This may be one of my favorite authors. I listened to the audio book of A Man Called Ove on our recent Westward Ho trip. He draws us in with his great characterizations. Ove was a curmudgeon, very much like the characters in "Grumpy Old Men". Laughing out loud over his very Archie Bunker remarks, and shaking my head over his extremely stubborn ways; I still fell in love with this old man. In his grief over his wife's death, he rails at the neighbors, at the bad drivers, at the tech store assistants...but in the end, the neighbors and people whom he disdains come together to love him and become his family. Wholly satisfying.
Backman's book, Beartown, on the other hand left me with much pondering and questioning. It deals with the questions of what makes a community, how do people respond in crises, what makes those who have faced hardship stand up against the crowd, and what are we capable of doing/becoming in the darkness of night. Again, such an array of interesting and surprising characters who come together for the sport of hockey. The secret meetings of the Hockey sponsors and leaders reminded me of the times I saw our local school board meet together at the local restaurant "under the radar", way back in my high school days. Even back then, I thought it was a bit shady...and political. And that's what Backman brings out...political moves to keep hockey in the community, no matter what it takes. Sometimes disturbing, sometimes refreshing. I learned a lot about myself as I internally judged Ramona for her drinking and cussing; only to cheer her on in the end when she was a ray of light in the darkness. Great story.
No comments:
Post a Comment