Name: A Man Called Ove
ISBN: 9781476738017

Fredrik Backman

A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship.

A Novel

A Man Called Ove

Alina

Nandita Joshi 

Eslie

Ove feels an instinctive skepticism towards all people taller than six feet; the blood can’t quite make it all the way up to the brain.

Darshini ✨

You miss the strangest things when you lose someone. Little things. Smiles. The way she turned over in her sleep. Even repainting a room for her.

Jessie!

But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he never lived before he met her. And not after either.

Julia

And she was colour. All the colour he had.

Srijita Sarkar 

Dreya

Elad Schulman

It was as if he didn't want other people to talk to him, he was afraid that their chattering voices would drown out the memory of her voice.

“Loving someone is like moving into a house,” Sonja used to say. “At first you fall in love with all the new things, amazed every morning that all this belongs to you, as if fearing that someone would suddenly come rushing in through the door to explain that a terrible mistake had been made, you weren’t actually supposed to live in a wonderful place like this. Then over the years the walls become weathered, the wood splinters here and there, and you start to love that house not so much because of all its perfection, but rather for its imperfections. You get to know all the nooks and crannies. How to avoid getting the key caught in the lock when it’s cold outside. Which of the floorboards flex slightly when one steps on them or exactly how to open the wardrobe doors without them creaking. These are the little secrets that make it your home.”

It is difficult to admit that one is wrong. Particularly when one has been wrong for a very long time.

Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise.

Michelle Dsouza

A Man Called Ove held my heart in its hands and squeezed it. Gently. Then completely. I actually listened to the audiobook first and loved it so much that I immediately bought the physical book because I knew I wanted to read it again. That rarely happens for me. This story has that kind of pull. At first glance, the premise sounds deceptively simple. Ove is the kind of older man who seems made entirely of irritation. He polices parking spaces, corrects strangers, and seems personally offended by the existence of modern life. The book introduces him as a rigid rule follower who thinks society is collapsing because nobody does things properly anymore. And then you keep reading. And you slowly realize the story is not about a grumpy man at all. It is about grief. It is about what happens when a person builds their entire life around love and then that love disappears. Ove’s stubbornness, his rules, his endless irritation with the world, all of it begins to look less like personality and more like armor. Fredrik Backman is doing something very deliberate here. The novel uses humor to open the door and heartbreak to walk you through it. What starts as something almost comedic gradually reveals a deeper story about loneliness, loss, and the quiet ways people save each other without even realizing they are doing it. The writing is deceptively simple but incredibly precise. Backman has a way of delivering emotional punches in the middle of what looks like an ordinary sentence. You think you are reading something light and funny and suddenly the book is sitting directly in your chest. Ove himself is one of the most memorable characters I have come across in a long time. You are not supposed to like him at first. That is the trick. He is prickly, judgmental, and difficult. But the more you learn about him, the more those edges start to make sense. And once the story reveals what shaped him, the grumpiness becomes something else entirely. The structure of the novel works beautifully as well. Backman alternates between the present and the past in a way that slowly recontextualizes everything you thought you understood about Ove. Each memory adds weight, and by the time the emotional pieces fully click together, the book lands with enormous force. What makes the story stand out is that it never turns grief into spectacle. The sadness here feels real, lived-in, and deeply human. But the novel also refuses to stay in despair. It is just as much about community, kindness, and the accidental ways people pull each other back into life. I also have to admit that this book hit me personally. I grew up surrounded by two Oves. The same stubbornness. The same quiet decency. The same kind of love that is rarely spoken but constantly shown through actions. They are no longer here, and reading this felt like spending time with them again. I cried through parts of this book. Not because it was manipulative, but because it was honest. By the end, I was not just emotional. I was grateful. And genuinely, if this book leaves you with anything, it is this: the next time you see someone older who has lost their partner, hug them. Even if they act like Ove. Especially if they act like Ove.

୨ৎ : 'ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. but if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.'

havent even started my review and im already sobbing. this book was fucking everything to me. ove didnt want to die he just wanted to be with sonja and it breaks my heart. 

this book was so heartbreaking, but also heartwarming. the way fredrik backmans writes his characters just tug at the heartstrings. 

nothing will ever repair my broken pieces after this book. i was in a puddle of tears multiple times. the way ove talked about sonja, the way everyone truly did love him despite his grumpy demeanour, and the way ove really did learn to care for everyone and make his own little family. 

i could probably talk all day about how this book made me feel but i fear i cant see through the tears. so if you havent read it. you need too now. this is a threat.  

୨ৎ : 'ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. but if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.'

— ☆ 5/5

havent even started my review and im already sobbing. this book was fucking everything to me. ove didnt want to die he just wanted to be with sonja and it breaks my heart. 

this book was so heartbreaking, but also heartwarming. the way fredrik backmans writes his characters just tug at the heartstrings. 

nothing will ever repair my broken pieces after this book. i was in a puddle of tears multiple times. the way ove talked about sonja, the way everyone truly did love him despite his grumpy demeanour, and the way ove really did learn to care for everyone and make his own little family. 

i could probably talk all day about how this book made me feel but i fear i cant see through the tears. so if you havent read it. you need too now. this is a threat.  

I didn’t realise I could love a book so much.

After Anxious People, this is the 2nd book of Fredrik Backman that I read and absolutely loved. I don't think I have come across any author yet who has brought so many emotions out of me the way Backman has done. 

Ove is this fascinating character who is tough nut from outside but has a big heart (literally) inside. We go on a ride with Ove (in Ove's Saab) as he rediscovers the purpose of life and along with him we discover many beautiful characters and incidences told wonderfully by the Author.

I can keep on praising Backman and his Ove but I don't think Ove would like that.

Adwait Kulkarni

After Anxious People, this is the 2nd book of Fredrik Backman that I read and absolutely loved. I don't think I have come across any author yet who has brought so many emotions out of me the way Backman has done. 

Ove is this fascinating character who is tough nut from outside but has a big heart (literally) inside. We go on a ride with Ove (in Ove's Saab) as he rediscovers the purpose of life and along with him we discover many beautiful characters and incidences told wonderfully by the Author.

I can keep on praising Backman and his Ove but I don't think Ove would like that.

Fun and actually helped me empathize with the guy. Love you, Ove. Made me cry.

Roseanne

I won’t lie, at first I really was thinking how in the world this character can be redeemed by being so bitter and just the typical grumpy old man…all I have to say now is that it has given me a whole new perspective.

Ove is a big oxymoron, selfishly selfless, to say the least. He didn’t like being bothered but couldn’t stand others not being able to help themselves, with such simple tasks, even more and in the process not only saving lives but changing them for the better. He won me over and yes, this book made me cry.

I will say personally I’m not a fan of third person pov and it sometimes seems a bit repetitive on the way the author writes his sentences but overall this book is just something special. 

lily

I won’t lie, at first I really was thinking how in the world this character can be redeemed by being so bitter and just the typical grumpy old man…all I have to say now is that it has given me a whole new perspective.

Ove is a big oxymoron, selfishly selfless, to say the least. He didn’t like being bothered but couldn’t stand others not being able to help themselves, with such simple tasks, even more and in the process not only saving lives but changing them for the better. He won me over and yes, this book made me cry.

I will say personally I’m not a fan of third person pov and it sometimes seems a bit repetitive on the way the author writes his sentences but overall this book is just something special. 

I loved the book, the characters, their relationships. I love how you slowly understand why ove is how he is. I want to read more from fredrik backman now. might even watch the movie adaptation

Rutik 

I keep reading these stories about strangers becoming family and I love it. I like exploring the good in humans.

Ani Velasquez

I keep reading these stories about strangers becoming family and I love it. I like exploring the good in humans.

This book was hug!

This book will both make you sob and make you want a cat. This was beautiful and restored a little bit of my faith in humanity. Ove is such a delight to read about, he’ll make this book stick with me for a very long time. 

Beth Bartholomew

I’d like to thank my boyfriend <3 because he’s the only one who has motivated me throughout 😭😭

Keira 💫

I did it!!! 

I finished my first book in MONTHS. 

Let’s go. 

I’d like to thank my boyfriend <3 because he’s the only one who has motivated me throughout 😭😭

This book simultaneously had me laughing out loud and crying. I would put it in my top ten honestly! 

Kass

I can’t believe I DNF’d this book but I’m so happy that I picked it back up. A Man Called Ove is my new personality.

🥔

Such a beautiful, funny, emotional brilliant book. So pleased I read it and would recommend it. It's just so different and so good.

Sarah Chauvidon

i cant stop crying this book is so beautiful i cant even express how much this book made me FEEL aaaaaa just heartbreaking

Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm In this "charming debut" (People) from one of Sweden's most successful authors, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon--the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell." But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations. A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Fredrik Backman's novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. "If there was an award for 'Most Charming Book of the Year, ' this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down" (Booklist, starred review).

Maureen

“But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he never lived before he met her. And not after either.”

***

3.5 stars. I will always be too soft for old people’s stories. Ove is the most devoted husband I’ve ever come across in a book, and I love that despite his brusque and cold exterior, the man’s all-encompassing love for his wife never changes. I mostly stayed for the development of their love story rather than narrative that ran alongside it. Overall, I expected something toward the end— and it would have changed my rating to 4 stars. Nevertheless, a heartwarming read about devotion, principles, and unlikely friendships.

Svetlana 

Ove deserves whole world, everyone leave him alone

Kirsten Kim

have never cried so hard in my life i think i popped a blood vessel

always so much heart 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

karina

always so much heart 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

a reread but i love it every time

This was so good. It has been a while since I have read contemporary fiction and I made the right choice with this book. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me feel every emotion deeply. It has become one of my favourites.

Julie Twist

I was recommended this book by a friend, otherwise I doubt I would have ever picked it up. As you would expect, it's about a man called Ove. Ove is a grumpy man with strong principles (most notably that you can't drive in the residential area!) and a strict routine first thing in the morning. The book tells the story of Ove's life and the people he encounters. Some of them nice, some of them not so nice, but he deals with them in his own way and doesn't suffer fools gladly. You start out thinking Ove is a grump, but by the end of the book you will love him....

Chris Dailey

Charming but utlimately boring story about a misunderstood curmudgeon that recently lost his wife and tries and fails to kill himself but is rescued emotionally by his community. Bluntly, sometimes successfully, pulls on the heart strings. The story is obvious but can be effective in parts.

Emily Burns

As a librarian working amongst librarians, I am very lucky to receive great book recommendations on a sometimes daily basis. The problem is that my reading list gets long, and I can rarely get to every book that I want to read. That is why it is strange that the very day I was told to read A Man Called Ove, I started the audiobook. Four days and eight hours of listening later, and it is finished. I am so glad that this book was recommended to me. The story is heartwarming and familiar, probably because Ove reminds me so strongly of the old man from Disney's movie Up. It is a beautiful tale of redemption that will make you smile and cry. If you're looking for a summer read that will lift you up, you've found your title.

A Man Called Ove A Novel

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