L Siitari

I never bought into Ove having a heart of gold buried under a gruff exterior. He was unremittingly irate, rude and tedious. At the end, when he supposedly had softened, he's ready to punch out a computer technician who's showing him an iPad. I doubt very much 300 people would come to his funeral. That said, the writing was clean enough and easy to read though some of the metaphors felt really stretched.

I thought I’d love this, as I love Meryl Streep and many of Anne Patchett’s books. But, it’s a little too precious for me overall. I actually think it’s Meryl’s voice and inflections that are adding to that. I’ll continue listening and see if my impression changes.