Review: "It isn't what a man says that matters, it is what he does."
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 18, 2014
A wonderful debut novel by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove had me laughing out loud, and blinking back tears."He was a man of black and white.... Ove wanted what was right to be right, and what was wrong to be wrong."Ove is a man who believes in order, routine and rules, he has worked hard all of his life, paid his taxes, taken care of his beloved wife and his house but now, forced into retirement and alone at 59, he no longer has any wish to continue on. He has made his peace, planned carefully for his departure, but is wholly unprepared for what follows after his new neighbours accidentally flatten his mailbox.Undaunted by Ove's inflexible opinions, gruff manner and short temper, Parveneh and her family make demands of Ove that he cannot resist. And then comes a mangy cat, a homeless teen and a man in a white shirt, and slowly, despite his best intentions, Ove begins to live again.Simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting, this is a story about love, grief, life, death and Saab's. Told with heartfelt emotion, wry insight and a sense of humour, Backman has created an endearing character, few will be able to dismiss."It isn't what a man says that matters, it is what he does."For all that it made me feel, I'm declaring A Man Called Ove my favourite book of the year so far.