Anxious People

Anxious People, Fredrik Backman

Some may recall how much I enjoyed Backman’s writing last year. I was looking forward to reading his new offering, Anxious People. While it took me a while to get into it, it turned out to be enjoyable as well - in a different way.

“This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots. So it needs saying from the outset that it's always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is. Especially if you have other people you're trying to be a reasonably good human being for."

It starts with a bank robbery that goes awry, then the robber accidentally runs into an apartment with a viewing on, which quickly turns the whole situation into a hostage drama. That sounds dramatic and scary, but it’s not at all, because nothing is quite as it seems.

"The truth is that the bank robber was an adult. There's nothing more revealing about a bank robber’s personality. Because the terrible thing about becoming an adult is being forced to realize that absolutely nobody cares about us, we have to do everything ourselves now, find out how the whole world works… We look around occasionally, at our place of work or at parents’ meetings or out in the street, and realise with horror that everyone else seems to know exactly what they’re doing. We’re the only one who have to pretend."

There are numerous characters and a couple of timelines in this story and you have pay attention, because Backman doesn’t include things without a reason. So a reference to an event ten years ago and who was present is important, as are all the people in the hostage apartment. You need to keep track. But it’s worth it in the end. All the various threads start to intertwine and he cleverly brings it all together.

Each person is slowly revealed. You form an opinion of them, but then with more information are forced to change what you thought. As with Backman’s other books, he has great insights into life and people and a way of expressing them that just works.

“If you've lived with teenagers, you know they only exist for themselves, and their parents have their hands full dealing with the various horrors of life. Both the teenagers’ and their own. [About their grandmother:] They were pleased she answered the phone when they called on her birthday, but the rest of the time they assumed time stood still for her. She was a nice ornament that they only took out at Christmas and Midsummer."

“‘Grandchildren would make him feel important?’
Anna-Lena smiled weakly.
‘Have you ever held a three-year-old by the hand on the way home from pre-school?’
‘No.’
‘You’re never more important than you are then.’”

One of the lovely things about Backman’s stories is that he gives the full story, extending the telling into the future, so you get a sense of completion about how the characters lives will turn out. He did the same in A Man Called Ove, and the Beartown books, and it made the endings even better.

This is definitely an author I have come to appreciate.