{"id":35,"date":"2020-10-20T06:34:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/\/?p=35"},"modified":"2023-07-19T07:25:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T07:25:27","slug":"anxious-people-by-fredrik-backman-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Book Review."},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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Hi Readers! Now that I have a <\/span>HUGE TBR PILE<\/span><\/b>, I have come up with a new way of reading books. I am already reading <\/span>Little Women<\/span><\/b> <\/span>in the morning before work. Then, I am reading <\/span>The Vanishing Half<\/span><\/b> <\/span>post work before sleeping at night. Because this constitutes only 2 hours reading max a day, my speed has become unbearably slow. That is why, on weekends, I am going to start an entirely new book & finish it in 2 days, which is exactly how I finished reading <\/span>Anxious People by Fredrik Backman<\/span><\/b>! I know it\u2019s a bit of a flawed plan, but I can\u2019t think of anything else so it will be this till I get bored of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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~~INTRODUCTION~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Anxious People is essentially a story about idiots, as you will often read it in the book itself. An idiot bank robber tries to rob a cashless bank & when that goes to shit, he takes a few other idiots hostage who are at an apartment viewing in the same building. This is then continued when idiot policemen enter the scenario. Anxious People is a much comical thriller with a lot of wisdom in it. You can never find another book written in this manner. This book is unlike anything Fredrik Backman has ever written but still as usual, he has won over the readers with this book as well! If you love CHARACTER-DRIVEN<\/span><\/b> <\/span>stories with a LOT OF TWISTS<\/span><\/b> <\/span>& also some LIFE LESSONS<\/span><\/b> <\/span>along the way which are truly relatable in the basic sense of HOW HUMAN WE ARE<\/span><\/b>, then you will surely LOVE<\/span><\/b> <\/span>this book!<\/span><\/p>\n

~~CHARACTERS~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

There are a lot of characters in the story, but it\u2019s never confusing. We have the policeman father-son duo of Jim & Jack<\/span><\/b>. Then there\u2019s the bank robber<\/span><\/b>. Then we have the hostages; Anna-Lena & Roger<\/span><\/b>, who are husband-wife; Zara<\/span><\/b>, who stands out the most; Ro & Julia<\/span><\/b> <\/span>who are wife-wife; Estelle<\/span><\/b> <\/span>who is the sweet elderly lady; Lennart<\/span><\/b>, the rabbit & lastly the estate agent. This is a FUN<\/span><\/b> <\/span>combination of people who start out as strangers who want the same apartment to becoming friends during the hostage drama one giving up the apartment for the other. It was TRULY AMAZING<\/span><\/b> <\/span>to see so much going on in each of their lives in addition to what was happening in the hostage situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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~~OVERALL THOUGHTS~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

~~NARRATIVE STYLE~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I absolutely love reading it when the narration is not just one big collection of words with one story ongoing. What keeps me engrossed is different styles of text, multiple story lines of different characters, past, present & future of the same story with multiple perspectives<\/span><\/b>. And, Anxious People had all of this. We have every single character\u2019s own story, we have the hostage drama\u2019s past & future, we have Jim & Jack\u2019s version of the story, we also have the police interrogating the witnesses in a dialogue narration. All these factors matter into making it a whole good piece of fiction!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The only thing where I had a problem was with the voice of characters<\/span><\/b>. In the interrogation room, all the characters talk in the same manner. There was a lot of scope to give all of them a different voice, a different style of talking & a different sense of life because there are so many of them. But, instead, it just feels like we are reading what the author has written, when it should be like we are reading what the characters have to say. This bit was quite disappointing in an otherwise impeccable work of fiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

~~UNPREDICTABILITY~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

When I first started reading it, I had no idea what I was in for. But soon when the bank robber takes all the apartment viewers hostage, it becomes evident how it will end. We have an amateur bank robber who failed to rob a bank because it was cashless & just because the bank robber doesn\u2019t know what to do next, he\/she takes those people hostage. Everyone in the room know this. So it is fairly obvious that all these hostages would eventually help the bank robber in escaping. But, the unpredictability of the whole thing still exists because we don\u2019t know exactly HOW<\/span><\/b> <\/span>they will help the robber escape. I loved how we don\u2019t find that out until the very end!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

I also like the unpredictable parts about all the people\u2019s stories connecting to the bridge. That was something ingenious which I never saw coming. That bit just goes to show how we may never know whose life we are impacting unknowingly which is why we should ALWAYS<\/span><\/b> <\/span>be kind to one another.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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~~FEEL-GOOD~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

There is the golden touch of Backman\u2019s writing in this story in the way wisdom flows right in the middle of the story but with the perfect balance of wisdom & fiction. There are so many things in that novel having multiple layers. We see how a person decided to rob a bank only because he\/she cannot pay a month\u2019s rent. We see a teenager who was to commit suicide was saved by another only so that the former becomes a psychologist later in life. We see how a young boy is unable to prevent a suicide which later makes him want to save people & so becomes a policeman. All the distant connections in the novel may seem too bizarre & unlikely, but the point is that they happen on the daily & in such sense that we never even realise whose life we have touched. We see how everyone is essentially the same. The next person finds adulthood just as daunting as you do. The next person is just as human as you are. At the very core, we are all the same.<\/span><\/b> <\/span>This story restores a person\u2019s faith in humanity & the goodness of things<\/span><\/b>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

While keeping it mellow yet powerful, the writing is just perfectly humorous at times. Only when you look at it from afar, you realise how hysterical the situation is. Likewise, if you pause & meditate to look at your own life from a distance, you will realise how funny it is that you don\u2019t actually have anything to worry about. In that sense, this book is one of the best feel-good novels that I have read recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

~~TAKEAWAYS~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Throughout the novel, I felt like the author has literally taken a shot at everything that\u2019s wrong with the world<\/span><\/b>. He has mentioned how unemployment & poverty can drive a normal person like you & I to take a drastic measure like robbing a bank. In a prose where he mentions how it is wrong to kill & later goes on to mention in a sarcastic manner how it is okay to kill animals because we need food. He has also called out vegans, most of whom are vegan for themselves but tell the world it\u2019s an effort to save the planet. And the most obvious of all is that we all have our anxieties so it\u2019s okay to accept it & live our life. He talks about mental health in such a subtle yet effective manner as no one has talked about before. I\u2019m pretty sure if I read this book again, I will have more takeaways from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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~~CONCLUSION~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I have rated Anxious People at 4.5\/5 stars<\/span><\/b> <\/span>& this book goes in my favourites<\/span><\/b>! With this fresh writing & a new vision, Fredrik Backman has restored my faith in his books. I am definitely going to read whichever books I haven\u2019t yet read by him!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Until next time,<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! Now that I have a HUGE TBR PILE, I have come up with a new way of reading books. I am already reading Little Women in the morning before work. Then, I am reading The Vanishing Half post work before sleeping at night. Because this constitutes only 2 hours reading max a day, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,3],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-mindscape-reviews","tag-favorite-books"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=33","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":0},"title":"October Reads!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers! Another month gone by! I READ 5 BOOKS IN OCTOBER & I\u2019m so happy that I loved 3 of those 5 books! I have already written reviews for 4 of the books, so this is going to be a short post. \u00a0 ~~THE INIMITABLE JEEVES by P.G. WODEHOUSE~~\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-LXOI49NV7PU\/X50DcAOViUI\/AAAAAAAAj1E\/hrQake2_xV45bmqunzMk27WIjqusDaktQCLcBGAsYHQ\/w372-h640\/October%2BReads.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=26","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":1},"title":"Books I Read in 2020 – Year in Review (Part 2)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers! As much as I love blogging about literally anything, I also love blogging about these year-end review posts! Have you checked out the first one? So, this is the second post reviewing the books I read this year! It\u2019s going to be a little different, because why not?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Post2B22BHeader2Bedit-2.png?fit=410%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=37","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":2},"title":"October Book Haul!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Hello Readers! See? I can write 2 posts in a week! It doesn\u2019t always have to be 15 days without a post. (Though that could be the case in the near future!) Anyway, the last many months all of us were stuck at home. Initially we weren\u2019t even able to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-eeAiu8YOEhM\/X4MQP_JCEYI\/AAAAAAAAjxU\/yowg-CoeYDUb1IN9B7DYyDXmBji3xMcsgCLcBGAsYHQ\/w480-h640\/octbookhaul.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3066,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3066","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":3},"title":"My Grandmother Send Her Regards and Apologises: An Overdone Backman Novel","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I am back with another review. But, it pained me to write this one, because it\u2019s the first book by Fredrik Backman that I did not enjoy. I have enjoyed A Man Called Ove, Beartown series, Anxious People and And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/PSX_20231025_103825-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/PSX_20231025_103825-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/PSX_20231025_103825-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/PSX_20231025_103825-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/PSX_20231025_103825-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4311,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4311","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":4},"title":"Book Recommendation: My Friends by Fredrik Backman","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! By now you know my reading choices. If Fredrik Backman publishes anything, I am going to read it. Novel? Yes. Short story? Yes. Instagram Post Caption? Yes. Grocery List? Yes. Anything? YES! So, I didn\u2019t think twice before reading his latest book My Friends! And, oh what a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PXL_20250720_070534280-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2667,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2667","url_meta":{"origin":35,"position":5},"title":"Books Read in March 2023!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"April 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! March was super long and no uneventful. Among life's ups and downs, my reading was quite interesting as well. I read FIVE BOOKS across 2016 PAGES! I absolutely loved four of those books and found one of them really intriguing. ~~CARRIE SOTO IS BACK by TAYLOR JENKINS REID~~\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/PSX_20230402_223914-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2885,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/2885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}