A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Genre: Fiction, Humor, Contemporary

Check It out on Goodreads

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.

 

This is not my usual read, I don’t really like these kind of stories about suburban life. I think they’re really boring and repetitive.

Then I met Ove, a grumpy old man who has decided there is nothing left to live for. He is practical and makes sure that everything is taken care for after he has done the deed. However life hasn’t finished with him yet, his plans get cancelled and he ends up getting dragged into a world of noisy neighbours, cats and battles against the council.

I absolutely loved this book! There were some lines which actually made me laugh out loud, there was such brilliant sarcasm and I absolutely loved it! It made me laugh, it made me cry and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ove’s character develops and the initial grumpy old man we are introduced to at the start becomes completely transformed by the end of the book, he becomes lovable and I think everyone secretly knows a man like Ove!

I really did love Ove, he says exactly what he is thinking, will fight for what is right and is VERY against breaking rules (personally I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of him). He is a man stuck in his ways and won’t break his daily routine for anyone. Although he may seem like a grumpy old man he still becomes a lovable old man who you can count on.

It takes a lot for a book to make me cry and I know many people cried at the ending however I started crying about three quarters of the way through when *spoilers* one of the girls calls him Granddad. I recently lost my Granddad and like Ove he was stubborn and stuck in his ways yet still a man you could count on. From that moment on I cried all the way through the rest of the book.

I would definitely recommend this book, all of the characters are so lovable. Ove is funny because he doesn’t try to be funny, he is just a grumpy old man who doesn’t want to get ripped off and will actively go out of his way to save money. He made the story what it is, without him it would be a really boring story about a lonely grumpy old man trying to commit suicide. Instead he is witty and makes this a really fun story. A must read because everyone knows someone like Ove!

 

Rating: 4/5

Summing up: A tale of a grumpy yet lovable old man