With each book I read by Fredrik Backman, the more I like him. I just finished A Man Called Ove, and it was so good. 

I kind of held off on reading this one because I heard people say how sad it was. Were there some sad parts, yes, but life is not always happy. We all go through sad times. This book was that way. Much like the other Backman books I read, I found myself laughing out loud at times. Other times, I was anxious to find out what happened next. 

Backman has a way of presenting his characters in such a way that you connect to them. They are real people with real emotions and experience real life situations. I think we all know someone like Ove, and all of the people in his neighborhood. To me, this could take place in almost any city anywhere.

Here is the Goodreads Synopsis:

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

I compare Ove to Ebenezer Scrooge of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Not because he has this miraculous change and becomes a happy, cheery guy, but because of that grumpiness that IS Ove. That doesn’t mean you can’t like him, because you can. He has quite a story.

This book was made into the movie A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks. I like Hanks, but I’m not sure I want to see an American movie take on such a wonderful book. I started this blog by saying that I held off reading this book because of things I had heard about it. After finishing it, my only regret is that I didn’t read it sooner.