Two Stars **If a grumpy old man and a crank is the protagonist for you, then along with a couple of million Swedes, you will enjoy this bestselling book by Backman.  Downloading the book based on the reviews was perhaps not a great idea and for me at least, they did not reflect the experience of reading the book. The start of the book was heavy going and boring. There were some funny parts I will admit but it was a chore more than enjoyable. I was hoping this was going to be another The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Sadly Ove and his grumpy antics don't come near it. The structure of the book appeared formulaic and I started reading it as a treat for the Christmas period but the start was heavy. As I decided to read through it I had to soldier on when I decided to review it. Some parts were predictable. Leaving me more and more with the feeling that the writer first sat down and jotted down a summary and then set off to beef out the text for a finished novel. These novels about grumpy old men have a big market it seems so I am now thinking that I might write one myself. I felt one of the themes - suicide - could have been handled better. This is also a relevant subject. Widowers don't last long after their wives die and die soon after from natural causes. Loneliness and being lonely was not spelt out but could have been. Old people suffer terrible from loneliness and recent studies during COVID on pensioners showed that seeing your grandchildren effected your life better. Homophobic slurs used in the book were not funny not matter how redeeming Ove's behaviour was in the end. Halfway's through an immigrant family arrives with two daughters and I thought that was handled well. As immigration is now a hot topic in an otherwise tolerant Swedish society. I wholeheartedly agree with the author that immigration can bring positive benefits to society. The book was produced well and edited but Ove would not be a character I would want to associate with as he was just too cantankerous. The ending was warming and probably was the basis for all the other reviews but the the protagonist was not one for me. There is now a movie of the book soon to be released under the same title. The movie looks better as it misses out the start of the book. Mindful Beauty Chillax Box
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If the book This Will Hurt is the comedic memoir of what a career in medicine has in store for aspirants then Breaking & Mending by Joanna Cannon has to be the literary one. The prose flows along and the project is also in the hands of a novelist of repute which also helps . Cannon is a Sunday Times Bestselling writer who entered the study of medicine in her thirties after working in a number of previous jobs.
The admissions tutor said she was his 'wild card'. In each batch of new undergraduates to medicine he always chose one student who was different and he he took a flutter on one each year. She opens the book which is searingly honest with a fantastic personal description of the three occupational health hazzards medical healthcare professionals are exposed to in the careers, namely; burnout, compassion fatigue and moral distress. She attempts to recover the humanity of those who pace the wards and corridors of acute hospitals and elsewhere. This and other books of this genre are much needed for in the USA alone the risk of suicide amongst junior doctors in the USA is very high. |
AuthorBestselling author Ralph Quinlan Forde BSc (Hons) MA is the writer and editor of the Mindful Beauty blog. His first book The Book of Tibetan Medicine went into 11 languages. His second Nutriwine has Archives
February 2023
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