Life is hard for everyone. There are disappointments, failures and loss. While the hardships make some people kinder and more empathetic, they make others hard and defensive. Ove, a 59-year-old man, is one of the latter. The death of his wife– the only person he loved and who loved him back–plunges him into a state of soul-sucking grief that turns him into a cranky, impossible old man.
Ove is bad-tempered, opinionated and wants everything to be just right. He dislikes his neighbours, regards government officials with suspicion and kicks stray cats out of his way. People call him ‘the bitter neighbour from hell’.
For years, the only person he truly loved had been Sonja, his wife. Even though she is no more, he holds entire conversations with her. And when he loses his job, he plans to join her right away. But the relationships that he is thrust into rather unwillingly end up bringing about a change in him. It is this unexpectedly heart-warming story that blogger-turned-author Backman tells in A Man Called Ove.
The story, set in Sweden, is presented in the form of chapters, each of which reads like a short story–an anecdote from Ove’s life. The reader is familiarised with the nature of the titular character in the initial chapters. The vivid descriptions and quippy dialogues have the reader laughing out loud, in turn making Ove a difficult and yet endearing character.
His life begins to change the day a new family moves in next door. They’re cheery and chatty and, as one would expect, Ove dislikes them straight off the bat. However, he finds himself going to their aid constantly as they settle down in the neighbourhood. His interaction with them starts off as entertainingly disastrous and gradually turns warm and meaningful.
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