Beartown: A Novel (Beartown Series)
Now an HBO Original Series
“You’ll love this engrossing novel.” —People
Named a Best Book of the Year by LibraryReads, BookBrowse, and Goodreads
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People, a dazzling and profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.
By the lake in Beartown is an old ice rink, and in that ice rink Kevin, Amat, Benji, and the rest of the town’s junior ice hockey team are about to compete in the national semi-finals—and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Under that heavy burden, the match becomes the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown.
This is a story about a town and a game, but even more about loyalty, commitment, and the responsibilities of friendship; the people we disappoint even though we love them; and the decisions we make every day that come to define us. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
“You’ll love this engrossing novel.” —People
Named a Best Book of the Year by LibraryReads, BookBrowse, and Goodreads
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People, a dazzling and profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.
By the lake in Beartown is an old ice rink, and in that ice rink Kevin, Amat, Benji, and the rest of the town’s junior ice hockey team are about to compete in the national semi-finals—and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Under that heavy burden, the match becomes the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown.
This is a story about a town and a game, but even more about loyalty, commitment, and the responsibilities of friendship; the people we disappoint even though we love them; and the decisions we make every day that come to define us. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
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Community Reviews
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Beartown by Fredrik Backman
415 pages
What’s it about?
Beartown is a dying community in the woods of Sweden. The town has pinned its last hopes on its Junior Hockey Team winning a championship and putting the town back on the map. With a large cast of characters this book examines the idea of what makes a community from lots of different perspectives.
What did it make me think about?
This book asks so many questions. What is loyalty? What makes a leader? What are the consequences of our obsession with athletes? What does this obsession do to young star athletes? What is required of a friend? What does it take to be a good parent? And it goes on and on…. I felt like there were so many ideas to explore in this book.
Should I read it?
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The plot really picked up in the second half- but the characters were engaging from the first page. Frederik Beckman seems to write in platitudes, but they are all good and do not thwart the plot so how do you fault him for that? Their were so many pearls of wisdom in this story that I had trouble picking out which quote to include. One of my favorite themes in the novel was the power of our early friendships ,“You never have the sort of friends you have when you’re fifteen ever again. Even if you keep them for the rest of your life, it’s never the same as it was then.” If I had included all the quotes I found memorable- my review would have been WAY too long!
Quote-
“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple.”
If you like this try-
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennesy by Rachel Joyce
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
415 pages
What’s it about?
Beartown is a dying community in the woods of Sweden. The town has pinned its last hopes on its Junior Hockey Team winning a championship and putting the town back on the map. With a large cast of characters this book examines the idea of what makes a community from lots of different perspectives.
What did it make me think about?
This book asks so many questions. What is loyalty? What makes a leader? What are the consequences of our obsession with athletes? What does this obsession do to young star athletes? What is required of a friend? What does it take to be a good parent? And it goes on and on…. I felt like there were so many ideas to explore in this book.
Should I read it?
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The plot really picked up in the second half- but the characters were engaging from the first page. Frederik Beckman seems to write in platitudes, but they are all good and do not thwart the plot so how do you fault him for that? Their were so many pearls of wisdom in this story that I had trouble picking out which quote to include. One of my favorite themes in the novel was the power of our early friendships ,“You never have the sort of friends you have when you’re fifteen ever again. Even if you keep them for the rest of your life, it’s never the same as it was then.” If I had included all the quotes I found memorable- my review would have been WAY too long!
Quote-
“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple.”
If you like this try-
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennesy by Rachel Joyce
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
It took me a long time to get through....I don’t know if it was the book or just me being in a phase. The subject matter didn’t grip me and so it took a while for the meat of the story to evolve. When it does, it’s a story of all the worst human tendencies and traits. The writing is very choppy jumping character to character. It was a faster read toward the end but I just never got attached to the story or people.
“This town doesn’t always know the difference between right and wrong, I’ll admit that. But we know the difference between good and evil.” This book is about a hockey club in a small town in Sweden and how this community is rocked by a violent act. And yet it’s so much more than that. Fredrik Backman is writing about people and the human condition. I loved A Man Called Ove but this is by far his best book. So glad there’s a sequel. Highly recommend.
So much more than a book about hockey. Backman has a way of getting to the heart of things without getting too preachy or sappy.
1/3/2024
Update: After finishing the rest of the series, I am 100% sold. All of these characters have captured my heart and I will forever be recommending this series.
1/11/2018
I enjoyed this book and am glad that I chose it to fulfill the book involving a Sport requirement in the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge. I did however find that the erratic and lack of clear transition between characters to be unappealing.
Update: After finishing the rest of the series, I am 100% sold. All of these characters have captured my heart and I will forever be recommending this series.
1/11/2018
I enjoyed this book and am glad that I chose it to fulfill the book involving a Sport requirement in the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge. I did however find that the erratic and lack of clear transition between characters to be unappealing.
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