A review by tiemzahra
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Can a book be dark and touching but at the same time hilarious and light-hearted? Yes, and it is A Man Called Ove. My third Fredrik Backman, and the charm is still there. Ove was a bad-tempered old man, and in his neighbourhood, he was known as a bitter neighbour. One day a chatty young couple and their family moved next door and somehow managed to be involved with Ove’s life.

Ove reminds me a lot of Sheldon Cooper. He had an unchanged principle, had strict routines, intolerable most of the time. Backman’s characters I’ve read so far were flawed this way, but somehow I developed soft spot for each one of them. The same I did with Ove. Behind his grumpiness, lied a hidden story. 

I love and pitied Ove intensely. For the harshness he conveyed on the surface, he's very caring, especially towards
his late wife. I have predicted before it's revealed that the wife was already gone, and that's the whole reason why he was trying to commit suicide. His only colour in life has gone. I applauded he's still trying to live though, still helping people in his own way. I cried when he finally died.


Of an old man in a modern world, of an old man who lost his colour in life. 
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