Book Review: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

 

This book was one I chanced on during a library visit really late last year. And so I decided that it would be one of the books to read in the new year.

And now, here I am reviewing it. 

So, it's hard to describe the story itself without really giving some things away. Yes, believe it or not, much of the book is revealed  to you along the way, slowly but surely. And characters whom you thought you knew or understood do things that surprise you. And the situation itself becomes something that you do not necessarily expect it.

Okay, none of that probably is making much sense. But the thing is, this book revolves around a most unlikely, and largely accidental hostage situation during an apartment viewing in a relatively small town. Indeed, the book is specifically about the people involved in the hostage situation, with perhaps one exception for a psychologist who has sessions with one of the people involved. Also, there is a view of a bridge from the apartment building which, as it turns out, plays a prominent role for several of the characters in the book. 

There, that should clear it up. Now, you can proceed with reading the book, knowing full well what to expect, right?

No, but seriously, it really is the kind of book that requires you to actually read it to understand what is going on. Because the story seems to initially be about a desperate parent who robs a bank simply to be able to pay the rent in order to not risk losing the children. But the bank robbery goes terribly wrong, and the bank robber, in a blind panic, runs across the street before the police actually arrive, and that is when the apartment viewing becomes a hostage situation. 

Yet, even this is not exactly what it seems. In fact, it is not really at all what this story is about because, again, this is about the characters which populate the book. At times amusing, at other times touching and sad, nd always warm and friendly. I have read (and believe I have reviewed) books by Fredrik Backman before. I especially loved Bear Town, which was a really great and fun read. Since then, I have more or less regularly kept up with Backman books.

If you are a Backman fan, or if you simply like to read stories that go into the back stories of the major characters and show how they navigate their way through the often unpredictable currents of this life -or rather, how it seems that they are just barely keeping their head above the water - then this book comes highly recommended.

A fun read!