A Girl Called Chelle Joins a Book Club #ReadwithMe
Dear Friends Who Like Books,
I joined a book club in September and we read our first book together, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. A frequent book club selection for reasons that after reading became undoubtedly clear to me. Our group chose to debrief and discuss over a fall walk in the park, amongst scattered leaves and sunshine, finding ourselves chuckling about “what would Ove do?” Since you didn’t have the chance to read alongside me, I’ll write more generally about my impressions and experience to avoid any spoilers as I encourage you to check out some of Backman’s work.
I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed A Man Called Ove finding it both sad, heartwarming and comedic, as I first fell in love with Backman’s writing when I read Beartown several years ago. It should be noted that Beartown is said to depart from Backman’s traditional style and approach, and yet I found Beartown to be an utterly beautiful, terrible, and profound read. It covers some heavy subject matter, so do your research if you’re worried about potential triggers. Introducing myself to Backman’s work through Beartown may have changed how I approached A Man Called Ove perhaps causing me to pick up subtleties in the way Backman builds empathy for Ove and intimately explores some of life’s toughest realities. While some might say Beartown is nothing like A Man Called Ove I saw Backman’s approach to exploring these challenging topics throughout.
Backman, a Swedish author, writes in Swedish and since I don’t read a word of Swedish I must rely on the English translations. Backman’s stories are so well crafted that very little is lost in translation, perhaps a slightly odd choice of word here or there. What’s not lost is the powerful connection you feel to the setting, the characters and the stories Backman brings alive within his work. You will find yourself contemplating, feeling, and reflecting through the pages. And yes, I cried reading both books.
