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A review by richardrbecker
The Winners by Fredrik Backman
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
tense
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
5.0
Winners by Fredrick Backman is a beautiful book, not because of the plot but for its completion in exploring community — how small and big events ripple through our lives even when we don't know it. And, it is in this macro view differs from the original novel Beartown, which was much more grounded in its plot.
Ironically, when I started reading this book with my daughter, I missed that I had skipped over the second book in the series. But it didn't take long for me to know it didn't matter. Nor did it matter that my daughter never had the benefit of reading the first book. While I recommend starting with Beartown, suffice it to say you can pick up anywhere in the Beartown series and feel fulfilled. Backman does a beautiful job of bringing in all that has happened before in just the right amounts.
Told over roughly two weeks (although it will feel so much longer), Backman dashes headlong into several themes tied together by an overarching premise about the trajectory of many lives, how they nearly miss each other or collide, and the aftermath of those collisions and near misses. In the process, Backman convinces you to think about your own life and all those consequences, great and small, once a chain of cause and effect is set in motion.
At its heart, some will have you believe the entire Beartown series is about hockey and the love of a sport. While this is true in terms of attitude and atmosphere is not true in terms of what Beartown is about. Beartown and the rival community of Head may be brought together (and pushed part by hockey), but it's really about small towns and the people who attempt to shape them for better or worse. It reminded me of my small-town experiences, growing up part-time in northern Wisconsin until I was ten: How everyone knows everyone or at least thinks they do. And how different one lake community could be from the next despite looking the same to anyone on the outside.
Northern Wisconsin wasn't a hockey town or forest community like Beartown, but one can clearly see the same patterns. In exploring these patterns, Backman does a brilliant job of exploring what it means to be human, if not part of sometimes greater than ourselves (even if that something might feel small scale by some standards). Best of all, Backman does something that I have always appreciated. He tells extraordinary stories about ordinary people much like I like to do. So if you can enjoy that, then I cannot recommend Winners and the balance of Beartown enough.
Ironically, when I started reading this book with my daughter, I missed that I had skipped over the second book in the series. But it didn't take long for me to know it didn't matter. Nor did it matter that my daughter never had the benefit of reading the first book. While I recommend starting with Beartown, suffice it to say you can pick up anywhere in the Beartown series and feel fulfilled. Backman does a beautiful job of bringing in all that has happened before in just the right amounts.
Told over roughly two weeks (although it will feel so much longer), Backman dashes headlong into several themes tied together by an overarching premise about the trajectory of many lives, how they nearly miss each other or collide, and the aftermath of those collisions and near misses. In the process, Backman convinces you to think about your own life and all those consequences, great and small, once a chain of cause and effect is set in motion.
At its heart, some will have you believe the entire Beartown series is about hockey and the love of a sport. While this is true in terms of attitude and atmosphere is not true in terms of what Beartown is about. Beartown and the rival community of Head may be brought together (and pushed part by hockey), but it's really about small towns and the people who attempt to shape them for better or worse. It reminded me of my small-town experiences, growing up part-time in northern Wisconsin until I was ten: How everyone knows everyone or at least thinks they do. And how different one lake community could be from the next despite looking the same to anyone on the outside.
Northern Wisconsin wasn't a hockey town or forest community like Beartown, but one can clearly see the same patterns. In exploring these patterns, Backman does a brilliant job of exploring what it means to be human, if not part of sometimes greater than ourselves (even if that something might feel small scale by some standards). Best of all, Backman does something that I have always appreciated. He tells extraordinary stories about ordinary people much like I like to do. So if you can enjoy that, then I cannot recommend Winners and the balance of Beartown enough.