The Heart Behind the Grump: Exploring Fredrik Backman's 'A Man Called Ove'

A man called Ove – Fredrick Bachman

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First of all… it is Ove, not Otto. No offense to Tom Hanks, but no… it is Ove, not Otto.

Fredrick Bachman shot up in the list of my fav authors to read when I heard his novel, Anxious People. The man speaks my language… Sarcastic for the joy of being sarcastic… BTW, if you haven’t read it yet… why are you here listening to reviews? Go get a copy… read it, better yet, listen to it… it’s HILLARIOUS.

I was still on a high of laughter that Bachman’s word and Marin Ireland’s narration brought over, when I picked up Ove. And by God, I fell in love. Didn’t even took 3 pages… I promise, I’m not exaggerating.

 

A man called Ove, is the story of Ove.. as the name suggests. Bachman is a Swede, and the novel was originally written in Swedish, so the name is Swedish… and of course, it is set in Sweden. Ove is a curmudgeon… grumpy grumpy old man. He lives alone, in a cul-de-sac sort of place. He is part of the HOA, and has very strict and rigid principles. He does not like rule-breaking, does not like cats, does not like loud noises, and most importantly, he does not people without what he thinks is common sense. He has lost his wife, and has no friends to talk about. He is a very unpleasant human, at the outset. He’s upset with the world, and lost without his wife, Sonja. He’s alone and on the verge of giving up on life, because life does not make sense to him anymore, after Sonja’s death.

 

Ove’s little oasis is disturbed when a new neighbour comes to live across the road. They are everything Ove is not… They are noisy, and boisterous and set on making friends with Ove.  He is a bumbling fool who can’t even make a three-point turn, and she is VERY pregnant, and doesn’t know how to DRIVE…. I mean, seriously? People have just … lost their minds… but behind all this frustration and anger, Ove is a just a man who doesn’t have a direction. He was always a peculiar kid, and when he grew up, he grew up to be a peculiar man… straight arrow in a world of bendy roads. He found his hope, and direction when he met his wife Sonja. She made the world a better place. A place that he could navigate. After her passing, he doesn’t know what he can do with himself.

 

A man called Ove, is a story that you don’t see coming when it hits you. You start the novel by meeting this extremely unpleasant, always grumbling, always complaining, curmudgeon of a man, who dislikes everyone and everything. Who makes everyone he meets, angry. But then it slowly evolves into a narrative about finding one’s place in the world. About losing one’s anchor and then finding oneself adrift. It’s a story that talks about a huge problem that all our ageing parents are facing. A problem of feeling like the world is changing and feeling like they don’t belong anywhere anymore.

While I was reading Ove, I kept comparing him with my father. My dad has so many traits that are similar to Ove that for a few minutes, I actually felt like I was reading about him. The love for rules, and principles, the need to correct and criticize, the whole “have people lost their minds” reaction to most anything that’s new… the bafflement of technology… even the confusion at knowing that someone doesn’t possess a basic life skill … like driving. Ove doesn’t think that he could be wrong. Or that there might be something he has to learn. He knows what works for him, and for him, that is the law. Anything other than that, has to be madness. 😊

 

He seems like a pain, doesn’t he? And he is pain….But he is also lovable. He has a charm that it truly his own. He won Sonja over with that charm, didn’t he? He is stoic in his love. Completely dedicated. He doesn’t ask for much from life, and he doesn’t expect or can’t process complexity. He gets roped into being a babysitter of the girls when the bumbling neighbour of his loses his footing and falls from a ladder. He appoints himself, her driving instructor when the VERY pregnant new neighbour tells him, she can’t drive. And what a wonderful instructor he is… patient and knowledgeable. He even gets along with a stray cat that has decided to adopt him, as a pet parent. Although reluctantly, but he lets the cat in his life.

Fredrik Bachman wrote Ove, in such a beautiful manner, that you don’t have any other option but to fall in love with him. With all his quirks and his ticks… Ove becomes a part of your feel-good need. If you have ever had a dad, or granddad or an old uncle who was constantly at battle with the world… I bet, you will see him in Ove… and you will love him for it.

 

A man called Ove, was adapted into a movie with the title “A man called Otto” and had Tom Hanks playing the title role. It’s a rather faithful adaption of the book. So, if you think reading is too much or maybe you like the idea of seeing Tom Hanks being a grumpy old man, check the movie out… in any case, this is a story that all of us need to experience. How you meet Ove, is not important… what is important is that you meet him. At least once.