A Man Called Ove: The global bestselling phenomenon Paperback – 15 Dec. 2022

Ove has been through so much in his life and when he suddenly finds himselflaid off from his job , he is lost ,angry and kind of giving up on everything..Some find Ove unaproachable , he is not really a people person ...But when Parraneh and her family move into the quiet street where he lives ,Ove has no idea what Adventures await him Told in the present with many flashbacks into the past ...A Man called Ove is Touching , Gentle , funny and Heartbreakinly sad in parts but so very moving and beautiful..FavOurite characters were Ove who underneath had such a beautiful soul ...and Parraneh who always sees the beauty in life ...Just So Beautiful....

Beautifully written, just amazing, one of my favourite reads I thoroughly recommend this to everyone. It’s like a grumpy cuddle for the soul!!

I really enjoyed this book, it made me laugh and cry and the protagonist, Ove, was believable and lovable (but don't tell him I said that). Some reviews below do give away spoilers, so I won't say too much but Ove is 59 years old and has been widowed for 6 months. He likes things just so and comes across as a grumpy old man, though he's been through a lot so it's no wonder. A cat decides to adopt Ove, who grudgingly tolerates it but he comes to mean the world not just to the cat, but to his neighbours too, who see he really does have a heart. Ove is a little Grinch like, with less green but this book is so well written and I found I really came to care for Ove and engage in his story. This is a slow burner, not a pacy read, but it is truely remarkable

My goodness, what a book. Please read, you won’t be disappointed, what a man. So glad I was given this to read, extremely happy I went against my normal genre. My heart is happy.

Not my kind of book. I don’t even remember acquiring it. Nevertheless my most enjoyable reading experience in years. So unexpected. A truly beautiful book. I know that I will read it again in a few months time.

An excellent book, dealing with some tough subject matter, but done in a kind, heartfelt and humours way. Highly recommend this book

I’m always a little anxious when I start reading a much-lauded, and more importantly, a much loved book. In fact, I’m aware many people cite A Man Called Ove as one of their favourite books ever. While I liked a lot about A Man Called Ove – I found parts of it moving, funny and quirky – I can’t say I loved it wholeheartedly. I’m going to start by talking about the elements I did really like and then move on to explain my reservations.I loved the strange and beautiful love story of Ove and Sonja – ‘He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had.’ I thought the picture we get of Ove through Sonja’s love for him and his devotion to her, is the most moving part of the book. Sonja could see beneath the exterior of the shy rather awkward young man she met on a train to the truthful, loyal, heroic and resilient person beneath. If other words, she could see the colour in Ove that others couldn’t. Despite the contrasts between them, they fitted together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to produce a complete picture.There are beautiful lines, such as:‘But if anyone had asked, he would have told them that he had never lived before he met her.’‘He knew better to speak ill of what she loved; after all, he understood very keenly how it was to receive her love when no one else could understand why he was worthy of it.’Really, I simply loved Sonja and who wouldn’t? She loves books, she loves to laugh, she’s a teacher, she fights for her pupils and inspires them to achieve more than they think they can. In a way, Ove is her most ambitious project and the saddest aspect of the book is that we never get to see what she could have achieved.So what were the aspects I was less enthusiastic about? Well, I got a little bored with all the Saab references and jokes. Perhaps you have to be Swedish or a car owner (and I’m neither) to appreciate them. And although the book was really funny in parts, at times I found the humour rather predictable and the visual and verbal punch lines easy to see coming.However, my main reservation was about the development of the character of Ove himself. The author didn’t completely convince me how the socially awkward but essentially decent and likeable young man that Sonja fell in love with became the anti-social, sexist curmudgeon that we meet at the beginning of the book. I appreciate we learn about tragic events in Ove’s life but they didn’t seem to me to sufficiently explain such a change in his character.Having said this, the author is a skilful writer and although one may not like Ove – and you definitely wouldn’t want to have him as a neighbour – the author makes you care about him. And, in the end, any imperfections in the portrayal of Ove’s character were redeemed for me by the portrait painted of Sonja and their emotional story. That love story, for me, is the beautiful heart of the book.

Brilliant, the off best humour and characterisations are sensational and overall the book is a joy to read. Haven't seen the movie but will try to.