Beartown

This was a book that had been on my shelf for a while. I realized that with this author, I need to have a chunk of time to get into the book in order to get invested into the story. Once invested though, I enjoyed the book, in spite of the fact that the subject matter brought with it very strong feelings. This would be a great book club pick, as there is much to discuss. From class differences and privilege, to how we treat sports and the players who are ‘heroes', to the way a community can be divided, which spoke to present times. “Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn't through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple”. Phew...... Had to think on that one for a bit! Good story.

Enjoyed the last 2/3rds of this book. But boy of boy did it take a long time to get started. First came across this author in the movie of his book A man called Ove. Fuck I loved that movie; just beautiful. He has a good feel for moments that wet the back of your eyes.