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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Embracing my inner curmudgeon: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

12/5/2015

14 Comments

 
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A man who’s always been suspicious of computers goes to buy an iPad. Unfortunately, he’s also highly suspicious of people, especially the white-shirts who seem intent to frustrate him with paperwork. The ensuing argument almost has him evicted from the shop. Meet Ove: a crotchety old geezer who’s thwarted every way he turns. He can’t even be left in peace to end his own life.

I’m always intrigued when a novel worms its way so deeply under my skin I start behaving like the main character. So what if this was a million-copy bestseller, I wasn’t going to trust a writer who reckons the first thing I need to know is the age of his main character (fifty-nine), closely followed by the kind of car he drives (a Saab). To hell with the respectful approach I’d outlined in my post on my reading for reviews, this one was going to be a meditation on the minutiae of getting it wrong. Never mind that, in going to test drive a new car (not a Saab) recently, my husband and I found ourselves embroiled in a disagreement similar to the one Ove engenders in the computer shop. My grumpiness was nothing to do with me, or even the fact that I was reading the novel while still enraged about the result of the recent election.

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As I read on, I softened a little towards both Ove and his creator. The guy has had it tough, with the death of his mother at the age of eight and of his father at the tender age of sixteen. Having recently lost both his wife and his job, he’s every reason to feel bitter. For a man with extremely high moral standards (as a child, finding a wallet stuffed with money, he handed it in to the police), limited capacity to appreciate the mind of another and unused to acknowledging his grief, it’s not too difficult to see how, when his new neighbours reverse a trailer into his postbox, they feel the full force of his wrath.

Like another widower, Tom Berry in The Mountain Can Wait, Ove can show his caring side only in the practicalities, fixing a faulty radiator rather than dredging up the verbal niceties. Like Roger in The Insect Farm, his lack of interpersonal skills can be a handicap but, like Gabriel in The Spice Box Letters, Ove does have some capacity to change and, like Tom Keely in Eyrie, it’s those troublesome neighbours who save him from himself. A Man Called Ove is a novel about neighbourhood, bereavement and (like Vigilante, The Faithful Couple and A God in Ruins) it’s about morality and how we respond to its breaches in both ourselves and the world we live in. It’s also about the difficulty in keeping pace with cultural and technological developments, and our fundamental need to contribute.

Yet, although Ove grew on me in the course of my reading so that I was moved by the ending, my initial disgruntlement never completely disappeared. As with another quirky novel about grief, Lost and Found, the humour didn’t work for me (unlike blogger Terry Tyler’s rant about imbecilic retail staff which I found hilarious). Some of the psychology didn’t work either. I questioned Ove’s morality when he harangued a waiter into reducing a restaurant bill. I was unconvinced that social services would take a man suffering from dementia into residential care against the wishes of his wife (although I’ve no idea how these things work in Sweden). But mostly I was sceptical about his love life.

Cheerful and chatty, Sonja is the opposite of her husband (p40):

People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was colour. All the colour he had.

Yet, throughout their forty-year marriage, her love doesn’t seem to make him a much better person (although a reasonable rationale is put forward for his anger during this time). So why did she put up with him? As a teacher who got barely-literate kids reading Shakespeare, she’s something of a rescuer, but marriage isn’t a job. She’s probably drawn to Ove because he’s so like her own father, who’s brought her up single-handedly since her mother died in childbirth.

But let’s take a closer look at that. The neighbours’ young children adopt Ove as a grandfather but we can see how, as a single parent, he wouldn’t have a clue. Likewise Sonja, raised by a taciturn Ove-like character, would have been deprived of the responsiveness needed to develop a secure attachment system and the resilience to see her through life’s ups and downs.

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I wondered if I might have enjoyed this novel more if Ove’s negativity had been less intense, perhaps more like Alison Moore’s characters with their endearing awkwardness. Yet there’s security for the reader in an exaggerated character: you know right from the start where you are with them and that you’re not expected to like them straight off. It’s a challenge to create an embittered character without alienating readers or resorting to stereotypes.

Translated from Swedish by Henning Koch, this is the sixth and final review of novels published on 7 May. Thanks to Sceptre for my review copy. I think I might have interrogated Ove so forensically because he’s a bit like Henry (who was George initially) in my current WIP, but only you can decide if I’ve gone too far in embracing my inner curmudgeon in composing this review.  


Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
14 Comments
geoff link
12/5/2015 03:32:29 pm

I've known a few Oves in my time. One is currently cruising the British canals in his retirement and spending his considerable spare time penning letters and electronic missives to the great, monopolistic corporations that rule our lives - a 21st century henry Root. Dyspeptic people are intrinsically funny so I'll add this to my TBR and see if I have any characteristics (I drive a Saab; is that a good start).

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:06:29 am

Your canal cruiser does sound like a typical Ove – although the one in the book wouldn't be able to cope with the computer. Hope you enjoy meeting him on the page.

Reply
Charli Mills
13/5/2015 01:05:44 am

Your ability to connect characters, plots, themes and modern literature impresses me more than Ove. You're entitled to a curmudgeon review. Though it really wasn't that cranky and I'm still interested in the book.

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:08:11 am

Yeah, interesting, that despite my attempts to put people off there's a few blog readers that are ready to download the book. That's the right way to deal with a curmudgeon, I think.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
13/5/2015 05:49:40 am

Your opening sentences got me in - unlike the effect of the novel's opening sentences on you. I thought you were going to launch into a joke! I'm sure there must be a good punchline in there.
You have certainly spotted some flaws in the psychology, and no one would know better than you; but being a bit of an anti-behaviourist I wonder how far away from the norm characters can travel before they become too unrealistic. I guess that distance can differ between readers, and may depend on the balance of importance between character and plot. But I'm not a reviewer, so how would I know!
What impressed me most about the post was the links. You are definitely the queen of linking! I think this post must have surpassed your other record. I think we should have a competition to see who can make the most links. No maybe not. You would win! :) But even more than the links, it's what the links signify. They reflect the knowledge of books that you hold in your head, and the ability to make connections and see patterns and similarities. It is very impressive. I guess your professional work would have required knowledge and skills such as these. I must admit that colleagues would come to me asking about picture books about particular ideas or topics for they knew that I would know, but novels and picture books may be not quite in the same league.
Similar to views expressed by Geoff and Charli, you haven't convinced me this wouldn't be a worthwhile read!

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:15:09 am

The Queen of links? That really made me smile. I'm certainly a link obsessive, and that's one of the things I really like about the internet.
Sorry the opening didn't lead to a joke – I guess it's just not my style of humour.
You are a reader, so of course you are entitled to an opinion, though I'm intrigued that you consider yourself an anti-behaviourist – is that in terms of the theory itself or in the way it's been applied? I'm all for deviations from the norm, which isn't terribly useful construct when applied to people, but I just had a horror at the thought of a child being raised by a man who hardly speaks and isn't emotionally engaged. After all, wouldn't you say that one of the most important aspects of parenting is talking with one's children? But certainly yes, people will have different ideas of what they'd expect and accept.

Reply
Norah Colvin link
22/5/2015 12:32:46 am

Definitely talking with one's children is one of the most important aspects of parenting! I guess that behaviour more often than not results in articulate, intelligent children. Push button A you get button B. But that is a general rather than specific application. Perhaps it is in the specifics where I see more variation. Or maybe I only wish for more variation, desire the belief that we are unique, have freedom of choice and the ability to behave in different ways. Sometimes I fear we are more alike than I am willing to admit.

Annecdotist
22/5/2015 05:29:33 am

There is certainly evidence that we have less freedom of choice than we think we have, but on your other point about talking to children and babies, I'm not sure behavioural psychology is sufficient to explain the power of its impact. There are elements of course (e.g. responding positively to babbling rather than ignoring it encourages the baby to produce more; guessing what the baby means and putting that into words would be a form of shaping) but it isn't only about language as a behavioural response, but giving the child a message that they are important, creating a secure foundation for further development.

sarah link
13/5/2015 12:06:35 pm

It seems you liked it but then, as I read more, I wasn't sure... Was it just the certain aspects of it you didn't care for? As for Sonja, well, I didn't read it but I've known many (many) people who stayed when they "shouldn't" have or weren't expected to. It actually sounds interesting. Another fab review though, even after reading "how I do it all", I still can't keep up! ;-)

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:18:08 am

For the first few pages I was ready to give up (and throw it across the room, which I haven't done with a book for quite a long time), then I warmed to it as there was more context of his difficult background, but overall I felt it wasn't really my thing.
You're right, lots of people stay in relationships that aren't working because getting out of them is just too hard.

Reply
Caroline link
13/5/2015 01:09:28 pm

I'm not sure I'm going to get round to reading this, but I enjoyed your review. And I definitely think there is a place for curmudgeons and socially inept people in our world. And if there isn't we should make space for them. Happiness, after all, is not a default position in life.
Thanks Anne

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:20:40 am

I agree, and it probably needs to be said even louder after our dreadful election results, not everyone is socially competent or happy (or even slightly cheerful) and we need to make room for all types. But these characters are usually more fun on the page than in real life, but I didn't find that here. And I wondered if by giving his age we were supposed to think 59 was old – that certainly rubbed me up the wrong way. Thanks for commenting, Caroline.

Reply
Terry Tyler
15/5/2015 05:13:12 am

Thanks so much for the link and mention, Anne! I am guilty of not looking at all I RT at the moment because I'm writing the first draft of a new novel and can't spend too much time on Twit, etc, or I shall never get it written in the time I've given myself, so thanks for alerting me to it! xx

Reply
Annecdotist
15/5/2015 10:21:49 am

Fine, Terry, I really enjoyed your post so was glad to find something to link it to. And greatful for the RT in whatever circumstances – you do have a substantial number of followers.

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