Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This books begins well with a lot of flippancy and humour

This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.

This passage reminded me of the song about the dipsomaniac Lily The Pink

It should be noted that when she died, the bank robber’s mum consisted of so much gin and tonic that they didn’t dare cremate her because of the risk of explosion, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have good advice to offer.

A lot of the context depends on present day gadgetry the language of IT

The policeman tries to be patient. He presses his thumbs hard against his eyebrows, as if he hopes they’re two buttons and if he keeps them pressed at the same time for ten seconds he’ll be able to restore life to its factory settings.
In truth, we know as much about sex as we do about USB leads, and it always takes us four tries to get those little buggers in. (Wrong way around, wrong way round, wrong way round, there! In!)

A lot of clever play with words – the credit goes to the translator

‘Will this be psychiatry or psychology?’
The psychologist asked: ‘What do you think the difference is?’
Zara replied: ‘You need psychology if you think you’re a dolphin. You need psychiatry if you’ve killed all the dolphins.’
The psychologist looked uncomfortable. The next time they met she wasn’t wearing her dolphin brooch.

‘He’s more sensitive than people think. He’s a bit wedded to his principles.’
‘Sensitive and principled, you hear that a lot.’ Julia nodded, thinking that it was a good description of all the old men who’ve started wars throughout human history.

The psychologist remained seated at her desk, bemused at how bemused she felt.

Her idea of hell was never-ending buffet with her stuck in the queue behind someone who had a cold.

The plot begins to unravel and gets confoundingly obtuse towards the end. The TV series may shed more light…

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