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JoeClu

JoeClu@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 1 month ago

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air — however slight — lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." — William O. Douglas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

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Fredrik Backman: A Man Called Ove (Hardcover, 2014, Atria Books)

TW : Suicidal thoughts & actions

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world …

Review of 'A Man Called Ove' on 'Goodreads'

Ove is a miserable, rotten SOB. I hate him already and I just started the book. He's such a negative, self-centered, cynical, intolerant person, I am starting to think something might be wrong with his mind.

As he meets his new neighbors for the first time, I get the feeling the author is intending him to be a lovable, miserable SOB. Kind of like a Mr. Magoo [N. American cartoon character] who is always complaining and insults everyone yet people see past that and find it cute.

Now that I have finished reading this book, I sympathize with Ove and understand him a lot better. He still is, however, a cold, cynical, anal curmudgeon in my opinion. He looks down his nose at people if they don't have similar likes and opinions as he does. The author helps us to understand why, on a certain level, he is like this. …