I was rather taken aback at the beginning of this story, which opens with Ove going through the motions of hanging himself. Reading those step by step preparations was startling. After the death of his wife, Ove is very depressed and just wants to be done with his life, so he begins a series of attempts to end it. He has a lot of grudges against rule breakers, kids, neighbors and the routineness of every day. He yells at people and holds years-long resentments and just wants to be left alone. Despite that, Backman somehow manages to make him likeable.
I will say, it was a little hard for me to buy the relationships he had with his neighbors. Why would they go to him for help if he was so mean? When I was growing up we had a curmudgeony old neighbor who yelled at us for using his tree as third base and we all just steered clear! However, the hardest thing for me to swallow was his age! Here is a guy who is retired, knows nothing about a computer or ipad, doesn't use a coffee maker, drives too slow and thinks makeup and high heels are inappropriate. And yet he is 59 which Backman makes seem ancient! I just couldn't reconcile his age with his incompetence. (perhaps my offense is personal)
It may seem out of place to call this a feel good story since the main character is a grouchy old man on a mission to end his life, but ultimately that is what it is. If you like grumpy old men you'd enjoy A Man Called Ove. It's a quick and easy read and ultimately I kinda liked it too.
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