Anxious People by Fredrik Backman: A review

This is only the second of Fredrik Backman's novels that I have read, but I'm getting the definite impression that he writes character-driven stories. Never more so than in this case. His Anxious People are eight random people who are brought together in a would-be hostage situation in a small town in Sweden after a hilariously botched bank robbery and the two police officers, father and son, who are sent to deal with the situation.

Each of these flawed characters has his or her unique way of viewing the world and Backman's genius is that, even if we don't agree with those views, he makes us understand that character's perspective and how it was formed. He does it insidiously, bit by bit so that we scarcely even notice what is happening, but in the end, we are able to understand a world-view that may not be our own, but that is legitimate within its own context. That is not a small thing.

One of his tools in accomplishing this remarkable feat is humor. Regardless of the situation, humor always bubbles just below the surface and sometimes breaks through in a belly laugh. And thus his quirky story about this collection of misfit characters unfolds in his scattershot but intricately plotted way. His compelling backstories with their heartbreak and their heartwarming secrets are revealed slowly and begin to make a pattern that we can see has led these particular people to this particular place in time. We also begin to see that many of them are connected in some way by a bridge.

That bridge had been the scene ten years earlier of a suicide. The impetus for the suicide had been Sweden's and the world's economic collapse. Ten years later the suicide still haunts those who witnessed it and those who tried to stop it.

Backman's narrative dips back and forth through time as he unravels the mysteries of the hostages, the hostage-taker, and the police. We come to understand that these are all imperfect people who are trying in their own way to do their best, even though being human is "idiotically difficult." Backman is a philosopher/novelist who is able to write humorously and poignantly about life, marriage, parenthood, love, and death. His bottom line message seems to be that kindness and compassion can ease our passage through life, both when we receive it ourselves and when we show it to others. It's not a bad message to receive in November 2020.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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