A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A review.
With the silly season behind us for another year it’s definitely time to breathe again – and what better way to inhale your way through the last two weeks (!!) of the school holidays than to disappear into the pages of your next favourite book?!
We heart a great book. Nothing makes us happier than a spine-tingling, life-altering, heart-wrenching novel you can truly lose yourself in, emerging a better person than when you started (apologies hubby and offspring. You guys come in at a very close second).
We crave the kind of book that issues a slap to the senses. Demands a tiny piece of your soul as payment for the privilege of the journey. But, in between these gutsy beasts we like to {need to} throw in a pickled ginger. What? You’d like us to expand? We’re referring to a palate cleanser. Something to refresh and recalibrate the senses before digging into the next sumptuous course. You may prefer lemon juice or crackers but we’re partial to a bit of pickling. These little refreshers make for great holiday reading because they give much more than they take. Unlike the kids… joking!
And so, let’s take a look at one of our favourite pickled gingers, an absolute gem of a book, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
Set in suburban Sweden, Ove (pronounced ooh-vah, like ‘hoover’ without the ‘h’ and soft on the ‘er’. Got it? Great!) is your text book grumpy old man. Absolutely fed up with a world gone mad and unapologetically disgusted by everything and everyone, Ove holds no punches when it comes to his giving his opinions, almost always unsolicited – and in his pursuit of having things done the “right way”. Recycling should be separated. Coffee should be brewed. Men should be able to reverse a trailer and neighbours should learn to read signs and mind their own business. Oh, and cars should be Saabs.
We meet our protagonist in an Apple store. A sales assistant’s worst nightmare. From the very first page we realise that we are dealing with a very prickly pear. Ove’s inner monologue is hysterically funny. What starts out as a quiet chuckle quickly turns into out-right laughter. Often sad and at times confronting, Ove’s life is a story of loss and survival written with warmth and a wry sense of humour. Alone for many years and completely set in his ways, Ove reluctantly meets his new neighbours, two small girls, a lanky man who can’t even manage to successfully climb a ladder and a foreign woman who won’t shut up, can’t take a hint but has a reasonable ability to cook.
Through each interaction with this family and other members of the small community of which he is the self-appointed caretaker, Ove is grudgingly forced to shed some of the icy exterior he has spent many years perfecting.
Somewhere between threatening to kill a dog, feuding with his Volvo-owning wheelchair bound, incapacitated neighbour, very nearly breaking a pregnant woman’s nose and punching a clown – we are completely and utterly charmed.
Despite his very best efforts, Ove finds himself surrounded by unlikely friendships and as a result we begin to see glimpses of a man with a most generous heart and a great capacity for love.
A joy to read from start to finish, A Man called Ove is tender, heart-warming, quirky and bittersweet. We will always hold a place in our hearts for ‘Ove’. And although it didn’t demand it, we gave it a little piece of our soul anyway.
Not bad for pickled ginger! Five gold stars.
Want it? Click here for the list of book shops in The Southern Highlands. Love shopping local!
