Britt-Marie Was Here
Ratings102
Average rating4.2
After the first couple of chapters, I fully expected a tale of a grumpy old woman softening over time, similar to Ove, you must understand. That’s not what Britt-Marie ended up being.
Her story was a lot sadder than that. A story of a woman without purpose who's been taken for granted and ignored for her 60+ years, and the run down town for her to belong. Britt-Marie isn’t some grumpy old woman, she just has to find the confidence to follow her own thoughts away from the people that never “needed” her.
Britt-Marie is a joy to follow throughout. Her little quirks like the way she says what she thinks, for better or for worse, with all the sincerity that she thinks it comes across as. The way she sticks to her lists and methods and ideals throughout and these aren’t treated as a flaw to be fixed but rather just a part of her.
I definitely was not expecting it to turn into such a sport focused story, with a lot of the situations throughout surrounding football but I am by not means disappointed. There’s some classic Backman tear jerker moments at times that landed well and I finished the book thoroughly loving everyone in that town (especially Sami, but not Kent).
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I struggled to get through this one, but I am glad I stuck with it till the end. A good read, all in all.
For the first half of Britt-Marie Was Here I was very much not impressed. It felt like a weird story about a weird person in weird situations with minimal redeeming value. Despite it being only 300 pages long I almost gave up on it. After reading the second half of it I'm glad I didn't give up on it, although it is quite flawed. Part of my issue with Britt-MarieWas Here is that it just feels awkwardly written. I'm not sure if this is because of the translation (the book was originally written in Swedish) or not but the writing as a whole just feels clunky and weird and I can't tell if it's a purposeful stylistic choice or not. I am tempted to give the benefit of the doubt to Backman and his translator as this is inherently a weird book and it's possible that the strangeness of the writing is supposed to add to the sense of abnormality present in the story. Whatever the reason for it, I just don't like the style of the writing and it majorly detracts from my enjoyment of this book. Another one of my issues with the book is Britt-Marie herself, especially in the first half of the book. It feels like she's an alien who is just learning social norms. Given that the book really needs you to relate to Britt-Marie in order for the emotional beats of the story to land, this is a major problem. I simply cannot relate to a person who I just can't imagine existing. With all of that said this book is far from irredeemable. There are some emotional beats that in fact land hard and some of them are courtesy of Britt-Marie herself. This is a book about identity and watching her struggle to find hers is a legitimately touching story at various points. The supporting characters around her are also fantastic, particularly the kids. They give the book the heart that it desperately requires. All in all while Britt-Marie Was Here is far from the best book I've ever read, there are parts of it that will stick with me for a very long time.
Loved it! Not normally a type of book I read but definitely glad I did. Backman creates great characters and I really cared what happened to them. The story moved at a good pace keeping me engaged and I was very satisfied with the ending. Highly recommended.
Fredrik Bachman never disappoints. I knew of Britt Marie from other stories and I looked forward to learning more about her. This story was very interesting. It was sad, and funny, and very detailed. I fell in love with Britt Marie.
Britt-Mari is not an easy main character to like, but she just kinda grows on you. And I feel so proud of her in the end.
Genul de carte pe care o citesti sub o paturica, poate si un ceai cald in mana.
Sort of a heart wrenching, sweet tale of self-discovery and in turn, self-actualization. Through Britt-Marie's experiences we see the flawed beauty we each have as humans.
Unlike Backman's other books that I've read, there were times when I found myself questioning the characters choices and there were parts that I felt were a bit ambiguous. The ending however was quite satisfactory.
What can I say? Frederick Backman has done it again. This book is superb! Backman's writing is flawless. He is a master of his craft. But let me stop gushing and get to specifics.
In this novel, the main character Britt-Marie has left her husband after learning of his infidelity and taken a job as the caretaker of a recreation center in the small village of Borg. She reluctantly becomes the coach (in name only) of the local youth soccer team. Her experience in this small, rural area changes her for the better.
The character of Britt-Marie is now one of my favorites. She is obsessively clean and neat, brutally honest and blunt, stubbornly adherent to routines, and completely socially inept. I absolutely adore her! With her love of window cleaner (Faxin, preferably) and lists (written in pencil, of course) and her polite conversations with a rat (over a plate of Snickers), she works her way into the heart of the reader. I found myself laughing out loud after some of her totally inappropriate statements. In spite of her flaws, she is a lovable character. She stands by the people she cares about and forms a heartwarming relationship with two children in need of support and their troubled older brother. Her development from a woman completely lost without the anchor of her marriage to the self-assured "coach" of the village soccer team is a wonder to witness.
The setting of this book serves as the perfect backdrop for the story of Britt-Marie's evolution. The village of Borg is falling into shambles. The people are mostly out of work and the council is shutting down buildings left and right, but there is a spirit of survival in the village that matches Britt-Marie's spirit. The soccer team is definitely the underdog when competing, but the whole village rallies around them and is revived through the excitement of the team playing for the regional cup. Her time spent with this team and the rest of the villagers softens Britt-Marie's rough edges and helps her to see that she can be a part of something beyond her marital experience. She gains a passion for something other than her mundane daily routine of cleaning and organizing.
This book gets 5 stars from me. Frederick Backman is now an auto-buy author for me. I cannot wait for his next novel.
This book made me cringe, laugh and cry and differing intervals. Oh! The characters are delightful and well described. I really enjoyed this book and the writing.
* there are a lot of f-bombs
While I do love Britt-Marie, I wasn't in love with this story as much as Backman's others that I have read. All the elements were there, but it still felt like it was missing something. I did ache for Britt-Marie still and was happy with the way the book ended though!
I adore Backman's writing style. Even when the book is sad there is humour written into the narrative. He makes you laugh and cry at the same time.
4.5 Stars“You have to understand that when one is just standing there looking, then just for a second one is ready to jump. If one does it, one dares to do it. But if one waits, it'll never happen.”Warning: This book made me cry. I really liked this book. So far it's my favorite this year (it's only February, but still). If you've read [b:A Man Called Ove 18774964 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405259930s/18774964.jpg 21619954] then you kind of know what you are getting. I found this book to be rather similar. It's gender-flipped and a different plot, but very similar non the less. “One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it's happened.”I can imagine that I wouldn't like Britt-Marie much if I ever were to meet her. But reading this book from her point of view was to me very emotional. She has more or less completely lost herself to her husband. To the point were she cannot remember whether she doesn't like something because she doesn't like it, or because he doesn't. Her entire identity is connected to the life she had with him. To being a housewife. Most of her life has been about taking care of other people (her mother, her husband, his children). It's gotten to the point were she doesn't know what to do with herself if she isn't needed by anyone. “All marriages have their bad sides, because people have weaknesses. If you live with another human being you learn to handle these weaknesses in a variety of ways. For instance, you might take the view that weaknesses are a bit like heavy pieces of furniture, and based on this you must learn to clean around them. To maintain the illusion.”“Of course the dust is building up unseen, but you learn to repress this for as long as it goes unnoticed by guests. And then one day someone moves a piece of furniture without your say-so, and everything comes into plain view. Dirt and scratch marks. Permanent damage to the parquet floor. By then it's too late.”I liked most of the characters, and I could really see a lot of development in the mc. They all felt very real to me. I know Britt-Marie is a character from [b:My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry 23604559 My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry Fredrik Backman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461904020s/23604559.jpg 25003015]. I haven't read that one yet, so you can by all means read this one first if you'd like. (I'll come back with a recommended reading order after I've read it.)(I read this book in Norwegian)
This book is hilarious, heartwarming, heart-wrenching, and insightful, and I loved it! It had even more depth to it than Ove, and I just couldn't believe how tangled and deep the story got, but I loved every moment of it. And the ending...that ending! Britt-Marie made Backman one of my favorite authors. I highly suggest adding this one to your TBR list! Audiobook, ebook or paper, this one will steal your heart, turn it upside down and all around, then hand it back to you better for having known Britt-Marie.
Full review here: http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2016/06/audiobook-review-britt-marie-fredrik-backman/