"At first sight Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - joggers, neighbors who can't reverse a trailer properly and shop assistants who talks in codes.  But isn't it rare, these days to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction of what the world should be, and a life long dedication to making it just so. In the end, there is something about Ove that you will find irrestible."

Okay so it took me awhile to finish this book not because it was not a hit but because I was torn between reading two of Fredrik Backman's books, this and 'My Grandmother sends her regards and Apoligises which I also love. 

Fredrik Backman tells about an old lonely widower named Ove who hates everyone around him because he thinks  they are stupid or behaves differently than what he thinks people should. He has rules for everything. He has a strong belief in justice, hard work and fair play and "a world where right has to be right not so one could get a medal or diploma or a slap in the back for it, but just because that was how it was supposed to be." Then he met Parvaneh, her two daughters and her husband Patrick, who doesn't know how to drive a trailer properly he thought. Ove misses his wife and just wanted to be alone. But things turn out different than what he wanted. Soon he finds himself mending other peoples things - because apparently they don't know the proper way to do it and being badgered to be in places he doesn't want to be. 

This I must say is one of the most adorable books I have read this year. I love how it touches current issues and themes like loneliness in old age, social responsibility, lifestyle, relationship, death and loss and how the older generation perceive the use of modern technology. This book makes us realize that it must be difficult for people like Ove who worked hard all his life, never had a loan, paid taxes and yet one day we seemed to forget about them... somehow society has  a way of treating our elderly. We seemed to forget that they are people too that they get lonely... we fail to reach out to them just because they are from a different generation. This book also shows us that love has a peculiar way of manifesting itself, that people doesn't have to be exactly or slight replica of each other's likeness or things shared in common to build friendships and even marriages. 

One thing I also love about this book is how it presents the issue of a infertility, childless marriages and kind of gives us a "sneak peak" on what most of us are probably dreading about... getting old alone. I have always wondered about this... what it would be like having no children to come visit you, no grandchildren running around breaking things... the loneliness. The curmudgeons in our lives, like Ove, they might be difficult to get along with and sometimes we can't help but feel irritated, annoyed perhaps. But all we need to do is look closer, knock on their doors because they might just be lonely.

This book has made me laugh and cry and hit me in all the tiny spots in my heart. Definitely a hit and I give it 4 out of 5 because the edition I picked had too tiny fonts  my eyes were blurry for a day after reading it. Okay I give it 5. 

Here are some quotes I love from this book...

“To love someone is like moving into a house," Sonja used to say. "At first you fall in love in everything new, you wonder every morning that this is one's own, as if they are afraid that someone will suddenly come tumbling through the door and say that there has been a serious mistake and that it simply was not meant to would live so fine. But as the years go by, the facade worn, the wood cracks here and there, and you start to love this house not so much for all the ways it is perfect in that for all the ways it is not. You become familiar with all its nooks and crannies. How to avoid that the key gets stuck in the lock if it is cold outside. Which floorboards have some give when you step on them, and exactly how to open the doors for them not to creak. That's it, all the little secrets that make it your home.” 

“Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it does not exist, and yet it's often one of the great motivations for the living."

“We always think there's enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like 'if'.” 

“She just smiled, said that she loved books more than anything, and started telling him excitedly what each of the ones in her lap was about. And Ove realised that he wanted to hear her talking about the things she loved for the rest of his life.” 

“And time is a curious thing. Most of us only live for the time that lies right ahead of us. A few days, weeks, years. One of the most painful moments in a person's life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead. And when time no longer lies ahead of one, other things have to be lived for. memories, perhaps.” 

“Loving someone is like moving into a house," "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 for its imperfections. You get to know all the nooks and crannies. How to avoid getting the key caught in the lock when it's cold outside. Which of the floorboards flex slightly when one steps on them or exactly how to open the wardrobe doors without them creaking. These are the little secrets that make it your home.”