Anxious People
Ratings390
Average rating4.3
The most beautiful book I've ever read. A new favourite. I cried multiple times.
Znate da je knjiga dobra kada u isto vreme može da vas nasmeje i rasplače. Dobro, možda malo više rasplače. Ne volim a i retko plačem; duša valja, mislim da mi je ovo i bilo potrebno. Zaista veoma lepa knjiga.
Sometimes you read a book that, for some reason, just speaks to your heart. We are all idiots doing the best we can, looking for something to cling on and look forward to.
This book is about life, how we are enough and it was ideal to lighten up my year.
I struggled to completely get into this story at first and found it slightly bity however I loved the last third of the book and couldn't put it down.
Overall an enjoyable read.
It's been a long time since a book has made me cry. It's been a long time since I left a review of well, anything. This book has made me do both. Beautiful, and I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone.
Perhaps the best book I have read of 2020 and a necessary read for these times. Reminds me that you should treat everyone with kindness, you never know where someone is coming from or what their story is, and everyone deserves a second chance. I hated finishing it but love what it left me with.
One of the gifts life has given me this quarantine. Loved the tone, thecharacters and their quirkiness, the surprises revealing prejudice, the happiness and the sadness. Loved it.
Perhaps the most appropriate day to finish this book, new year's eve, and I can't help but love it - a book about idiots. Idiots that are parents, lovers, children, friends, and anything in between, discovering the deep truths of their lives a little by force, a little by fortune. A reminder that other people are both the cause of, and solution to, all of the heartache, everywhere.
The story involves 7 strangers and 1 bank robber whose life becomes interconnected and how they manage to handle it.
Not the kind of book, I wished to read. Never picking up another of this kind
In my opinion, this book pales in comparison to some of Backman's other novels, but it's still a solid read that made me chuckle at times.
A terrific blend of humor and humanity. The writing was witty and clever which I hadn't expected and admittedly took some getting used to personally, but ultimately, I was won over. Though I found myself relating to Zara the most, there were bits and pieces of a few of the characters' lives I could empathize with. I was in tears at the end because I was so touched.
Judging by the reviews I thought I would like this book much more than I did. I wanted to like it but ultimately it fell flat for me. I liked some elements, a few of the characters and some of the writing, but it was told in a very roundabout way that got frustrating at times and many of the characters seemed static and flat. There was far too much telling and not enough demonstrating in the writing. Plus, it was a bit sentimental in telling you the way the world is. I prefer that kind of thing to be more implied than outright said.
Thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns and the refreshing writing style. Felt like I was watching a pink panther movie! I suppose it's more like human observations through a light detective plot? Heartwarming, although it did not reel me in as much as it just made me curious and want to find out how it ends.
Such a beautiful character study. Funny, charming, poignant and so cleverly written.
Also I switched between reading + listening to the audiobook (read by Marin Ireland, highly rec).
This was such a quirky and humorous book. A bank robber who isn't really a bank robber who then finds themself in a hostage situation with a group of unwilling participants, makes this quite the witty novel. The two police men are also a bit of a liability which adds to the general disarray and deliberate confusion of the plot.
Fredrik Backman is a natural born storyteller, for those that have read any of his previous novels will know that his stories are character led. Anxious People has a whole host of colourful characters, each with their own flaws, insecurities and problems, which makes them easy to identify with and feel compassionate towards. I love the way the characters are linked and come together. These heartwarming moments beautifully balance the darker themes of loneliness and suicide that run through the book. I also loved hearing all the character's backstories, especially those of the police men.
There was definitely a lot of surprise elements in this book which kept me on my toes and at times made me go back to find hidden clues that I missed on the first read. I loved how the events and characters came together and thought it was a very satisfying ending. This book highlights the beauty of humankind and how a little act of kindness can go a long way.
“The truth of course is that if people really were as happy as they look on the Internet, they wouldn't spend so much damn time on the Internet, because no one who's having a really good day spends half of it taking pictures of themselves.”
What starts out as a story about a bank robber turns into a story about idiots who actually aren't idiots...they are just regular, everyday people who are just trying to live their lives to the best of their ability.
I was laughing, holding my breath and fighting back the tears (I'm a mom and a Nana so I get weepy with family struggles I can relate to). I love the way Backman writes. It's heartfelt. It's funny. It's real.
i LOOOOOVED this book. Frederik Backman has such a way of combining humor and saddness, struggle and understanding into one complex package that highlights all the things in the spectrum of emotions. He gives you all of this while still supplying moments to breathe and rest within the story to recover. I would highly highly highly recommend this book to all people in all areas of their life and at all ages. There was a spectrum of challenges and ages affected by the plot. It is very special when you find a book that says “life is hard, and that is okay. It's okay to feel and to fall and to get up and try again. At least you'll get a good laugh out of it at some point.” Humble and powerful, I hope we many many more like this soon.
A sweet and clever story — just what I need these days to restore hope in, and love for, our fellow human beings. FB understands people. There is humor and pain here.
I really thought this book would be a new favorite and it just...wasn't.
Firstly, the good things about this book. Frederik Backman is clearly a skilled writer; this man knows how to put a feeling into a words, a fleeting moment captured in a way that seems to hold all of the meaning in the world. So many of these passages about parenting, love and loneliness were so beautiful and really moving. However, the actual story and characters is where this whole book went wrong for me. Everything was just far too outlandish all the time, from the way all of the characters interacted with the police to people reacting to a hostage situation. It wasn't outlandish in a fun way either; I was always irritated with how over the top every character had to be at all times. The tone was constantly switching from deeply emotional to campy and it made it hard to be invested in the characters. The characters are really the main problem I had with this book; I know that they're all mostly supposed to be unlikable, but I never got attached or invested in a single person in this book. They were written in such a way that they were so much of one character trait that they didn't feel like people, rather caricatures. The themes of this book and the general point the author was trying to make felt so heavy handed at times that it grated on my nerves. Also, there was a lot of attempts at humor that felt so distinctly boomer-y (cough the entire character of London cough) Overall, this book had so much potential but it never took off for me.
Backman is a master at character development. His unlikely group of participants in this novel is funny, quirky, and skillfully mastered. We didn't know what was going to happen to our poor bank robber (that's right, we feel awful for our villain). We cheer these crazy people on as they become a family, of sorts, in a difficult situation. As with families, there is conflict, conversation, community, and love. It is hard not to love this book or all the surprises it offers.
this book is me coded, i won't go into further details. if i did i would need to go to therapy.