Book Report, August 2024

I spent a lot of time on the road

Fredrik Backman (2014). A Man Called Ove. [Kindle] Atria Books.

Lovely lovely story about humanity’s basic need to live in community. Ove spends much of the book interrupted in his attempts to commit suicide after losing his beloved wife to cancer. Their story is revealed in flashbacks , and it is a sweet love story between a silent, stoic man and a bright effervescent woman who saw his hidden heart.

The neighborhood invades Ove’s life and home, much to his chagrin, yet he grudgingly obliges their needs and finds that his wife’s friendly nature is reflected in the diverse people around him, even though she is gone. The ending is so tender that I actually teared up.

The chapters are short, so it’s a perfect book for bedtime reading.

A few lines:

“He can’t understand people who long to retire. How can anyone spend their whole life longing for the day when they become superfluous? Wandering about, a burden on society, what sort of man would ever wish for that?” (24)

“He was eight years old and decided that night he would never drive any car but a…