Review: Heart-Warming
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2014
A Man called Ove just wants to be left alone to kill himself and he would do so if it weren't for those idiotic neighbours interfering with his plans.  When his constant vigilance isn't needed to prevent them from breaking the neighbourhood rules, his assistance is needed to prevent one disaster after another. So what's a grumpy old man to do when death is calling but life just keeps demanding his attention?A Man Called Ove is the debut novel by Swedish author Fredrik Backman and what a funny, sweet tale it is.  It is a story of love, loss, grief, loneliness, and the importance of community and it will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. Backman has created some wonderfully eccentric characters including Ove one of the most likable curmudgeons you'll meet in literature. It is Ove's outward grump and inward marshmallow that keeps the story from slipping over the line from sweet to schmaltz. He is rigid, opinionated, but, ultimately, endearing.  A Man Called Ove is a heart-warming tale of the importance of community and how diversity of all types, rather than dividing it, makes it stronger.