Book 1. A Man Called Ove

She took him by surprise. That's how a simple, rule-following, lonely man named Ove met the love of his life on a train. She was different from him in every way and somehow, they fit together perfectly. When she was gone, he had nothing left to live for.

Sounds like total downer, right? Yet somehow, A Man Called Ove goes from being what could be a depressing mess to an uplifting, beautiful piece that ended with me smiling as I closed the cover for the last time.

There's no real reason why I started my Year in Books with Ove. I put it on my wish list and got it for Christmas, yet somehow, I wasn't chomping at the bit to read it. I don't read a lot of books about 59 year old guys from Sweden. But, something about Ove caught my eye several months back and it was on the top of the stack when I sat down to read the first book of 2017. I can't imagine a better place to start.

That quote is what hooked me. About a quarter of the way through, I was interested, yet not blown away. That line stopped me in my tracks. I love those declarations that seem so simple, yet paint the picture of everything that's to come. Once I read that line, I was off to the races and knew this was a book that would stay with me. In a few months time,  I may forget the names of minor characters and little plot twists that kept this book moving; but, that line, I will not forget.

Without too many spoilers, I can tell you a little about Ove. He's lost his wife, which means he's lost his purpose. And, this cantankerous curmudgeon is simply looking for a way out. Of this life. Forever. But, every time he's ready to end it for good, he finds someone new to help. And realizes he has so much more to live for.

There's no real dramatic climax. There's no real delineation of acts. It's really a simple story about a simple man. The author walks us back and forth from past to present, which seems to be an increasingly popular storytelling mechanism. But, it doesn't feel gimmicky here. It serves to build our understanding of all the layers of Ove. And, you fall in love with him more on every page.

The writing is clean and without drama, much like Ove himself. The supporting characters color Ove's world - much to his chagrin, they color it out of the lines. The book is 330+ pages, but it feels much lighter than that.

So, what about the ending? I'm not going to tell you what happens, I'm not a psycho. But, I'm a stickler for endings. For example, I LOVED Art of Racing In the Rain. I DEVOURED that book. But, the ending was so unnecessary, it made me mad and left a bad taste in my mouth about the beautiful story I'd just read. So, I can love a book and if I hate the ending, it ruins everything.

The ending of Ove was perfect. I felt the tears welling in my eyes, but was perfectly satisfied. It ended exactly as it should have. I literally felt a smile cross my face as I closed the cover (which is why I read REAL books instead of e-books; I need that smug satisfaction of the book closing for the last time.)

My co-worker Camie loved the book, too, and put it so well: it's the kind of book that's so sweet, you want to cradle it in your arms. She also told me the movie is equally exquisite and that Ove is perfectly cast. I don't know that I've ever seen a Swedish film. Ove might just be my first.

*Side note: before you read this book, figure out in your head how you want to pronounce "Ove." There's a right way, of course, but it's Swedish and I didn't know that until I was about halfway through. So, I was calling him OH-ve. The back of the book says "All you need is Ove", so you can see why people might call him UH-ve. The Swedish was is OO-ve. (Look, I'm not the only one who had this problem!)

Bottom line: just pick how you want to pronounce and stick with it. Otherwise, you'll distract yourself with it. And, unless you're Swedish or giving a book report on the thing, does it really matter anyway? 

One down, 51 to go.