Review: A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After seeing this book on the shelves at the bookstore - and on one of the front tables as well - for quite some time, I finally picked it up and found myself surprised by what I found within. I'd read the first chapter in the store already, and it was pretty funny, even if a lot of the humor came from Ove's political incorrectness and utter lack of patience for the poor guy trying to sell him an iPad. So I thought the book would be pretty funny in the same vein. And, to an extent, it was...but it was also pretty sad too, once we found out how much Ove was so lonely and wanted to all but kill himself.

Or, at least, he would if he weren't repeatedly interrupted in the process by his neighbors. Who may or may not be representations of the universe's existence that Ove's time hasn't come yet.

A little ironically, despite the often dark subject matter, this book actually helped me feel a bit better about myself, reading it on a day when I'd woken up super depressed. For that reason, I'll be happy to recommend it to anyone who comes by it at the store. If they haven't read it already, of course.

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