My Friends

This is a book you will read with tears in your eyes and a smile on your face—sometimes both at the same time. It’s not about laughing until you cry or crying until you laugh. It’s more like drifting in and out of sleep: you move between sadness and joy, back and forth, often experiencing both together. I’ve never written a book review before, but this one is different. It’s so good that I feel compelled to share it, because I want everyone to read it. I finally know the answer to the question, “What’s your favorite book?” I no longer have to struggle, weighing one of several favorites. I now have one that stands apart. If a movie is ever made from this story, I’ll put down my bottom dollar that it won’t come close to the book. A film can capture the story, yes, but the style of storytelling is what makes this book extraordinary—and that can’t be bottled into a screenplay. It’s like looking at a breathtaking landscape with your own eyes and then trying to capture it in a photo. The picture just isn’t the same. It’s about Art and Fart, about joy and tragedy, it’s about growing up and growing apart, childhood and adulthood, love and violence.. all rolled into one unputdownable book. This novel is full of banter, humor, and warmth woven around tragic, real-life circumstances. It’s brilliantly written, and it leaves you feeling both light and heavy at the same time. I’ve read a few of Backman’s books, and this one, without doubt, is his best.

Ted, Joar, Louisa, Ali, and The Artist don’t just stay in the story, they stay with you. They feel real, like people you’ve known for a long time but are only now starting to understand. Each one carries pain, love, guilt, and a small bit of hope that never fades. My Friends isn’t only about friendship. It’s about time, loss, growing apart, and the people who still hold on even when life changes. Every page feels honest and full of emotion, like a painting that quietly speaks to your heart. A beautiful and touching book, the kind that reminds you why you love reading stories.

Good

I love the man called ove & the anxious people , searched for other books by author & it’s a hattrick. The books made me laugh & cry almost at same time. Highly entertaining & a must read

Beautiful narration, beautiful characters and a unique way of telling a simple story that stays with you for years.. Fredrik Backman doing what he's so so good at.. Really enjoyed the book

One of the best books by Fredrick Backman. Takes you back into your childhood and the innocent stupidities we did at that age. It also talks about art, and love and above all friendship

This one is a tenderly moving and funny tale of four Musketeers…. One of my best reads of the Year!!

Too beautiful. A very simple heartwarming story of love, friendship and life.

“Art teaches us to mourn for strangers.” This is exactly what this book did for me. I mourn for all the characters, what they went through, what they couldn’t accomplish, what could have been and what it actually was. There are so many quotes that I highlighted throughout this story that I won’t have enough strength to go through all of them. Backman did it again, and this book, these characters, this story were something else. I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was happy, then I mourned… Words can’t help me articulate how deeply I was affected by all the characters here. Joar, The Artist, Ali, Ted, Louisa, Fish, Christian, Christian’s mom, Joar’s and the others’ parents, even the cat and the bird The author created a beautifully dysfunctional, yet brilliant masterpiece that will stay with me for a very long time. This is a story about friendship, about dysfunctional families, passion, compassion, learning how to trust others and learning how to let go. But there is so much more to it. This book has to be experienced, not only read. It will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, it will make you want to punch some of the characters in the face, and it will make you want to give others the biggest hug and take them in and protect them at all costs. If you are a parent like me, this book hits different. And I have only admiration for those parents who do their best for their children; however, this also highlights how cruel we can be. How broken our system is, and that it is more convenient to close our eyes, block our ears and shut our mouths before the cruelties we see, instead of actually doing something to prevent a tragedy from happening. I cannot stress enough how difficult it was to read some of the passages, but I am so damn glad I did because I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience how beautiful it would be later. Here, I should say, the writing was delightful. Backman has this way of painting a picture with a pen so haunting and yet so delicate, that it leaves you breathless just by reading it. It delivers gut wrenching proses, yet the very next thing he shows you is hope and perseverance. He is a master of poetic and delightfully written stories, and I am all here for it. Fredrik Backman writes = me byung and reading it all. I consume his content like a starving animal who needs to feel loved and protected but also needs some tough love. Do with that information what you will! There were some minor issues I had with certain characters’ actions and behaviour, or rather, what they didn’t do. However, in retrospect, this is exactly why I loved this book so much: doing stupid things or saying stupid things is what makes us human. Sometimes we make poor decisions and should know better, but we still do them anyway. Out of fear, out of despair, or due to something else entirely. Who am I to judge? I am not perfect, either; everyone is flawed, and this is what makes us who we are. This is no way to provide a justification for those horrible things some of these humans did; no, it is merely a view of how I see us, ordinary people. Without spoiling anything for those of you who are planning on reading this one, just keep in mind that this is not a light book. It will trigger something primitive in you, it will make you smile and laugh, but the very next chapter, it will make you rage and want to punch a lot of characters. Mostly the kind bystanders, because those are even worse than the monsters themselves. “Fish always said that kind people were the worst, because at least with mean people you know what you’re dealing with. There’s no limit to how dangerous someone who seems kind can be.”

What an excellent book. Love this author. Nice story.

Incredible. Just incredible. I cried and laughed all at the same time and finished the book in a day. Couldn’t put it down.

Very sensible. Touching

Bien. Libro entretenido, pero no me acabó de gustar cómo se desarrolla la historia. Otros libros del autor me gustaron mucho más, siento que en este se repite en exceso.