A Man Called Ove: The global bestselling phenomenon Paperback – 7 May 2015

What a book! What a writer . I don't like explaining plots so just to say - there's humour , dark humour .this book moved me to tears and laughter- often at the same time . It is an important book for our times . Is already a classic . Fredriks writing is for ages of 16 and up . I would imagine it's the over 30s who will enjoy it the most . A moving tale of love , family , and ageing. You can't help but love the main character Ove - who at first you wonder why he is so grumpy. All the characters come alive on the page - so well written . Would recommend highly

Ove (pronounced Oover) is a 59 year old man to whom life has dealt some poor hands. Orphaned at 16, he felt little happiness until he met Sonja who was to become his wife. Sadly, while on holiday, Ove and pregnant Sonja were involved in an accident and she lost her baby and the use of her legs. But at least they still had each other.Four years ago Sonja was diagnosed with cancer. Six months ago she died.The taciturn Ove has no family and is all alone and since his wife's death he's become increasingly insular.The Housing Office, who he's dutifully served for a third of a century, has forced him into early retirement. His local Residential Association, who he was a senior part of, no longer need him.He can't come to terms with the loss of Sonja and he feels his life is now surplus to requirements. It's time for Ove to meet her 'up there'.The trouble is, every time he tries to join her, his attempts are constantly thwarted by people needing something from him. And when the crazy foreign couple and their three and seven year old daughters move onto his street, he becomes begrudgingly involved with them on a regular basis.Gradually it dawns on Ove he does have a purpose after all.On reading the synopsis you may think this novel sounds somewhat bleak. I can assure you it is far from it.Though Ove believes he's reached the end of the line and cares little for nobody else, if you stick with him you'll see how a grumpy, grieving man on the verge of his Golden Years, will perform shining acts of selflessness when called upon. This is because, for Ove, there is right and there is wrong. There is black and there is white and one must act accordingly.Written from the third person P.O.V, set in modern day, you're told of Ove's childhood, how he met his wife by simply sitting next to her a train and saying nothing, up to his current life events.This is a Swedish novel which has taken Europe by storm, but even though Ove is from Sweden he displays a lot of traits that are common with the more mature British population. He's easily enraged by minor things, he regards strangers with mistrust and is slightly politically incorrect. I think his appeal is that the author's done an excellent job in creating a character that is so real and one that most of us have known at some point in our lives. Because of that we can relate to Ove.In contrast with his mumbly, moody personality, the few supporting characters add humour to the story especially heavily pregnant, Arabic, Parvaneh, who, despite Ove's reluctance to engage with her finds him very endearing.It's an extremely lovely, poignant, life affirming story about community spirit and no matter what we do, or how small, we all have a purpose.Whether he'll admit or not, the bottom line is Ove cares. By the end of the novel you are guaranteed to love Ove.I recommend 'A Man Called Ove' to all. It's a short, easy read and one that I'm sure you'll remember with much fondness.

I’m always a little anxious when I start reading a much-lauded, and more importantly, a much loved book. In fact, I’m aware many people cite A Man Called Ove as one of their favourite books ever. While I liked a lot about A Man Called Ove – I found parts of it moving, funny and quirky – I can’t say I loved it wholeheartedly. I’m going to start by talking about the elements I did really like and then move on to explain my reservations.I loved the strange and beautiful love story of Ove and Sonja – ‘He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had.’ I thought the picture we get of Ove through Sonja’s love for him and his devotion to her, is the most moving part of the book. Sonja could see beneath the exterior of the shy rather awkward young man she met on a train to the truthful, loyal, heroic and resilient person beneath. If other words, she could see the colour in Ove that others couldn’t. Despite the contrasts between them, they fitted together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to produce a complete picture.There are beautiful lines, such as:‘But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he had never lived before he met her.’‘He knew better to speak ill of what she loved; after all, he understood very keenly how it was to receive her love when no one else could understand why he was worthy of it.’Really, I simply loved Sonja and who wouldn’t? She loves books, she loves to laugh, she’s a teacher, she fights for her pupils and inspires them to achieve more than they think they can. In a way, Ove is her most ambitious project and the saddest aspect of the book is that we never get to see what she could have achieved.So what were the aspects I was less enthusiastic about? Well, I got a little bored with all the Saab references and jokes. Perhaps you have to be Swedish or a car owner (and I’m neither) to appreciate them. And although the book was really funny in parts, at times I found the humour rather predictable and the visual and verbal punch lines easy to see coming.However, my main reservation was about the development of the character of Ove himself. The author didn’t completely convince me how the socially awkward but essentially decent and likeable young man that Sonja fell in love with became the anti-social, sexist curmudgeon that we meet at the beginning of the book. I appreciate we learn about tragic events in Ove’s life but they didn’t seem to me to sufficiently explain such a change in his character.Having said this, the author is a skilful writer and although one may not like Ove – and you definitely wouldn’t want to have him as a neighbour – the author makes you care about him. And, in the end, any imperfections in the portrayal of Ove’s character were redeemed for me by the portrait painted of Sonja and their emotional story. That love story, for me, is the beautiful heart of the book.

This was a very different book from what I normally read. I'm so glad I did, it was amazing. It made me laugh, made me feel sad and finally at the end, it made me cry. Something no book or film had ever made me do.

A very sweet story. It's heartwarming, funny and sad. There are parts where I laughed out loud. And parts where I sobbed & sobbed.

Muy simpático, muy humano, me hace reír y pensar. Es interesante ver cómo cambian los lugares con el tiempo a través de la historia. Voy a la mitad y lo disfruto mucho.

Esse não é um livro triste, não é um livro feliz, não é mais uma historia de vida de uma pessoa.Aqui iremos conhecer o velho e rabugento Ove, sua vida toda, os acontecimentos, os motivos de alegria e os motivos de tristeza. O que fez com que hoje ele chegasse a ser quem é. Com toda certeza ou você vai se identificar 100% com sua rabugice ou vai simplesmente ter vontade de desistir porque Ove com toda certeza é um baita de um velho rabugento, mas eu te peço dê uma chance a esse senhor, conheça ele, tente entender quem ele é, porque ele é assim. E só depois tire sua conclusão.Um livro que todo inicio de capitulo você começa rindo, porém após cada final de capitulo você leva um soco no estomago, depois que ver tudo o que ele passou e todo aprendizado que ele nos trás.Com toda certeza um livro incrível, um daqueles que deveria se tornar um clássico e deveria com toda certeza ser lido por todos, ao menos uma vez na vida."He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had."

This is a warm, humorous and compassionate story of an older Swedish man facing some challenging circumstances and of the events that he deals with. It provokes laughter and tears, sometimes simultaneously. Anyone with relatives from that era (or perhaps with relatives from Scandinavia) are likely to recognize some of Ove's qualities. The actual writing is beautiful and it's a joy to observe the unfolding of Ove's story, past and present. I hope to read this in the original one day (and to watch the Swedish film based on this book as well). This type of book may not be for everyone, but I love it and have been recommending it to friends and family.

Se trata de un cascarrabias poco sociable que se enfada por cualquier cosa.Es también comico a la vez. Más avanza el libro mas te das cuenta que este hombre tiene un buén corazón. Me encantó el libro y voy a leer mas libros de este escritor.