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A review by reuben_books
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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? Yes
4.5
I feel emotionally wrecked after finishing this. I'm pretty sure I was crying solidly for the last 50 or so pages.
This is my first time reading Fredrik Backman, and I definitely understand the hype. It was such a real and heartfelt book which I think could bring just about anyone both comfort and emotional turmoil.
There are two reasons I haven't given this book 5 stars. If it weren't for these things, it would definitely be a 5. These are:
- Some pretty blatant fat-shaming/fatphobia. I would understand if this was just in Ove's point of view, as it is in his nature to be offensive about pretty much everything. However, this shaming was also in the main narrative voice. Jimmy - the only plus sized character in the book - was pretty much constantly eating, and described as greasy and no end of other fatphobic stereotypes. No other characters were stereotyped as much as him, and it did make me uncomfortable each time he was described.
- The words 'bent' and 'bender' to describe a gay character were used FAR too often, especially by a (as far as I can tell) straight male author. Again, this was in both Ove's voice and the narrative voice. It served a purpose when Ove was using these words in the beginning, but even after Ove was corrected and told not to use them, he still carried on, with seemingly no other repercussions. And the narrative voice just didn't have to use those words AT ALL. I do concede that these words and their true meaning could have been a little lost during the translation of the book, but I still do not like that they were used like this.
I hope that both of these issues are due to this book being written in 2012, and don't prove a problem in Backman's later works.
This is my first time reading Fredrik Backman, and I definitely understand the hype. It was such a real and heartfelt book which I think could bring just about anyone both comfort and emotional turmoil.
There are two reasons I haven't given this book 5 stars. If it weren't for these things, it would definitely be a 5. These are:
- Some pretty blatant fat-shaming/fatphobia. I would understand if this was just in Ove's point of view, as it is in his nature to be offensive about pretty much everything. However, this shaming was also in the main narrative voice. Jimmy - the only plus sized character in the book - was pretty much constantly eating, and described as greasy and no end of other fatphobic stereotypes. No other characters were stereotyped as much as him, and it did make me uncomfortable each time he was described.
- The words 'bent' and 'bender' to describe a gay character were used FAR too often, especially by a (as far as I can tell) straight male author. Again, this was in both Ove's voice and the narrative voice. It served a purpose when Ove was using these words in the beginning, but even after Ove was corrected and told not to use them, he still carried on, with seemingly no other repercussions. And the narrative voice just didn't have to use those words AT ALL. I do concede that these words and their true meaning could have been a little lost during the translation of the book, but I still do not like that they were used like this.
I hope that both of these issues are due to this book being written in 2012, and don't prove a problem in Backman's later works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Homophobia