This community gives us hope in the possibility for connection and support. With a wide cast of neighbors from different backgrounds and with different personalities, there is such a strong sense of community in the novel-something we need in today’s world. The moments of love between characters sneak up on you in the best way.Ħ. Things are new and exciting at first, then you get comfortable in your surroundings and relish the familiarity. Moment of love. Loving someone is like moving into a house. I think we all loved Jimmy, the overweight, highly allergic character who swaddles the cat in one of the funniest scenes in the book.ĥ. She loves characters who think they are always right and set in their way. Sarah Jane found Parvannah’s interactions with Ove to be hilarious. For Julianna, the humor was in her head as a carton image of Ove as an old, grumpy man walking around enforcing all the rules. Stu particularly loved the funniness of the chapter headers and the drawings. A MAN CALLED OVE is funny and heart warming and sad. We found ourselves looking forward to the cat’s reactions to things, like Ove’s driving lesson with Parvaneh.Ĥ. The cat quickly becomes Ove’s companion and thyy sort of merge into the same person. Apparently there wasn’t as much writing about the cat in the first draft of the novel, and Fredrik Backman’s agent convinced him to put a little more of the feline character in the story. When you meet Ove as a grumpy old man, it’s easy to forget that he’s lived an entire life before readers meet him.To Julianna, Ove seems like the literary equivalent of Carl Fredricksen from Pixar’s movie Up.ģ. The cat. Ariele gave us the inside scoop on the cat. Ove endured so much loss in his past that he is unable to let new people in-until, of course, his new neighbors force their way in. The vulnerability of the characters in this book shows that the past does sometimes define you. Sometimes small things that happen and they just stick with you. Ove’s past plays a tremendous role in his present.
This novel showcases the good in the world and renews our faith in humanity.Ģ. There is so much going on in the world, but this book shows us the possibility for connection in the small interactions of everyday life. We were all a little surprised by how much we loved A MAN CALLED OVE. Some of us (Stu) were skeptical about the idea for a book about a grumpy old man who doesn’t have a reason to live after his wife dies. We were instantly charmed by this story about a curmudgeon named Ove (which we learned is pronounced Ooo-ve thanks to Ariele, who’s spent enough time with Fredrik Backman to master the accent), and his unexpected friendship with the chatty neighbors next door.
Snacking on Swedish fish, we chatted about the beloved novel A MAN CALLED OVE and all things Fredrik Backman. In case you missed it, Something to Read About: the Off the Shelf Book Club hosted its second Facebook Live Book Club meeting.
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