A Man Called Ove

Nov 1, 2015 | Books

[title subtitle=”review: Marla Cantrell”][/title]

The novel starts like this. “Ove is fifty-nine. He drives a Saab. He’s the kind of man who points at people he doesn’t like the look of as if they were burglars and his forefinger a police officer’s flashlight.”

In those three sentences, much of what you need to know about Ove is revealed. He has no patience for anyone driving cars that aren’t made in Sweden, where he lives. He is opinionated and doesn’t care a thing about being politically correct.

At fifty-nine, he has little else to occupy his time. A hard worker since he was a teen, he’s recently been forced to retire. At home, the emptiness follows him like a fog. He gets up early every morning, patrolling his neighborhood, looking for those who’ve violated the tenets set down by the homeowner’s association, ready to call them out.

But then his new neighbors come crashing in, hitting his mailbox as they try to maneuver the trailer attached to their car (which is most definitely not a Saab). And as much as Ove tries to shoo them away, in the days that follow they show up at his door, asking to borrow things, asking for help with home repairs, and finally asking if he can teach the very pregnant wife, who’s foreign to Sweden, to drive.

Little by little, this curmudgeon is drawn into the world, and along the way he begins to open his heart to those around him. Still, he battles his temper and his affinity for bad language. Often, he’s hilarious, although he doesn’t see the humor, even though his new friends certainly do.

As the book unfolds, we find out what made him isolate himself, the hard knocks that formed his life. And we learn about the love of his life, Sonja, and how she softened him up and made the world an easier place for him to live. It is through her that Ove’s true heart is revealed.

Before the book ends, Ove becomes an unlikely hero, takes in a battered old cat, and befriends a motley crew of outcasts who need someone like Ove to make their lives better. And in what becomes possibly his greatest act, he reaches out to his ex-best friend, using his bullying nature to protect him, when no one else can.

The self-taught author, Fredrik Backman, studied comparative religion but dropped out and became a truck driver instead. But the need to write was always there, and now, at thirty-four, he’s one of Sweden’s most successful authors. In fact, in 2012, he published his first two books on the same day: this novel, A Man Called Ove (U.S. release in 2014), and Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, a book of non-fiction. His second novel, My Grandmother Sent Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, came out in 2013.

A Man Named Ove is a surprising book that starts out almost like a fairy tale and ends with a lesson we all need. We all have the capability to save someone else’s life, it tells us. We all have the ability to shine.

Do South Magazine

Related Posts

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This