Anxious People – Fredrik Backman
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: The day before New Year’s Eve, a bungled bank robbery leads to a hostage situation for residents of a small Swedish town. While facing a high stress situation, each begins to reflect on the circumstances that found them in that moment.
Expectation: A balanced examination of second chances delivered with Backman’s signature style of homespun philosophy.
Reality: A somewhat slap-sticky and, at times, annoying character study that tries to do a bit too much but finds its footing in the end.
Recommended For: Fans of Backman’s previous work.
Why I Read It: My husband loved it, and while Backman has been consistently uneven for me, his stories remain with me for years.
My Take:
Over several novels, Fredrik Backman has established himself as today’s preeminent cracker-barrel philosopher, and he remains atop that mantel with “Anxious People,” providing deeper-than-they-should-be musings on the minutia of everyday life.
While I enjoyed “People,” it wasn’t Backman’s strongest work, primarily because the plot was a little too slap-sticky, and many in the cast of characters (about 10) were initially more annoying than anxious.
Thrown into a hostage situation during an apartment viewing by a would-be bank robber who attempted to steal from a cash-less bank, the characters — weary of outsiders and change and carrying their own burdens — must confront the ways they’ve failed themselves and others.
As bits and pieces of their inner fears and disappointments bubble to the surface — a truism that sometimes it’s easier to bare your feelings to a stranger rather than those you hold close — they each will get the Big Lesson™ needed to move forward.
Let’s be honest, the plot is kinda stupid. I think Backman wanted to write a pure comedy, complete with bungling cops and incompetent robbers, but he couldn’t give each of the characters enough runway to be funny and serious given the situation.
This led to some tonal shifts that made the time and POV jumps a little hard to follow until the last third when we’re primarily focused in the apartment and each character ties up the loose ends strung throughout.
But just as Backman’s characters needed to learn some lessons, he knows his readers do to. Near the end I found myself choking up a bit, as his takes on failure, fidelity, friendship and communication land exactly where it’s needed.
As an audiobook, it’s expertly narrated by Marin Ireland — an all-star audiobook narrator — who also did the narrations for “Beartown” and its sequel “Us Against You.” She is just as responsible for the happy/sad tears as Backman’s writing.
All in all, there’s not much new ground here, but fans of Backman will certainly find a lot to enjoy. If you’re new to his writing, I’d suggest starting with “Beartown” or “A Man Called Ove,” however.
Rating (story): 3.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: January 15 - 19, 2021
Multi-tasking: Not recommended. The cast of characters is too large, and the story jumps too much.
