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A review by lizziepurpleserenity
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Literary fiction is not usually for me and although I have heard good things about Backman, it never really appealed to me. However, a prompt for a challenge this month was to read a translated book, and given that this book also has the mystery element (which is my jam), I thought I'd give it a go!
I went from, around ch30, disliking all the characters, finding the situation (in that particular chapter, a scene in the apartment) was becoming a bit farcical, thinking I would have DNF'd if it wasn't for the reading challenge - to ending the book in tears, caring about every single one of the characters and LOVED how it ended for each of them. Quite blown away in fact by how Backman somehow manages to write about all of us, how we tick, how life works (or doesn't) for us all, through a diverse set of characters all with different issues, of different ages, relationships, and set of circumstances. And oh man does he write women well too!!
What's more, somehow he manages to jump around the timeline, in and out of different POVs and tenses (even kind of second person, to encourage us to empathise), but it's never jarring, it works really well for the purpose of the story he is telling. As for the mystery, it is slowly uncovered chapter by chapter, as we learn more and more about each character and what they're doing there, how they're connected, and how they get to the ending of the story (which we had already witnessed at the beginning of the book, iirc).
I went from, around ch30, disliking all the characters, finding the situation (in that particular chapter, a scene in the apartment) was becoming a bit farcical, thinking I would have DNF'd if it wasn't for the reading challenge - to ending the book in tears, caring about every single one of the characters and LOVED how it ended for each of them. Quite blown away in fact by how Backman somehow manages to write about all of us, how we tick, how life works (or doesn't) for us all, through a diverse set of characters all with different issues, of different ages, relationships, and set of circumstances. And oh man does he write women well too!!
What's more, somehow he manages to jump around the timeline, in and out of different POVs and tenses (even kind of second person, to encourage us to empathise), but it's never jarring, it works really well for the purpose of the story he is telling. As for the mystery, it is slowly uncovered chapter by chapter, as we learn more and more about each character and what they're doing there, how they're connected, and how they get to the ending of the story (which we had already witnessed at the beginning of the book, iirc).
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt