A Man Called Ove

A job well done is a reward in its own right

It is amazing to see the vastness of emotions that can be captured through such simple words. Such is the craft of Fredrik Backman.

A Man Called Ove tells a story not only about what happens when we allow life to enter, but also about how often we foolishly let go of the very chances that could bring us happiness. That reluctance is not always born out of guilt or grief, but often from our unwillingness to see the world differently.

Ove, for most of his life, had endured more hardship than many could imagine. He lost his parents at a young age, grew up in poverty, worked odd jobs to survive, and had to abandon his dream of joining the army due to a chronic medical condition. He lost all his savings to a fraudulent insurance claim, watched the house he built with his own hands burn to ashes, lost a dear friend, and eventually had to live on after losing the love of his life, Sonja, far earlier than he ever should have.

After all this, who wouldn’t want to put a bullet through their own head or surrender themselves to death?

Ove wasn’t an exception. He was simply unlucky with timing.

In all his attempts to end his life, poor Ove kept running out of luck. The reason, strangely enough, was none other than he himself.

How could he leave the world when idiots were still driving their cars into a residential area clearly marked “Motor Vehicles Prohibited”? When young men couldn’t even repair their crush’s bicycle? When thirty-one-year-old mothers didn’t know how to drive, and business analysts couldn’t even reverse a trailer?

So there he was—fixing the world. After all, how could he ever meet the eyes of Sonja again if he had left his work unfinished?

Meanwhile, buying an iPad for his new three-year-old friend somehow became another unexpected responsibility written into his life.

A man who believes deeply in should-be, when confronted with could-be, will often get entangled in could-have-been. Yet the could-bees are always better than the could-have-beens.

Such was the man called Ove.

Backman’s writing is absorbing and charming. The book is one that is difficult to put away. The seamless movement between Ove’s past and present builds the story beautifully, blending wit, warmth, and quiet humor.

The world is full of Oves. If you are someone of my age, try to be the Parvaneh. So that when the day comes when you become an Ove yourself, there will be Parvanehs waiting at your door.

Because life has a peculiar way of insisting on being lived.

All you have to do is let it in.

Because you are not a complete twit.