A New Favorite Author

Frederik Backman

By all rights, I have no reason to admire Frederik Backman. He writes books about odd characters in Sweden no less. His most famous book, A Man Called Ove,  deals with an angry curmudgeon who wants to kill himself. Why on earth would I read that?
His recent novel is about a small town obsessed with hockey. HOCKEY? I know as a Minnesotan I should love hockey. Um, nope. I fall asleep during hockey. I loathe hockey. But oh my goodness how I love Backman's books. This year, I've read four of them (and am waiting for the last to come into the library):

A Man Called Ove (translated by Henning Koch)

Beartown  (translated by Neil Smith)

Britt-Marie was Here (translated by Henning Koch)

My Grandmother Asked me to tell you She's Sorry (translated by Henning Koch)

Every one of them left me in tears over the poignancy of his stories, the wonderfulness of his writing, and gratitude to his translators who created these moving and marvelous books in English. While his English is fluent, he writes in his native language and the books are translated. Seeing how beautiful they are in English makes me appreciate the skills of his translators. Usually I wouldn't think much of translation but I know how hard it can be - making a book come alive in a language different from its author's.

I listened to Ove on audiobook and found myself commuting through tears many days. Sitting in the parking lot at work waiting to stop crying at some of the incredibly beautiful and sad parts of this book was especially challenging. And we're not talking about a few tears, we're talking about "ugly crying."

While I missed seeing his appearance in Minnesota this summer, I was lucky enough to attend an online chat with him. Even in this brief chat, I found him gracious, kind, and somewhat puzzled by his success. And when he mentioned one of my childhood favorites, The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren as one of his inspirations, I immediately understood why he liked it. Lindgren deals with death and difficult losses endured by young brothers in Sweden. Even though I haven't read it in a good 40+ years, I still remember it vividly. Now of course, I have to track it down and reread it.

All of Backman's characters are REAL, damaged, dealing with the challenges of life. He creates them through his beautiful words and the images on his incredible covers. They all show the protagonist from the back with large type at the top. You never see the faces of the main characters which may be even better. Ove was made into a movie and for once the movie was almost as good as the book. The actor playing Ove really was Ove. Unfortunately I haven't been able to track down the name of the cover designer.

Britt-Marie is a sad older woman who deals with her husband's infidelity by starting a new life in a small town. The main character in Grandmother is Elsa - a seven-almost-eight year old girl dealing with the death of her grandmother, the pending arrival of a half-sibling, the odd characters who live in her apartment building (including Britt-Marie). Over the course of the book, she learns about her grandmother, the other residents, and the stories that bind them together.

Beartown is different. A small northern town (think Hibbing, Chisholm) is obsessed with hockey. The junior hockey team is on the brink of huge success which could bring the town back to life after a crushing economic downturn. Then something happens, something really bad which could turn everything back to virtual depression. I won't say what (please read it for yourself) but I am very happy to hear he's contracted to write two sequels.

I am so grateful to my bookclub at work for having us read Ove and to the Modern Mrs. Darcy book group for listing Beartown this summer. Maybe I would have gotten to them eventually, but maybe not.

http://www.fredrikbackmanbooks.com/about-fredrik-backman.html
http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Fredrik-Backman/411545926

Prize Winning Books?

What does it mean when a book is nominated for a major award? Or when it’s named An Oprah Book? Or is at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list for weeks or months? As an avowed book lover, I do pay attention to these announcements and accolades. But I’m often disappointed in the books chosen or recommended by these “experts.”

For example, last week the Man Booker long list was announced. This prestigious award is given to the best work of fiction published in English in the United Kingdom each year. American authors are also eligible and for the last 45 years, it’s been one of the best known awards given. This year, I’ve read three of the 13 titles on the long list (one I Ioved, two I didn’t care for). A few others are on my To be Read list but I don’t know if I’ll get to them. I’ve learned that being a nominee or even a winner is no guarantee that a book will appeal to me. The list is narrowed down to six in September with the winner announced in October. There’s a cash prize and also a lot of fame (and hopefully sales) for the winner.  So what’s the book I loved? Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. I’m glad to see it getting some acclaim since it really was an amazing book. (Hard to describe but amazing).

The Pulitzer Prize for Literature is another prestigious award. This year’s winner is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Unfortunately this is one of the prestigious books that I didn’t care for at all. It was reading this book and hearing how much acclaim it had received that made me really think about the value of these awards.  I wanted to like The Underground Railroad because it is SUCH AN IMPORTANT BOOK. But I had no emotional response to it, although it was a very violent and harrowing tale of slavery in the American south. Most of the characters meet incredibly violent ends and many simply vanish into the background of the story. I also found it confusing because the author kept wandering off into tangents and backstories about minor characters. So this was definitely not the book for me.

Another REALLY IMPORTANT BOOK this year was George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. I hadn’t read any of his previous works (primarily short stories). I listened to the audiobook and found it incredibly confusing with its cast of hundreds. Perhaps the print book would have worked better. It was an ambitious work with a style that should have been fascinating and engaging. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it either.

Oprah Winfrey carries a lot of weight with the reading public. I’ve generally found her recommendations uninteresting and am skeptical of any of the books she names. In looking at the list of 51 books she’s recommended in the last 20 or so years, I’ve found only a few I enjoyed (Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi, Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides). Three out of 51 isn’t a great average. And she also named The Underground Railroad as a top book.

So what’s the value of these rewards and reviews? Why don’t I like more of them? I think titles and authors get more publicity for being nominated but it doesn’t mean you or I are going to like them any more than we might like a small title that is never acknowledged on a bestseller list or by Oprah.

To be fair, I have to mention that one of my favorite books of all time is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This wonderful book won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, was on the top of the New York Times Bestseller List for weeks.  It was also shortlisted for a National Book Award. I recommend this book to everyone and I know I’m not alone in my love for it. So not every prize winner is a loser. It all comes down to taste – your taste and mine over that of distant judges and critics. If you hear of a book being nominated for a special award, it could mean it is wonderful but there are no guarantees. I have much more success reading books recommended by friends and co-workers. But again, no guarantees.