Fredrik Backman's new story within a story

I liked A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, so I looked forward to the author’s new book, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, which starts out in an intriguing manner due to the character of Granny.  Unfortunately for 7 year-old Elsa, Granny is not able to stay and protect her for the rest of the book.  Elsa fights bullies again and again at school and the bureaucrats (as in A Man Called Ove) and her Mum seem particularly clueless and ineffectual.

This novel deals with superheroes (something all 7 year-olds need), divorce, remarriage, half siblings and the impossibility of staying invisible in the school cafeteria. I do find Elsa’s ruminations to be charming and heartfelt, but the fairy tale Land of Almost-Awake is, for me, less interesting than real life and the rather dysfunctional characters who live in Elsa’s apartment building. The writing is unique and the story complex. There are many characters and the distortion of 7 year-old perspective, while cleverly created, made reading and interpreting difficult for me. Do pick up this book if you have tons of patience and time for reflection; it received a starred review from Booklist.  The best part of My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry? Its message: “if a sufficient number of people are different, no one has to be normal.” 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

If you love It's a Wonderful Life and Jimmy Stewart, then read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. The much beloved main character is Ove, a 59 year-old Swedish man who recently lost his wife and thinks his own life should be over. He's funny and heartwarming and exasperatingly "crotchety" and rule-bound all at the same time.  A new family -- Lanky One, pregnant Parvaneh and their girls (ages 3 and 7) -- move in next door and the adventures begin…

Ove slowly opens up to a stray cat,  re-establishes relationships with other neighbors and  uses his anger to find the will to battle the "white shirts" (bureaucrats who are just as inflexible in Sweden as in the US).  Along the way, readers learn about Ove’s young life and his marriage to Sonja:  "He never understood why she chose him.  She only loved abstract things like music and books and strange words. Ove was a man entirely filled with tangible things.  He liked screwdrivers and oil filters.  He went through life with his hands firmly shoved into his pockets.  She danced."

In all honesty, I was a bit put off by some of the talk of suicide - especially for high school age readers, but I ultimately found the character to be endearing and even highly amusing at times. With so many crises and those unique neighbors, the vignettes circle round and each is charmingly told as Ove convinces us that "men are what they are because of what they do. Not what they say." Yes, there were also several moments when felt like crying, but I was heartened by the way in which the community rallied around Ove much like the movie character George Bailey finally learned the value of his life when seen through the eyes of others.