Reviews with content warning for Infertility - A Man Called Ove

I loved this book. It is probably my favorite I have read this year. I have to say that the movie (which I watched after) is not nearly as heartfelt or touching as the book. I actually started crying when it ended. Both because it was sad and it was such a great book. Even if you don’t like books that can be sad, read this. It truly is phenomenal.

Edit: most of the comments I am reading after this I feel don’t understand the point of the book. It is not about the plot of the book at all. It is about the character and their development. Don’t go into this expecting a great story, go into this expecting to be sad. The man in the story is grumpy all the time because that was how he was written. Spend time thinking about the real people in the world who are constantly angry, and think of what they may feel on the inside. Not everything should be judged off of the first glance.

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dukeofkel's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A gentle look at an irascible old man (who isn’t really that old) and the sources of his discontent. The book opens with Ove in the depths of despair, alone, nothing to live for, his only desire to end his life. Within just a few pages he’s saddled with meddling, incompetent neighbors *and* their children, and a beat-up tomcat who insists on moving in.

Ove’s facade cracks as he learns to care for those around him, from taking the clutzy neighbor with broken limbs to the hospital to rescuing a stranger who interrupts his own failed suicide attempt. Over the course of the book, Ove’s heart opens up and he’s able to appreciate his life again. The meddling neighbors and the beat-up tomcat were the best things that could have ever happened to him.

The irascibility was grating at times but it was tempered by the bittersweet backstory of Ove’s youth. This book has been made into two movies, the excellent Swedish version and the eminently serviceable Hollywood remake. The book, of course, shows far more depth - definitely worth reading.

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arshiya_amreen90786's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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my_a's review against another edition

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Simplistic, characters and the narrative are absolute 1-dimensional caricatures. The trope of miserable old man being nasty to everybody and his Ray of sunshine wife is an old weathered trope. I tried so hard to get through it as everyone seems to love it but I just couldn't. There was often many things said that were offensive and insensitive about women, people who are overweight, pregnant people, that made me uncomfortable

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notjust_irene's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ok, so I really loved this book, but there were a couple of issues that prevented me from giving it 5 stars.
It didn’t take away from the reading experience as such, but it did make me frown a couple of times because it was quite unrealistic.

- the amount of drama Ove has to go through during his lifetime is a bit much and at one point I almost rolled my eyes as another blow was delivered to Ove’s happiness.
- Neither Ove nor his wife have any relatives they keep in touch with? None of his wife’s friends check up on Ove after her passing? Sure… maybe the author wanted to make the story flow a bit easier or emphasise the loneliness of Ove, but it wasn’t very realistic.
- the cat that goes along willingly into the car and bars, yes, these type of cats exist, but they’re extremely rare and their owners keep them on a leash. Also, it’s not typically something those cats do for people they’ve only moved in with two days ago. That’s why every cat owner knows to keep their nee cat inside for the first weeks to let them adapt.
- he’s 59 in the year 2015, works for a building company yet doesn’t grasp the concept of an iPad or any digital medium at all? Come on!

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kt2e56's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was hoping this would be a five star book for me based on reviews I’ve read but alas, it’s only a 3. I was really enjoying it at first but it started to become very repetitive and quite frankly, Ove kinda sucks. He has some good qualities! He’s saved lives! He does eventually help his neighbors! But he comes across less like a grumpy old badger who just is lonely and more like an outright bigot. He’s super misogynistic (and never really changes that). He’s racist (and never really changes that). He lets a gay man stay with him after he’s been kicked out of his home which is lovely! But he refers to him as (I’m presuming based off of Pervana’s reaction to the phrase) a slur 80% of the time. And I think the most annoying is that he is (but also quite frankly the author is too) WILDLY fatphobic. Like disgustingly so. And Backman himself also seems SUPER fatphobic as he can’t write about Jimmy at all without calling him a slob, talking about whether or not his clothes fit, constantly making him pester everyone about food, etc. It’s gross. I do like the overall message and there are moments that are sweet here but even in flashbacks to life with his beloved wife, Sonja, I can’t help but wonder why she stayed with a man who belittled her pretty frequently and also was just so nasty to others. His hatred of bureaucrats makes sense! His racism, sexism, and other casual bigotry really does not. None of that factors into his backstory and I feel like it’s odd that the author made certain qualities of Ove so repugnant when he could have just been a crotchety old man and loner who thinks everyone else is incompetent. The story would have been just as impactful. It all ties itself up by the end with a neat little bow but there are portions of this that are genuinely draining to get through.

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evander_og's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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