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A review by suprita
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
"People sometimes say that sorrow is mental but longing is physical. One is a wound, the other an amputated limb. Anything that grows closely enough to what it loves will eventually share the same roots. We can talk about loss, we can treat it and give it time, but biology still forces us to live according to certain rules: plants that are split down the middle don’t heal, they die."
What do you say about a book that makes you chuckle amidst tears and makes you cry between huffs of laughter? A book that both breaks and mends your heart over and over again? What do you say about a town that takes your breath away in a single second? A town you can’t live in but can only survive? What do you say about the Bears from Beartown, loyal to a fault? What do you say about parents who feel like a blanket that is always too small, that no matter how much they try to cover everyone, there’s always someone who’s freezing? About a fierce wolf-mother who counts her children every night - two in their beds, one in heaven - and is ready to kill for them? About a father who loves immensely but doesn’t have any violence inside him? What do you say about a girl who’s been through so much that she's afraid of the dark in the day, and yet remains a courageous wolf like her mother? What do you say about a boy with the most handsome face, the saddest eyes and the wildest heart one could ever find? About another young boy who is a lion among bears? And last, but definitely not the least, what do you say about an author who is brilliance personified? A translator who knows that words are not small things?
You say nothing. Not because you don’t want to, but because you can’t. And that is the beauty of Beartown. A book that made a girl, who has never been interested in any team sport, fall in love with a hockey town.
Somewhere in the book Mr Backman beautifully describes what freezing water does to a structure. In the summer the rain seeps into the cracks in the bricks, then when the temperature slips below zero the moisture freezes to ice, and the bricks break. That is exactly what his book does. It slowly seeps into your heart and once the story expands, your heart breaks.
What do you say about a book that makes you chuckle amidst tears and makes you cry between huffs of laughter? A book that both breaks and mends your heart over and over again? What do you say about a town that takes your breath away in a single second? A town you can’t live in but can only survive? What do you say about the Bears from Beartown, loyal to a fault? What do you say about parents who feel like a blanket that is always too small, that no matter how much they try to cover everyone, there’s always someone who’s freezing? About a fierce wolf-mother who counts her children every night - two in their beds, one in heaven - and is ready to kill for them? About a father who loves immensely but doesn’t have any violence inside him? What do you say about a girl who’s been through so much that she's afraid of the dark in the day, and yet remains a courageous wolf like her mother? What do you say about a boy with the most handsome face, the saddest eyes and the wildest heart one could ever find? About another young boy who is a lion among bears? And last, but definitely not the least, what do you say about an author who is brilliance personified? A translator who knows that words are not small things?
You say nothing. Not because you don’t want to, but because you can’t. And that is the beauty of Beartown. A book that made a girl, who has never been interested in any team sport, fall in love with a hockey town.
Somewhere in the book Mr Backman beautifully describes what freezing water does to a structure. In the summer the rain seeps into the cracks in the bricks, then when the temperature slips below zero the moisture freezes to ice, and the bricks break. That is exactly what his book does. It slowly seeps into your heart and once the story expands, your heart breaks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Bullying
Minor: Body shaming