“He was a man of black and white. And she was color. All the color he had.” (Backman 37). Fredrik Backman is a Swedish writer and is the author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, and Us against You. A Man Called Ove or the original Swinish version En man som heter Ove was published in 2012 before it made its way to New York City, in English, in 2013. The English version reached the New York Times Best Seller list in 18 short months after it was published and stayed on the list for 42 weeks after. This book is about a grumpy, greedy, bitter, old man who is all alone until one November morning he gets woke up by new neighbors and their two daughters. A Man Called Ove is an amusing read that I enjoyed because of the authentic, genuine characters, the realistic theme of grief, and many touching symbols.
To begin, the genuine characters in this novel makes A Man Called Ove much more relatable to the audience. Ove is very grumpy and greedy, but he wasn’t always that way. His wife, Sonja was in a car accident after they got married, she became paralyzed and had a miscarriage, and passed away from cancer a couple years later, which flipped Ove’s world upside down. He was no longer happy, he was all alone. Another important character is Parvaneh or also known as “the Foreign Pregnant Woman”. Parvaneh and her family moved next door to Ove. She has two kids, Nasnin, and “the seven year old” and a husband named Patrick. She inserts herself into Ove’s life by asking to borrow tools and then asking for a ride to the hospital when Patrick falls off a ladder. She names herself Ove’s next of kin when he has a heart attack and ends up in the hospital, and after that, she treats Ove as family. I didn’t expect for Ove and Parvaneh to become so close to each other.
Next, everyone has been through grief at one point in their lives. This novel shows a true inside into grief and the struggles of overcoming it. After Sonja’s death Ove became mean and bitter, Ove visits her grave weekly and leaves pink flowers on her headstone. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You work and pay off the mortgage and pay taxes and do what you should. You marry. For better or for worse until death do us part, wasn’t that what they agreed? Ove remembers quite clearly that it was. And she wasn’t supposed to be the first to die. Wasn’t it bloody well understood that it was his death they were talking about? Well, wasn’t it?” (Backman 103). I think Backman does a good job at pulling the readers heart strings. I would like to know if Ove would still be a grouchy old man if his wife was still alive.
Finally, There’s many symbols throughout this novel such as the color pink. Ove lived his life in black and white before he met Sonja. After meeting her, she brought color into his world by adding love and life to his existence. After her death, the only color Ove sees are the pink flowers he brings to her grave every week. Toward the end of the story Parvaneh daughter Nasanin draws Ove a picture of himself and signs “grandpa” at the bottom. Ove puts her drawings up on his fridge, he regains the color and love in his life. I enjoyed following Ove’s life and watching him transform into a loving and caring man, which is what Sonja prayed for before her death.
Ultimately, I recommend this book to someone who is grieving , because i believe it would open their eyes on how living your life mad at the world affects the people around you. I also think they could relate to the process of grief and see how when you think you’re alone, you’re really not. There is already a swedish movie dedicated to this novel, but i would like to see an American version also. I don’t believe this book will have a sequel due to the unexpected ending……
kelsijo 