A Man Called Ove

From Goodreads:

In this bestselling and delightfully quirky debut novel from Sweden, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fryand Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Fredrik Backman's novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful and charming exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others.

From Me:

A book-club favorite!  It was chosen at random by me, only because we had an empty month in November and I had seen it a bit on the internet.

We're so glad we read it!

It was just a feel good kinda book.

And also a feel melancholy kind of book in certain places.

I loved it---I can't think of anything else to add.

 

2 things.

 

*I do have to take issue that Ove was and 'old man' at 57.

I had to put that line out of my mind and make him older, because 57 is not old at all.  But I guess one can be a curmudgeon at any age.

 

*I LOVED the description of a marriage--comparing it to an old house.  How at first it's so exciting getting your own home, you love everything about it.  Then as time settles in,  you begin to see some flaws, but it's still your's.  And if that time comes to sell your home, you are sad, because you LOVE all those old flaws.

(it says it better in the book---but you get the idea anyway)

 

A great read.

4 stars.