A Man Called Ove

I had been on ‘A Man Called Ove’ for around 4 years now. I first bought the book on the recommendation of a friend in 2019, and instantly fell in love with the warmth Fredrik Backman brought to his writing. However, 4 years, multiple failed attempts and 3 copies (2 physical and 1 digital) later, I had still not finished reading it. It had become my La Sagrada Familia.

This year, around Christmas, I took a vow, no matter what happened, I would finish reading the book before the movie came out (Tom Hanks starrer ‘A Man Called Otto’ came out on 31st Dec, however, it is yet to be made available for the Indian audiences). And that I did. Not in 2022. But in the first week of 2023. And that’s how I know 2023 is going to be awesome.

When you achieve something that had been on your list for a long time, it gives you mixed emotions. Because on one hand, you are happy, you feel a sense of achievement, but on the other, it leaves behind a weird emptiness.

A Man Called Ove is a warm, fuzzy book, that makes you laugh, cry, exclaim, gush and marvel- all at the same time.

It is the story of how a boy becomes a man and how that man becomes the kind of man he does. A beautiful story of a grumpy old man.

The book exists in two time-frames: the present and the past. The past tells you about the life events that that made him who he became, and the present is an unfolding of his future.

Ove has two moral compasses that determine the trajectory of his entire life- his father and his wife. What they would think in a particular situation, what they would think of his actions, what they would do- determine everything he does. If something wouldn’t be approved by either of them, he wouldn’t do it.

He is a good man, consistently doing people favours, and consistently ensuring nobody knows. He has a reputation to maintain.

This is the story of a man who has lived through a lot of things, personally and historically. He has suffered the loss of people in his life, he has been alone. He has been kind, he has been duped. He has been in love, he has been it all. He has had a friend, he has had lost a friend. He has had a purpose, he has had lost all purpose. He has had a family, he has had nobody. And he has survived through it all.

He has seen the middle class emerging, he has also seen the forests disappearing. He has seen the uprising of IT consultants and their white, fruit-labelled machines. He has seen men become not-so-manly and he has seen rogue cars taking over.

The only thing that has remained constant through it all- his principles. He never lost them. And he never sold them short. Ove’s entire life has been guided by his principles. He judges a person by the car they drive, but doesn’t give a damn about their sexuality. Fights the system against all wrongs, but also mischievously skirts around it over a squabble.

They don’t make men like that anymore.

This is the story of a man. Of losing and gaining. Of despair and hope. And his principles.

This is also a story about life and meaning. About kindness. About community. This is a story about ageing parents. And kids. This is the story of a man who lived through it all, and a woman who loved him not despite who he was, but because who he was. And another woman who made him want to live again.

This is the story of Ove. An eccentric, grumpy old man, who goes on neighborhood inspections, and tugs at the doors three times. Who likes cats despite whatever he might have to say about it, and would kill a dog to protect them. Who can reverse a trailer. Who built a house, and then let it burn to save somebody from fire. Who stopped buying cars when his car manufacturer merged with another company. Who went the wrong way on a train to spend time with a girl, and who lied to his wife a whole of two times in his life. Who went to a foreign trip and befriended strangers. Who built a ramp at a school. Who never read Shakespeare, but built bookshelves for his books. Who loved numbers because they have no hidden agendas. Who returned his father’s advance wages because he had died and couldn’t come to work. Who got himself fired for somebody he didn’t even like, just because he didn’t tell tales. Who couldn’t jump in front of a train because the driver was looking, and it would scar him. Who got an 8-year girl an IPad for her birthday, the best one there was.

This is the story of a man, who loved his wife, and she loved him. And they had the best life together.

And this is the story of a woman, who too loved this man, and he loved her. Because she reminded him of ‘her’.

And they both gave him a family. To love. To care for. To live for.