A Man Called Ove

Book Review

 

Title: A Man Called Ove

Author: Fredrik Backman

Translation from Swedish: Henning Koch

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, London, 2015

Pages: 295

 

Ove is a grumpy old man. Right in the initial pages of the novel, we are informed that “People said he was bitter. Maybe they were right. He’d never reflected much on it. People also called him ‘anti-social’. Ove assumed this meant he wasn’t overly keen on people. And in this instance he could totally agree with them. More often than not people were out of their minds.”

The novel is Ove’s story It is Ove’s grumpiness that makes him a fascinating character for the reader. Grumpiness notwithstanding, Ove has a lot of goodness within. His world is governed by rules, order and routines. He is superhumanly hardworking and honest. He won’t speak about other people even if such silence means the loss of his job and even personal honour.

When his colleague Tom steals money and puts the blame squarely on Ove, which in turn leads to Ove’s losing the job which he loved much, the young Ove refuses to speak against Tom merely because it is his principled stand not to speak about other people. Even when Tom ridicules Ove publicly calling him “Thief”, Ove doesn’t budge from his principle. The director of the establishment knows the truth and hence saves Ove from prison and offers him another job.

It would have been quite impossible for a man like Ove to find a wife. But Ove did find one, a very loving one too, in Sonja. But Sonja’s life is cut short by cancer. A bus accident had already rendered her partly paralysed. Ove lives with fond memories of Sonja all his life. She had discovered the gentle soul that lay beneath Ove’s apparent grumpiness. She knows that “the best men are born out of their faults and that they often improve later on, more than if they’d never done anything wrong.”

Ove really doesn’t improve much. Not in Sonja’s lifetime, at least. Later, a few other characters in the neighbourhood bring about certain changes in him. Rather, they draw out the latent goodness. What endears Ove to the readers, however, is his grumpiness which is essentially a quarrel with the silliness of human nature that is constantly “driving a man to the brink of madness and suicide.” Ove does try to commit suicide a number of times, and something goes wrong each time.

Sonja’s death renders Ove’s life meaningless. However, certain neighbours like Parvaneh and her family, whom Ove detests initially, brings meaning into his life. Meaning and purpose in life often comes from outside oneself, the novel suggests again and again.

The novel is written in a deceptively simple, conversational style. There is much humour and it is dry, situational and character-driven. Ove makes us smile all too often. Even when he attempts suicide. The rope he used for hanging himself snapped. And his reaction? “This society… Can’t they even manufacture rope anymore? ... No, there’s no quality anymore, Ove decides.”

Backman’s style is stunningly simple but captivating. Just see how he describes Sonja’s death: “’Everything will be fine, darling Ove,’” Sonja whispers “and leaned her arm against his arm. And then gently pushed her index finger into the palm of his hand (as she often did). And then closed her eyes and died.”

Sonja’s death was nothing less than the end of the world for Ove. But he survives. In spite of his repeated attempts to take his own life. At least some people in the neighbourhood bring some light into his dark world, Parvaneh being the leading one. It is she who tells Ove on one occasion, “You know, Ove, sometimes one almost suspects you have a heart.” What makes Ove lovable in spite of all his grumpiness is precisely that suspicion which we all share as we read the novel.

Let me add a personal note. I bought this novel a few years ago and started reading it too. But it failed to enthuse me beyond 40 or 50 pages. I took it down again the other day from the shelf and this time Ove did capture my interest. In a way, it is a feel-good novel. Having read it now, I have begun to love Ove as much as Parvaneh did, though not as much as Sonja did. Though Sonja dies too early in Ove’s life, she remains a central character in the novel. Love has no death.