My sister Bipasha had put up this book on her Instagram story as a “must read” back in 2023. I had a whole pile of books I was reading then. I had not yet encountered Backman’s penmanship in 2023. Three years later, in 2025, when Prathana ma’am suggested I give this book a try, something struck a chord. I am a firm believer – almost a fatalist – that books find you when you need them the most. The universe almost has a lyrical sense of delivering books to you just when the stars align.

A Man Called Ove came to me quite late but left an indelible mark that will influence the way I look at people, the way I perceive their stories, the way I judge the curmudgeons in my life. A Man Called Ove is a very simple story of a man called Ove who drives a Saab. He is anachronistic, stringent, and the most inflexible man you can think of. Almost mechanical. He loves maths and numbers and engines. He lives a routine life and almost has no “joy” in his life. He is what people would call grumpy, unfriendly, and uninviting.

But as you read the book, you slowly discover why Ove is the way he is. His interactions with his father, his love for Sonja, his discipline, his principles—the book walks you through his life. Just like how dendrochronologists determine a tree’s age by scrutinizing the age rings, the chapters in the book tell you how Ove became the way he is.

He was a man of black and white. And she was color. All the color he had.

The way Backman describes Ove is humorous and heartfelt. Backman’s writing will make you smile and cry. If you are a quiet reader, make sure the people around you know you are reading a book that is bound to make you chuckle, giggle, weep, and wail. Give them a heads up.

There are very few books that make me feel, “I wish this did not end.” This book tops the list. A Man Called Ove is a silent celebration of life. It shows us how we all are broken inside, but that’s how the light seeps in. Backman genuinely tells a very sad story with so much humor. Through Ove we learn that sometimes all it takes is a step forward toward embracing life when you see meaninglessness in everything.

Ove loves building things – a house, a car. He is someone who lives by the book. For someone who chants the mantra of “carpe diem” and “go with the flow,” men like Ove would give them a sharp eyeroll. Ove had built an enormous wall around him—a wall that was filled with molds of bitterness and loneliness.

But one bright day, Parvaneh comes as an invasive, intruding neighbor, almost barging into Ove’s solitary life. There is a deep secret that Ove tries to hide from everyone, which you should read to find out.

A Man Called Ove is like a warm cup of coffee in this winter. You can feel the warmth in Backman’s impeccable writing. There are some books that make you think. There are some books that make you feel. This book does both in quite simple ways.

Ove’s idiosyncrasies will win you over. You will sympathize with him, you will cry with him, swear with him, laugh at him, laugh with him. It is as if this character becomes so close to your heart that you feel unbound love for the person the book has manifested.

The best part about the book is how memories are used to validate the present—Ove’s principled life and its foundations laid in his childhood, Ove’s void left by Sonja. These all make sense when Backman goes back and forth from past to present.

There may be a million ways to analyze the book critically, but all I did was appreciate a good read that genuinely made me smile and feel the warmth. Ove became someone I started seeing in old people that walk by. When I see an old couple in a public vehicle, I am reminded of Ove. When I see an old hajurbuwa all by himself in a park, I can close my eyes and remember Ove.

The book comes as a peaceful read you can choose to enjoy in your leisure. It doesn’t demand much literary knowledge and will not baffle you with strange, unfamiliar plots, references, and allusions. It is just an honest reflection of a man’s life and his quest to find the light.

The book puts it beautifully: to love someone is like moving into a house. At first, you fall in love with everything that is new. But slowly the house grows old. You become familiar with every nook and cranny. The house becomes a part of you.

This is true for people in your life. But this is also true for the book itself. You move in with Ove when you read the book. You can visit his immaculate home, his well-kept room, his Saab of course, and his neighborhood. The cat, Jimmy, Parvaneh’s family, Anita and Rune—all become part of you as you go through the pages.

It is a quaint space to be in, the book.

I recommend A Man Called Ove to beginners who feel like they want to start simple. I recommend A Man Called Ove to connoisseurs who feel like they are too good to read mainstream books. I recommend A Man Called Ove to everyone who wants to feel the warmth in this winter.

It is not just a book. It is a feeling. It is an experience.

You might reconsider what car to buy after reading the book. You might recalculate your life decisions. You might also close the book and feel an immense sense of loss, for you cannot read the book for the first time again.

Well, read at your own risk.