'A Man Called Ove'

Author:  Fredrik Backman
Date Read:  06/14/17
Date published:  08/27/12
Atria Books

"People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was color. All the color he had." 

Oh, Ove... A Man Called Ove is the tale of a cantankerous fifty-nine year-old man living in what I picture to be a quiet gated community in Sweden. While the plot of this story appears to be a quite ordinary tale of the life of a man named Ove, it was actually the most meaningful novel I've read in ages.

Ove is one bitter, grumpy old man who distrusts and dislikes pretty well everyone and everything. Since his beloved wife passed away six months prior to the novel's beginning, Ove has felt as if he lost his purpose and wishes to die in order to be reunited with the woman who he loved more than anything. His deceased wife Sonja, who is brought to life in Ove's memories, is described as being one of those rare human beings who sees the good in everyone and spreads love and laughter to those who need it most. She was essentially the polar opposite of Ove who "has been a grumpy old man since the first day of second grade", yet they completed each other's souls. "He went through life with his hands firmly shoved into his pockets. She danced."

The basic storyline is this:
The old man called Ove has made up his mind that he will commit suicide rather than facing life without his soul mate; however, an infuriating situation involving new neighbors and a failed attempt to back a trailer that results in the ruination of Ove's flower bed, sets off a chain of events that turns Ove's life upside down and thwarts his seemingly fool-proof attempts at self-destruction. You see, the thing about Ove is that underneath the snide comments and thick layer of contrariness, lies a heart of gold. In A Man Called Ove we're taken back in time to various points in Ove's life that molded him in to the man he became.

This book made me giggle so many times with its charming, full-of-life characters, that I came to love wholeheartedly. You have no idea how badly I wanted to reach into these pages and wrap Ove's cranky self into a great big bear hug. And then the tears came... At first they were those rare "happy tears" when my heart was so thoroughly filled by this story that I thought it may burst, but eventually came the kind of tears that steal your breath. I haven't cried that loudly and thoroughly in quite awhile and I'm not lying when I say that I had to tell myself to breathe as I was keening so noisily that I'm pretty sure my dog thought I needed medical attention. Thank goodness she can't dial 9-1-1...
A Man Called Ove is an absolute treasure. I loved this book so much. ☆☆☆☆☆

P.S. I think part of why this novel resonated so deeply with me is that I've met countless Oves and Sonjas in my nursing career. They are exactly why I do what I do.