I’ve truly enjoyed all of the Fredrik Backman books I’ve read, especially Beartown. This summer I finally got around to reading the second book in the Beartown series, Us Against You. While I’ll do my best to avoid any spoilers, I really would encourage you to read Beartown, and then this sequel. They are deeply human novels, very well written, and incredibly smooth to read. By this I mean that the language doesn’t get in the way of the story, and there is no excess or indulgence by the author – something sequels are particularly susceptible to.
Us Against You picks up where Beartown left off, in the aftermath of a rape, and the havoc it caused on the social fabric of this small northern European community. Backman doubled down on exploring the painful consequence of this occurrence, and the human struggle, suffering, and strength that followed it. But as with the first book, Backman widens the circle outward, exploring the lives and struggles of other characters in the town (and I use ‘characters’ with both meanings of the word, as referring to individuals in the story, and people with unique and compelling personalities). He creates tremendous empathy in his writing through the exploration of each of their struggles, resulting in a deep attachment with the reader. This is perhaps Backman’s greatest strength as a writer.
Like Beartown, Us Against You is centered around the town’s obsession with hockey and hockey players, which will bring a smile to anyone who’s played organized team sports, but it shouldn’t get it the way of any non-hockey or sports fans reading the book. Like any good novel, the lessons are eminently transferable and should be enjoyable to anyone who reads them.
Just Because I Liked It:
- I’d never heard of Baratunde Thurston (a comedian) until I heard him on Adam Grant’s podcast. Still, I took a risk, and learned a lot from him in the interview, which you can find here.
- A parent turned me on to a new podcast – The Orthodox Conundrum. I’ve listened to quite a few episodes, and find them generally quite interesting and provocative. This one, with Rabbi Chait, about the place of autonomy and authority in a Torah life, was no exception.
- I came across this article in the latest issue of The Atlantic Magazine, which discusses the damage being done to our youth by keeping them ‘safe’ from exposing them to ideas that challenge their own. It was particularly interesting as it came from someone who was an early adopter of this approach – one she has come to regret.