Book a man called ove review5/7/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() This adds an unparalleled realness, a rawness to both Ove’s character and the story as a whole. The book’s biggest triumph, however, lies in the way Backman handles Ove’s story with a casual mix of tragedy and comedy, allowing his readers to experience vicarious joy even when they probe the darkness. It’s probably not the best reading material for your commute because you’ll undoubtedly find yourself so strongly held in the novel’s thrall that you’ll inevitably miss your stop. Ove’s first suicide attempt is interrupted by his very pregnant and relentlessly blunt Iranian neighbor, Parvaneh, and her sunny husband who seems determined to aggrieve Ove by not properly parking his car, and later, for the rest of the novel, by a series of comically mundane happenings “that made him sufficiently angry to hold his attention.”įrom this deceptively simple premise, Backman crafts a plot so exquisitely intricate and real and fascinating, brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight-all of it adding up to something undeniably poignant but also undeniably pleasant.īackman takes on themes of love, loss, family, friendships and their risks and rewards, and writes with a confidence and verve that produce magnetic prose and the kind of masterful storytelling that wells up to pull the reader into a unique and unforgettable experience. ![]() Backman’s singular novel traces the story of Ove, a cranky 59-year-old Swedish man who has lost his wife, then his job-circumstances which, to him, presented sound empirical argument for gloom. ![]()
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