Book Review: A Man Called Ove, A Translated Character Study Masterpiece of Literary Fiction
You know when you start a book and within the first few pages, you have a gut feeling it’s going to be a five star (or at least close to) read? That’s immediately how I felt when I started, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I’m not a big fan of contemporary reads typically, and I tend to be picky. So many people had recommended this book to me over the years on Booktok, and it had been sitting on my shelf for at least two, after I thrifted it from a used bookstore for a couple bucks. It’s a masterpiece of a character study. And Backman made me ugly cry, so there’s that. This is how you write an unlikable main character. Ove is a man dealing (or not dealing) with major trauma, loss, and grief throughout his life. And he may also be on the spectrum, although that’s never explicitly stated. He’s become an acute sour puss about literally everything. Angry at the world is a perfect description of Ove. But this story uses the people around him to break his hard shell, as well as flashbacks, to get the reader to see him as so much more than that. This book covers heavy themes around death and suicide, so definitely check triggers, but I felt it was handled so incredibly well. Also, I have to give major props to the translator—this writing was so incredibly clever, poignant, and heartbreaking, and to capture that in a translation so perfectly was a feat indeed. There will be spoilers in the rest of this review.
Things to Know:
Translated Literary Fiction
Grumpy Sunshine friendships
Found Family
May make you ugly cry
Movie adaptation with Tom Hanks
Trigger Warning: Suicide, Violence, Death
Ove just wants to die. When you first start reading, it takes a second to realize his wife has passed away. I thought this was so well done, because at first he’s talking to her all the time, and she’s never responding, so you’re not sure what their relationship is…but when you realize, it’s so heartbreaking. She was the only person to ever really understand him, and he’s lost without her. The entire book is a series of suicide attempts in which he is always thwarted by someone or something else in need, and he slowly finds some meaning for being alive again.
I really loved the flashback chapters of him growing up, working the railway, and meeting his wife, and all the tragedy that befalls him. You really come to understand why he’s a grumpy, gruff old man, and I felt it really humanizes him and makes you have empathy. At times, I was so frustrated for him. And at other times, I was cackling at his behavior. The scene of him trying to purchase an iPad was hysterical, because it honestly reminded me of some of my family members and their aversion to technology. His long standing feud with his neighbor was also quite funny…until it wasn’t. So while this book had some very heavy themes, there is also a significant amount of humor, which I found to be quite enjoyable.
The various people in the neighborhood, and specifically Parvaneh, were so crucial in Ove’s progress. I adored how she didn’t baby him or let him get away with anything. And the driving lesson?! Again, hysterical.
The cat. I was obsessed, and so incredibly worried when that wretched sleazebag’s dog attacked him. I was thinking, “If this cat dies, I’m going to be livid!” People need something to love, to find meaning in life. I truly believe this. Otherwise, why are we even here?
As I mentioned earlier, I ugly cried reading this. The ending was beautiful, heart wrenching, and satisfying. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to dip their toes into translated fiction, as well as literary fiction, and doesn’t mind the darker themes. And now I want to watch the movie adaptation and add more of Backman’s backlist to my TBR. What should I read next?!
Fave Quotes:
“Ove feels an instinctive skepticism towards all people taller than six feet; the blood can’t quite make it all the way up to the brain.”
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“Maybe their sorrow over children that never came should have brought the two men closer. But sorrow is unreliable in that way. When people don’t share it there’s a good chance that it will drive them apart instead.”
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“And then it was Monday. And one Monday she was no longer there.”
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