Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Well written and will read it again and again over time.
One of the best.

This is a novel that should be read by EVERYONE
A novel of courage and strength in the face of normal everyday disasters as well as uncontrollable situations

It is definitely one of my favourite books.
It would be fabulous if this was on the Recommended reading list of every school.
Plus, of course “Boys in the Boat”.
In my opinion it’s books like these that will inspire children to achieve.

5 beautiful stars!! Oh my gosh this book had alllllllllll the feels, what a roller coaster ride it was, but a beautiful one :-) This book had me crying big fat tears one minute, and the next, laughing my head off. I will definitely be reading it again down the track. I can honestly say this is a delightful read, and while it pulls at your heart strings and makes you blubber like a baby, the circumstances always contain beauty in them. I haven’t read a book of this context before and it was so beautifully refreshing. It is going on my favourites list. I just loved it!!

One of the best novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I will definitely be purchasing more Fredrik Backman novels in the very near future.

I was contemplating giving up on Ove until I got to the Sonja chapter (A man who was Ove and a woman on a train/ch 14). Then I devoured every word. I cried too - sometimes with sadness but mostly with happiness.

This is a story about an old-fashioned cantankerous old man in a small neighbourhood. It's a beautiful story that, at the end, had me sobbing heavily. I read this about 5 months ago, but still think about it a lot. This is how I determine my ultimate rating - how did it affect me, and was it short-term? Highly recommended...but bring the tissues.

One of the most beautiful stories I have read in a long time. I will read it again soon. I miss him...

I couldnt put this book down...Frederik Backman has an exquisite writing style, supported by incredibe story lines.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman slowly drew me in, and it was a really nice story. I was sorry to say goodbye to Ove at the end.

A Man Called Ove is the first novel by Swedish blogger and columnist, Fredrik Backman. At fifty-nine, Ove has definite ideas on how things should be done, on the best car to drive (obviously a Saab), and no patience for those who cannot follow the rules. The son of a hard-working, poor but principled man, Ove, too is hard-working and sticks rigidly to his principles. But now, six months since the death of his beloved wife, Sonja, he is “not dead, but not really living”, and he is no longer hard-working: he has been retrenched. His life without any purpose whatsoever, he matter-of-factly sets out to commit suicide.

His meticulous plans are derailed, time and again: inferior-quality rope; the Cat Annoyance; the Pregnant Foreign Woman who needs a ladder, a lift, a lesson; radiators that need to be properly bled; a bicycle that needs repair; a fainting Suit needing rescue from certain death; a gay man in need of accommodation. Time and again, he finds himself at Sonja’s grave, apologising once more for failing to join her as promised.

The narrative alternates between a three-week period in the present day, and Ove’s life from the age of seven, when his mother died. With his cranky main character, Backman gives the reader social commentary with plenty of chuckles, snickers and laugh-out-loud moments: “In the parking area, Ove sees that imbecile Anders reversing his Audi out of his garage. It has those new, wave-shaped headlights, Ove notes, presumably designed so that no one at night will be able to avoid the insight that here comes a car driven by an utter shit” and “’I almost smashed into that car!’ pants Parvaneh. Ove peers over the edge of the bonnet. And then, suddenly, a sort of calm comes over his face. He turns and nods at her, very matter-of-fact. ‘Doesn’t matter. It’s a Volvo’” exemplify his opinion about non-Saab vehicles. His insults are similarly hilarious: “You shouldn’t even be allowed to rewind a cassette”, he tells The Lanky One.

But Backman gives his characters plenty of words of wisdom too: “Men are what they are because of what they do. Not what they say” and “We can busy ourselves with living or with dying, Ove. We have to move on” are two examples. There is much humour in this novel, some of it quite black, but there are also moments that will produce a lump in the throat and even tears. Flawlessly translated from Swedish by Henning Koch, this “requested-by-readers” novel is a stunning debut: moving, uplifting and very funny.