Wednesday, April 5, 2017

A Man Called Ove

Book: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Bakman
Basic Information : Synopsis : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes
 : References

Basic Information:
 Author:  Fredrik Backman
Edition:   paperback copy, and  eBook on Overdrive from the Mountain View Public Library
Read:April 5, 2017
401 pages
Genre:  Fiction
Rated: 3.5  out of 5

Synopsis:
A Man Called Ove is really a series of short stories strung together with a coherent theme. Ove is a lonely old recent widower living in a development. The story shows a man who did not get along with his neighbors and how he started to bound with them through a series of times he helped them.

The stories talk about his youth, the gaining and the loss of his wife, his neighborhood feuds and the impositions his neighbors had on having him do favors for them. Overlaid in all of this is his loneliness leading to several thwarted suicide attempts. That would be thwarted through the needs of his neighbors.

Then in the background is the feud with Ove's friend Rune, even though the term friend may be a bit loose. Their is a sense of at least a renewal of relationship when Rune has dementia and the “white suits” want to take him away. Ove stages a guerrilla war to prevent that from happening with the help of neighbors and friends.

Through all of this, the end of his life is surrounded by friends and neighbors. He is still a gruff old man, but much loved.

Thoughts:
There are certain themes which run through this book:
  • Contrast between the closed mouth Ove and the joyful Sonja
  • Going after the inner good in all people
  • The effects of grudges
  • How bureaucracies tend to rule lives unless stood up too.
  • Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise.

As I look over my notes, I realize there is a whole cast of characters which can be analyzed, which I have not touched:

  • Patrick — Parvaneh — Ove's neighbor, a pregnant woman of Iranian descent, a mother of two
  • Parvaneh's husband
  • Rune — Ove's friend and neighbor
  • Anita — Rune's wife
  • Adrian — the neighborhood mailman
  • Jimmy — the overweight neighbor

A Man Called Ove Makes his Neighborhood Inspection
And where was the world going if people couldn't write or brew a pot of coffee. I confess: I cannot perk coffee, nor do I care.  My English teachers would also say that I could not write either.  But Ove's point is that our abilities are being taken away by our dependence on conveniences. In this case espresso machines.  I was thinking about that the other day-where would I be without flipping on a light or flushing a toilet.

A Man Called Ove Does Not Pay A Three-Kronor Surcharge
How can anyone spend their whole life long for the day when they become superfluous? That is a retirement question. In Ove's case, a forced retirement. So the object of retirement is not to be more valuable in your old position, but to explore and become proficient in other activities, more useful in other ways.

A Man Called Ove
Ove's generation did not talk much, but did. He observes that the current generation talks a lot of doing things, but never seems like it is worth doing.

Only a swine thinks size and strength are the same thing.

There was a day when Ove made a determination about to keep money he found at this job, or turn it in. Backman says that is the day Ove learned how to do right instead of wrong.

A Man Called Ove Drills A Hole for a Hook
You miss the strangest things when you lose someone. Little things. Smiles. The way she turned over in her sleep. True-I see this when my wife and I are apart-it takes me forever to go to sleep.

A Man Who Was Ove and A Pair of His Father's Old Footprints
Backman states that Ove differentiated between those who did and those who talked. Ove chose the route of talking less and doing more. This resonates with me. A good reminder to let actions do my talking.

A Man Who Was Ove and A House That Ove Built
if there was anything this middle class was not enamored of, it was whatever stood in the way of progress.  Is this really true? In this case Ove's father's house was to be destroyed to make way for a housing development.

A Man Who Was Ove and a Woman on a Train
Ove discovers that being on time may not be the most important attribute about a relationship. I have and am learning this. There is more to relationships than punctuality. As Ove discovers, that one person is unique to them and he needs to have that person in his life.

A Man Called Ove and A Cat Called Earnest
Sorrow does strange things to living creatures. Let your mind wander with this.


A Man Who Was Over and Countries Where They Play Foreign Music in Restaurants
When Ove and his wife Sonja is in Spain they see a street person asking for money.  He protests because you never know what they will do with the money. Her response? They can do what they like with the money.  She also says that when a person gives to another person it's not just the receiver who's blessed. It's the giver.  Words of wisdom.

A Man Who Was Ove and A Bus That Never Got There
Sonja would not have been Sonja if she had let the darkness win.  At the core, we are only what our values are. This has got to lead us to action to defend our values.
 
Then a few pages further Backman continues on  with that thought:  Every human been needs to know what she's fighting for.  The theme is that we

A Man Called Ove and a Piece of Corrugated Iron
Ove is trying to commit suicide. This time with pills. There is a comment that many normal folk strive for the feeling of losing control and go after it. But it is not within Ove to do that. Does not sound like it is a great temptation for Ove, just something within his internal makeup.

...[there is a] difference between being wicked because one has to be or because one can. Which begs the question, is it ok to be wicked ever? If so, under what circumstances?

A Man Who Was Ove and A Man Who Was Rune
sorrow...should have brought the two men closer. But sorrow is unreliable in that way. Talking about how one lost a child and the other had a son who he could not get along with.

I think one of the most pungent lines in the whole book is when Ove realized that a part of Rune had given up forever. And for that maybe neither Ove nor Rune forgave him. When dreams leave, we are left with decay.

There were certain people who thought that feelings could not be judged by looking at cars. But they were wrong. At least in Rune and Ove's case.

A Man Called Ove Backs Up a Trailer Again
One side story which continues throughout the book is Ove's battle with the state bureaucracy. It first tries to tell him how his wife Sonja should live. Then tries to take Rune away from Anita when Run has dementia. A bureaucracy which is set up to try to take care of people becomes a means to controlling them.  In this way. A Man Called Ove is a morality story to warn us to fight for our independence. Not to let some “white suit” dictate the terms of our lives.

A Man Called Ove Isn't Running A Dammed Hotel
Talks more about how bureaucracy not only stops us from what we want to do, but in many cases stops us from doing what is best for us.

A Man Caled Ove and An Inspection Tour That is Not the Usual
Backman notes that there are times when men will just go off an do something:
1) Because they will need to do it sometime and they might as well do it now
2) Because it should have been done a long time ago

A Man Called Ove and Social Incompetence
the first people to break the laws of bureaucracy are always the bureaucrats themselves. Not sure how accurate this is, but it seems like there are certainly a lot of them.

A Man Called Ove and a Whiskey
It is difficult to admit that one is wrong. Particularly when one has been wrong for a very long time. Sort of says it all. The immediate application is to a father of a homosexual-not Ove. But then while Ove is right about the particulars of his life, he has not been right about the outlook. He realizes that by creating a buffer to others, he and they have lost out. When we have nothing to look forward to and can only look back, as Backman says.

A Man Called Ove
For the greatest fear of death is always that it will pass us by. And leave us there alone. Is this true? Why do the rich believe in cryogenics? Do they not want to live forever? I think that is something innate in us and why heaven is persistent to us. We are still remnants from our past forefather in creation which is eternal. What we do not want is getting old and useless, forgetting who we are. This happens when we forsake our ancestry and despair of this world.

A Man Called Ove and the End of a Story
Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise. While not speaking of Ove, this may have been the theme of the book.  Ove finds that there is love of another kind besides is wife's love. While not a substitute, it is there for the taking. You just need to reach out to it.



Evaluation:

The first two-thirds of A Man Called Ove, I was wondering why am I reading this book? Why should I care about Ove? But as I plodded on, I started to root for Ove, wondering how Backman was going to get him involved in other people's lives rather than his reclusive ways. This is the magic of this book: the bringing out the inner Ove. The one who feels he is superior, but has a heart deep within him.

 
Notes from my book group:

From my book groups, meeting, these were the thoughts and questions:
  • I really dislike talking to owners of Swedish cars. Why? Because they all have Saab stories.
  • How do you pronounce O V E?
    • Goodreads says there are several waysYouTube 
    • video on how people are saying Ove.I suspect there is not one proper way to say OVE. Sounds like it depends what part of Sweden you are from.
  • What interested you in having the book group read this book?
    • Fun, loved the character development, Ove’s character did not change suddenly, but was developed.
  • Did this story “work” for you? Why?
    • To me, this book felt more like a series of short stories string together with a loose theme. If you were one of the people who felt this is more of a comprehensive themed book, what were those themes? (Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise. )
    • We all know an Ove. So we could see the book and relate.
    • There are reasons to live
  • What themes do you see in this story?
    • Contrast between the closed mouth Ove and the joyful Sonja
    • Going after the inner good in all people
    • The effects of grudges
    • How bureaucracies tend to rule lives unless stood up too. (Talks more about how bureaucracy not only stops us from what we want to do, but in many cases stops us from doing what is best for us. )
    • Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise.
  • As readers, we get to know Ove slowly, with his past only being revealed piece by piece. What surprised you about Ove’s past? Why do you think the author revealed Ove’s past the way that he did?
    • Even after getting an understanding of why Ove was like how he was, there was a general not wanting to be around him
  • What effect has making life easy had on our abilities? (And where was the world going if people couldn't write or brew a pot of coffee )
    • Some books which address how we lose our abilities as technology takes over:
  • Do you think Sonja was right in her approach to giving? (They can do what they like with the money.  She also says that when a person gives to another person it's not just the receiver who's blessed. It's the giver.  )
    • Too simple of an approach
    • How would Jesus approach these people?
  • Is it OK to be wicked in certain situations? (...[there is a] difference between being wicked because one has to be or because one can. )
  • What is the point of retirement? (How can anyone spend their whole life long for the day when they become superfluous? )
    • It was agreed that as you lived your life in work, so it shall be in retirement. Business is not the same as a full life.
  • What did the cat represent? Maybe Sonja?
    • I am not sure that the cat represents anything. But I think the cat is a vehicle for Ove to express his love for Sonja by trying to do what she would do.
  • Was Ove's death a suicide?
    • I do not think so. Backman notes that it was several years after the main part of the book takes place. Ove seems content to be with his neighbors and has found a means to be himself, but enjoy them still.
  • Ove did not have to stop being who he was before he died.
    • I think this is where Backman does well-describes how Ove does not get transformed into something else, but is more open to helping others who are in need
  • What was the parts of the book which were memorable to you?
  • Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying?  Predictable?
  • Which character was the most convincing? Least?
    • Which character did you identify with?
    • Which one did you dislike?
  • Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
  • Ove loves things that have a purpose, that are useful. How does this worldview fail him when he believes himself to be useless? How is he convinced that he can still be useful?
  • Why do you think the author wrote this book? What would you ask the author  if you had a chance?
  • Did Ove friends change him or he changed his neighbors?
    • It probably is both. Any interaction changes the things being acted upon. But in a lot of ways, I think this is a story about others being changed. Not because Ove is a change agent. But because Ove being Ove gives people pause to evaluate themselves.
  • Return to a life, not necessarily a place 
    • This phrase was mentioned, not because it was instrumental about the book, but as an aside. I felt this was somewhat appropriate for my situation.
  • What “take aways” did you have from this book?
  • Ove is a believer in the value of routine—how can following a routine be both comforting and stultifying? How can we balance routine and spontaneity? Should we? Or is there sense in eating sausage and potatoes your whole life?
  • Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
    • What was memorable?



At the OSHER book group there were several comments which instigated some thoughts from me:
  • Was Ove's death a suicide?
    • I do not think so. Backman notes that it was several years after the main part of the book takes place. Ove seems content to be with his neighbors and has found a means to be himself, but enjoy them still.
  • Conversations at home is with neighbors
  • The characters are pretty well developed
  • Parallel situation between Ove/Sonja and Anita/Rune
    • You have two men who are stubborn and very inward.
    • Two women who love their men and who are best friends
    • Each husband very much think they are right.
    • Each couple has a crisis where there is loss of one of them. But  it takes Anita to reach out to Ove to start a somewhat reconcilation.
  • Ove did not have to stop being who he was before he died.
    • I think this is where Backman does well-describes how Ove does not get transformed into something else, but is more open to helping others who are in need.
  • What did the cat represent? Maybe Sonja?
    • I am not sure that the cat represents anything. But I think the cat is a vehicle for Ove to express his love for Sonja by trying to do what she would do.
  • Did Ove friends change him or he changed his neighbors?
    • It probably is both. Any interaction changes the things being acted upon. But in a lot of ways, I think this is a story about others being changed. Not because Ove is a change agent. But because Ove being Ove gives people pause to evaluate themselves.
  • Return to a life, not necessarily a place
    • This phrase was mentioned, not because it was instrumental about the book, but as an aside. I felt this was somewhat appropriate for my sitation.


Questions from Lit Lovers:
  1. How does the opening scene, in which Ove attempts to purchase a computer, succinctly express the main points of Ove’s ongoing battle with the stupidities of the modern world?
  2. Ove loves things that have a purpose, that are useful. How does this worldview fail him when he believes himself to be useless? How is he convinced that he can still be useful?
  3. As readers, we get to know Ove slowly, with his past only being revealed piece by piece. What surprised you about Ove’s past? Why do you think the author revealed Ove’s past the way that he did?
  4. We all know our own grumpy old men. How do Ove’s core values lead him to appear as such a cranky old coot, when he is in fact nothing of the sort? Which of these values do you agree or disagree with?
  5. Although Ove has some major "disagreements" with the way the world turned out, there are some undeniable advantages to the modernization he finds so hollow. How do these advantages improve Ove’s life, even if he can’t admit it?
  6. Parveneh’s perspective on life, as radically different from Ove’s as it is, eventually succeeds in breaking Ove out of his shell, even if she can’t change his feelings about Saabs. How does her brash, extroverted attitude manage to somehow be both rude and helpful?
  7. Ove strives to be “as little unlike his father as possible.” Although this emulation provides much of the strength that helps Ove persevere through a difficult life, it also has some disadvantages. What are some of the ways that Ove grows into a new way of thinking over the course of the book?
  8. Ove is a believer in the value of routine—how can following a routine be both comforting and stultifying? How can we balance routine and spontaneity? Should we? Or is there sense in eating sausage and potatoes your whole life?
  9. The truism “it takes a village to raise a child” has some resonance with A Man Called Ove. How does the eclectic cast of posers, suits, deadbeats, and teens each help Ove in their own way?
  10. Although we all identify with Ove to some extent, especially by the end of the story, we certainly also have our differences with him. Which of the supporting cast (Parveneh, Jimmy, the Lanky One, Anita) did you find yourself identifying with most?
  11. What did you make of Ove’s ongoing battle with the bureaucracies that persist in getting in his way? Is Ove’s true fight with the various ruling bodies, or are they stand-ins, scapegoats, for something else?
  12. On page 113, after a younger Ove punches Tom, the author reflects: "A time like that comes for all men, when they choose what sort of men they want to be." Do you agree with this sentiment, especially in this context? How does the book deal with varying ideas of masculinity?
  13. On page 246, the author muses that when people don’t share sorrow, it can drive them apart. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
  14. What do you think of Ove’s relationship with the mangy cat he adopts? What does the cat allow him to express that he couldn’t otherwise say?
  15. On Ove and Sonja’s trip to Spain, Ove spends his time helping the locals and fixing things. How does Ove the “hero” compare and contrast to his behavior in the rest of the book? Is that Ove’s true personality?
  16. Ove and Sonja’s love story is one of the most affecting, tender parts of the book. What is the key to their romance? Why do they fit so well together?
  17.  Saab? Volvo? BMW? Scania?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)



New Words:
  • palaver: prolonged and idle discussion.
Book References:
  • Shakespeare
  • CS Lewis and Narnia

Good Quotes:
  • First Line: Ove is fifty nine.
  • Last Line: Saab
  •  How can anyone spend their whole life long for the day when they become superfluous? (A Man Called Ove Does Not Pay A Three-Kronor Surcharge)
  • Only a swine thinks size and strength are the same thing. (A Man Called Ove)
  • Sorrow does strange things to living creatures. (A Man Called Ove and A Cat Called Earnest)
  • when a person gives to another person it's not just the receiver who's blessed. It's the giver.  (A Man Who Was Over and Countries Where They Play Foreign Music in Restaurants)  
  • Every human been needs to know what she's fighting for. (A Man Who Was Ove and A Bus That Never Got There)
  • [there is a] difference between being wicked because one has to be or because one can. (A Man Called Ove and a Piece of Corrugated Iron)
  • the first people to break the laws of bureaucracy are always the bureaucrats themselves. (A Man Called Ove and Social Incompetence) 
  • It is difficult to admit that one is wrong. Particularly when one has been wrong for a very long time.  (A Man Called Ove and a Whiskey) 
  • For the greatest fear of death is always that it will pass us by. And leave us there alone. I(A Man Called Ove)
  • Love is a strange thing. It takes you by surprise.  (A Man Called Ove and the End of a Story)


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