Review: A man called Ove

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars. This Book easily claimed spot in my “Best Books read” list. It now remains close to my heart with few of nicest ever books I have read. And I can count them on fingers- Shantaram, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Color Purple, A man called Ove.

The peculiarity of this book lies not in its story, but its writing style. The book focuses not on story, but on subtle emotions and internal thoughts. In fact the Book has hardly any story, its story can be summarised just in a single page, may be just in a few lines! But the way it stands out, is the brilliant portrayal of emotions, and the portrayal of heart-touching love in spite of the behavioural differences among people.

There are just 3 main characters in the book, and the entire book revolves around them- Ove- an introvert, reserved man of serious thoughts, his deceased but deeply loved wife Sonja- an exact polar opposite, but chirpy, and an avid Book lover, and his Iranian neighbour Parvaneh. Parvaneh, has recently moved in the neighbourhood with her husband and two young kids. She is chirpy as bird, and keeps poking nose into Ove’s secluded life.
And the family has shifted at such a time when Ove has been planning to die by suicide.

Throughout the Book, Ove makes 4 attempts at his life, but fails all the 4 times due to one reason or the another. But the major reason of his failure at dying, remains his good heartedness. He is always reminded of something good to do, and ends up postponing the dying. The Book is neither too emotional, nor is too romantic, and that is another part where it stands out. It is a bitter sweet mix of emotions, humour, love and laughter. The Book makes you cry at times, but makes your heart fill with love and warmth at most times. It is the story of a old man having planned to die by suicide, to meet his deceased, beloved wife Sonja, but only to have all his plans thwarted by the entrance of a new lady in her life- Parvaneh, who is irritating initially, but makes a forcible but permanent place in his heart later.
It brings tears to the eyes, when Ove dies in sleep, Parvaneh comes and notices, sits beside him for long, and then whispers in his ears while letting him be taken away by ambulance crew-
“Give my love to Sonja, and thank her for the loan”. (the “loan” was Ove himself)

Some of the best quotes from the Book:-
“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.”- Simple sentences, but such brilliant portrayal of emotions 😊❤️

“On the Sunday she was buried. On the Monday he went to work. But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he never lived before he met her. And not after, either.”

“I just wanted to know what it felt like to be someone you look at.” ❤️

“She often said that all roads lead to something you were always predestined to do. And for her, perhaps, it was something. But for Ove it was someone.”

“In the end she found out how he got the scars. And when one of her girlfriends asked why she loved him she answered that most men ran away from an inferno. But men like Ove ran into it.”

“‘Loving someone is like moving into a house,' Sonja used to say. 'At first you fall in love with all the new things, amazed every morning that all this belongs to you, as if fearing that someone would suddenly come rushing in through the door to explain that a terrible mistake had been made, you weren’t actually supposed to live in a wonderful place like this. Then over the years the walls become weathered, the wood splinters here and there, and you start to love that house not so much because of all its perfection, but rather its imperfections. You get to know all the nooks and crannies- How to avoid getting the key caught in its locks when its cold outside....”

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The Mountain Shadow: Book Review

Image Source:- http://boklandskap.blogspot.in/

This novel is a sequel to the earlier novel Shantaram. The earlier novel ended with the protagonist Lin (a.k.a. Shantaram) realizing that his friend Abdullah is alive. Shantaram also parted ways with his girlfriend Karla. Karla had married a rich business tycoon and  Shantaram started living with Lisa. The novel also ended with Sanjay taking place of the head of mafia gang and others unwillingly relenting to his command. 

"Writers never really die, until people stop quoting them."

This novel starts with Shantaram's emotional conflicts with Lisa. Lisa was in two minds about Shantaram , and more so because she knew that deep inside, Shantaram still loved Karla. Also, Lisa didn't want to get stuck at a place or with a person. She was also of bisexual nature. All these things started complicating their relationships. Finally, one day Lisa broke up with Shantaram. What hurt Shantaram was not the break-up, but the high expectations from Lisa, even at the time of break-up (like money, loan, car etc.). After that Shantaram goes on his last salvation mission to Sri Lanka, a mission which will free him from the mafia gangs world of Bombay. In his absence, Lisa was murdered by one of Shantaram's enemy. He gets together with his girlfriend Karla in quest of the murderer. Post this point the novel starts revolving more around the Karla-Shantaram relationship. This is one refreshing aspect of this novel. 

Some time later, his friend Abdullah takes him to Idriss- the wise sage on the mountain, who was the Guru of KhaderBhai. A large part of novel is dedicated to the Karla-Shantaram spending time in Idriss's mountain aashram. Devotees and people loving philosophical conversations keep flocking to the Idriss aashram, and Shantaram-Karla duo starts loving this place. 

The novel also deals with Lin's friends Gemini Gorges winning lottery worth millions (actually it was inheritance property discovered), and how they face hassles facing the new-found limelight.

Another plot involved in the novel is the Shantaram-Sanjay-rival gang equation. Sanjay gang's rivalry with opposition gang keeps increasing and it reaches to a point where KhaderBhai's own cousine child  Tariq who was his coming up heir, was killed along with his protector Nazeer. Both these person were very close to Shantaram. Sanjay's working style was being hated upon by more and more people in his own gang. Abdullah was planning for a revolt against him. So there is a three angled crime scene going in the mafia world of Shantaram .

Shantaram moves out of mafia gang and starts living solo, working freelance. Karla starts spending more and more time with Shantaram. Karla's husband was responsible for Lisa's murder, and they finally were relieved to have him dead indirectly. The novel ends with a sad note of a bloody war between Sanjay gang and Abdullah, where both Sanjay and Abdullah dies. Karla and Shantaram's story ends on a happy note finally.

“Truth is the freedom of the soul. We’re very young, in this young universe, and we often fail, and dishonour ourselves, even if only in the caves of the mind”

 Unlike its prequel novel "Shantaram", this novel deals more with the abstract things- the relationships, the philosophical talks, the psychological stuffs and how human minds think on various matters. Love and relationships takes a center stage in this novel. Karla's overpowering character and Shantaram's humble nature has been shown brilliantly. The contrast of fast city life and the soothing life in the lap of mountainous nature too has been focussed. All in all, an interesting read.

P.S.- I have collated together some wonderful quotes from the novel. You can read them here. In case you want to know more about the earlier novel in this series- "Shantaram", You can read the book review of Shantaram here.