more connected to the story, but they could’ve been handled more delicately or even omitted entirely.
Finally, I found Ove’s age to be very odd. His character would have made more sense to me if he were 70 rather than 59. My own father is 60, and it just felt weird to read about a grumpy curmudgeon who was a year younger than my dad when I don’t view my dad that way at all.
I think the book was just a bit too slow-paced throughout for my taste, and because of that, I found it hard to stay engaged.
I also found Ove’s (and, let’s face it, the author’s) comments about women and fat people to be pretty offensive at times. The reader would have still found Ove to be just as curmudgeonly if he hadn’t been so misogynistic and fatphobic. Ove is homophobic and xenophobic too. These comments were much more connected to the story, but they could’ve been handled more delicately or even omitted entirely.
Finally, I found Ove’s age to be very odd. His character would have made more sense to me if he were 70 rather than 59. My own father is 60, and it just felt weird to read about a grumpy curmudgeon who was a year younger than my dad when I don’t view my dad that way at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Xenophobia