A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ove’s heroic decency in the face of death and disaster is one of the most uplifting novels I have read this year. (His name rhymes with mover, but you probably know that). His misanthropy is initially very funny. His glass is half empty, people are disappointing, he fights a futile one-man war against traffic offences and he rails against bureaucrats, the "men in white shirts". Ove is fed up. So fed up that he intends to end it all. And how his efforts to exit this mortal coil are scuppered time and again are funny, tragic, heartwarming and related in short chapters, each of which stands alone as a beautifully crafted short story. Ove is a cantankerous, low-key, misunderstood man. I see much of him in me. Stitch these chapters together and you have the most uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places.
Highly recommended.


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