A man called Ove - the book review

 

A man called Ove is a book that will make you go through a rollercoaster of emotions, it’s going to make you laugh, it’s going to make you cry, and before you realize it's going to make you fall in love with every single character.

The book takes you through the journey of a 59-year-old man called Ove who is angry, grumpy, sees the world in black & white and is dead-set in his ways- nothing could ever change his mind, even if his thoughts were as absurd as,” 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.”

Ove is a character so relatable, each and every one of us has met or known a person like him be it your father, your grandfather, or an uncle staying in your apartment building. I believe every male who turns a day over 50 starts possessing a bit of Ove’s personality! He’s accurately described in the book as,” the most inflexible man in the world.”

Ove was a man who could fix anything – be it a creaking cabinet, a broken regulator, a bicycle, a car, or even an exhaust fan. It felt as if he spoke the language of machines, but didn’t understand the first thing about people which is quite fair because, for a person so kind, humans of the world could never be worth understanding.

The story begins when a loud and interfering family moves next doors to Ove. Ove, who loved keeping to himself, and the last thing he wanted was to socialize with this family. But the family incorporates themselves into Ove’s life as if they’d known him for years which infuriates Ove so hard that he….well, I think you should give the book a read to know what happens next.

‘A man called Ove’ is an incredibly written book but if you’re looking for a book that’s thrilling and suspenseful, you might not want to read this. This book must not be read for its plot but, for its story, its characters, and for the love with which it’s written.

This a perfect book to get back into the habit of reading. Its humor is so brilliant that it genuinely will make you laugh out loud at a few places. Fredrick Backman’s writing style is so beautiful that he breezes through a few topics so effortlessly that may otherwise be so dreadful, and leave you wondering for hours. He describes an old friendship so beautifully yet simply as,” when people don’t share it(sorrow), there’s a good chance that it will drive them apart instead.”                                                                             

He describes something as dark and heavy as coping with someone’s death with such ease, it just breaks you -
, “We always think there's enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if'.”

If you’re looking for something sincere, amiable, and funny to read, something to make you feel warm on a  sad, cold, lonely night – I’d hundred percent recommend you to read ‘A man called Ove’ by Fredrick Backman.