Reviews

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

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happylilkt's review against another edition

3.0

"This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots. So it needs saying from the outset that it's always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being a human is."

Jack: Do you remember anything about his appearance?
London: That's such a superficial question! You've got a really sick binary view of gender, yeah?
Jack: I'm sorry. What was your first impression of the bank robber?
London: Okay, my first "impression" was that the "bank robber" seemed to be a complete moron.
Jack: I'll interpret that as suggesting that it's perfectly okay to have a binary attitude to intelligence.
London: What?
Jack: Nothing.

The first half of the book was a lot of fun—in the second half it didn't fully lose its charm, but it DID seem a little too tidy and sentimental to be really spectacular.

I really like Backman's humor and optimism, but sometimes I wish he would show a little more restraint and not connect the dots so precisely. Give me (the reader) something to do with your story. Don't interpret and synthesize it all for me! Do you even need me? This reader likes to feel necessary.

In spite of these relatively minor complaints, it was an enjoyable read and I enjoyed the light handling of heavy topics and the wry humor.

content warning:

Spoiler

suicide, dishonesty, terrorism, grief, divorce, infidelity, addiction, codependency, criminal behavior / intent

xlpver's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No

2.0

andijeanne's review against another edition

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I got about 100 pages in and finally had to give up. Too contrived, too many dad jokes; I found myself cringing every few pages. Repetitive narration and flat/unrealistic characters. The breaking point for me was how disingenuously he spoke about poverty and mental health issues. I get the feeling the author fancies himself a philosopher, which he thoroughly is not.

bethwolf's review against another edition

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3.0

I definitely prefer a more linear story than one like this but it was a good book. A lot of it hit very close to home with where I am at in my life, philosophically. It reminds me that we all need to be kind to ourselves because we are doing the best we can. I expected this book to be a lot more suspenseful from the synopsis so if you came here for that, maybe don’t expect it like I did.