A Man Called Ove

Chapters 1-3, 4-6, 7-9

Reading Check

1. His neighborhood (gate, guest parking, trash sorting, etc.) (Chapter 2)

2. A forest (Chapter 4)

3. At the railway yard (Chapter 5)

4. Holding hands (Chapter 7)

5. Saab (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. The clerk is flustered and doesn't seem able to help a grumpy customer who knows so little about technology. (Chapter 1)

2. He doesn't trust food from unknown sources, but he also doesn't believe in wasting food. (Chapter 3)

3. He dislikes the neighbor woman who owns the dog. (Chapter 6)

4. Ove's refusal resulted in his getting a job transfer. If he hadn't become a night cleaner on the train, he would never have met his future wife. (Chapter 8)

Chapters 10-12, 13-15

Reading Check

1. Houses (Chapter 10)

2. Loss of his job (Chapter 11)

3. Ove (Chapter 12)

4. Take her out to dinner (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. He believes that his wife will be upset with him if something bad happens to the cat. (Chapter 11)

2. Patrick falls off a ladder and breaks his arm and leg. (Chapter 13)

3. They address him directly and show no indications that they find him intimidating. (Chapter 13)

Chapters 16-18, 19-21, 22-24 

Reading Check

1. Bookcases (Chapter 16)

2. The barn cat Ernest (Chapter 17)

3. Sonja at her grave site (Chapter 19)

4. A journalist who wanted to interview Ove (Chapter 22)

Short Answer

1. He repairs his truck, fixes the roof, and learns to fish. (Chapter 18)

2. The "men in white shirts" is a recurring symbol that represents bureaucratic authority and indifference. (Chapter 20 and multiple other chapters)

3. While vacationing in Spain, she followed local custom and slept in the afternoons, but Ove used that time to lend a hand to people who needed help. (Chapter 21)

4. He is the funniest thing she knows. (Chapter 24)

Chapters 25-27, 28-30

Reading Check

1. Shakespeare (Chapter 26)

2. Mirsad's eye makeup (Chapter 29)

Short Answer

1. He tells Anita that he and the cat will be there if she needs him, which suggests he has decided to live. (Chapter 25)

2. She can't get the car moving when a light turns green and two men in the car behind her repeatedly honk the horn. (Chapter 27)

3. The different models they chose reflected their hopes and dreams—and sometimes the loss of them. (Chapter 28)

4. It's never finished. There's always something to fix. (Chapter 30)

Chapters 31-33, 34-36, 37-Epilogue 

Reading Check

1. He cries. (Chapter 31)

2. Makes toast (Chapter 33)

3. Rune (Chapter 34)

4. Building houses (Chapter 36)

5. An iPad (Chapter 38)

Short Answer

1. Mirsad's father threw him out after Mirsad told him he was gay. Adrian hoped Mirsad could stay at Ove's house. (Chapter 32)

2. Ove and other neighbors pledge to help Anita care for him. Also, the journalist Lena threatens to expose information she has dug up about the man. (Chapter 35)

3. It's a report on Ove saving the life of a man who accidentally fell on the tracks as a train approached. (Chapter 37)

4. They help him pack away Sonja's things, "one memory at a time." (Chapter 39)

5. He hasn't cleared the snow from in front of his house. (Epilogue)