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A review by randeh
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
A Man Called Ove was absolutely perfect. Ove is your typical cranky "old man" (not actually old in the beginning of the book). He's set in his ways, follows rules and expects everyone else to follow them as well. While I'm not your typical cranky person (I'm not asking to speak with the manager!!) I resonated with Ove's need to have the rules followed and everything in order. I have 100% moved stuff from a green bin, recycling bin etc. and made note that "no one ever follows the rules" while doing it! Haha
Ove's character development throughout the novel was beautifully done. His neighbour Parvaneh was exactly what he needed to move on from the loss of his wife (and she kind of reminded me how he describes his wife - she let him be him but when enough was enough she told him so).
The kids calling him grandpa in the end had be in tears.
This book had me crying, laughing, crying some more and then laughing again. This is the novel that you expect to be a downer in the beginning and ends up being so uplifting. Everyone needs to read A Man Called Ove.
Outside of the book, I also watched the movie with Tom Hanks, A Man Called Otto and I recommend everyone watches it. While the book is always better, there are aspects of the movie that really are better than the book, such as his relationship with the cat.In the movie the cat starts out super crusty looking and in the end, he goes on the same journey as Otto and is refined and loving. Another aspect that I enjoyed in the movie was that they show scenes with his wife from the past so you get just a little bit of a better understanding of her personality, the actress did a really good job bringing her to life. The best scene in the movie was when Otto was in the hospital and the doctor was explaining to Marisol his condition and he says "his heart is too big" and she bursts out laughing and looking at the doctor like "you sure we're talking about the same crusty old man?" I laughed so hard. Oh my gosh it was brilliant.
This is one of those books that I will recommend to all and I'll also recommend the movie as they both compliment each other beautifully. Also as a plus, the translation in this book is perfect. I find sometimes with books that were translated to English some of it is not relatable, but that wasn't the case with this book. I will 100% be reading more Fredrik Backman novels.
As always some favourite quotes:
💬 "Lunacy, Ove reaffirms every year. Why should the power company directors feather their nest because of a bit of seasonality." This line perfectly describes Ove's character and had me chucklin'!
💬 "When she giggled, she sounded the way Ove imagined champagne bubbles would have sounded if they were capable of laughter."
Ove's character development throughout the novel was beautifully done. His neighbour Parvaneh was exactly what he needed to move on from the loss of his wife (and she kind of reminded me how he describes his wife - she let him be him but when enough was enough she told him so).
This book had me crying, laughing, crying some more and then laughing again. This is the novel that you expect to be a downer in the beginning and ends up being so uplifting. Everyone needs to read A Man Called Ove.
Outside of the book, I also watched the movie with Tom Hanks, A Man Called Otto and I recommend everyone watches it. While the book is always better, there are aspects of the movie that really are better than the book, such as his relationship with the cat.
This is one of those books that I will recommend to all and I'll also recommend the movie as they both compliment each other beautifully. Also as a plus, the translation in this book is perfect. I find sometimes with books that were translated to English some of it is not relatable, but that wasn't the case with this book. I will 100% be reading more Fredrik Backman novels.
As always some favourite quotes:
💬 "Lunacy, Ove reaffirms every year. Why should the power company directors feather their nest because of a bit of seasonality." This line perfectly describes Ove's character and had me chucklin'!
💬 "When she giggled, she sounded the way Ove imagined champagne bubbles would have sounded if they were capable of laughter."