A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

More like A Man Called Predictable. I'm so over this story line. The curmudgeon old man who's secretly a teddy bear all because of one woman he met in his life who really "understood" him. But, of course, she died after being nothing more than the absolutely perfect woman because what else do women need to be?

For the first 100 pages, all I could think was, "Why aren't there any books about curmudgeon old women?" Cause it's totally acceptable for men to have no emotions and be angry and grumpy, but God forbid a woman acts that way. We're not supposed to act that way, we're supposed to be perfect. We're supposed to "understand" and put up with men who act this way. Clearly there's nothing else we're supposed to do in life.

So. Over. It.

I just don't buy this character anymore. It's been done too much and I'm past the point of seeing it as oh so romantic because golly oh gee, I'm a woman and I just know I could "understand" that man and change him but not actually change him; just change him in knowing that underneath all that grump and bitterness there is someone who cares and loves. Blah blah blah.

I prefer My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by the same author. The thing that interested me most in Ove was the relationship between Ove and Rune, mainly the points revolving around Rune entering a home and Ove's clear objection to it. But I thought it was interesting because I thought Ove must identify with Rune; that he realized he was going to be put into a home soon, too, because everyone thought he was crazy given how he acted. But Backman never brought that up point up and I'm not really sure why. It was only about Sonja.

xxGoogs