Off My Bookshelf: Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
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Let me make this very clear…
Fredrick Backman is a masterful writer.
I have loved every book he has written. in other words, I am unashamably a HUGE fan. The moment I hear he has published a new book, I devour it. And once again, he didn’t disappoint with Us Against You.
(But you MUST read Beartown first.)
Us Against You is a continuation of Backman’s last book, Beartown. It is exactly the right story of what happened next in this small town where one girl was raped by another student. I should stop to tell you hockey is important to Beartown and the story. But I’ve never watched, not do I care to watch, a hockey game, and I loved this book, both of these books. It’s a story about sports, politics, human nature, relationships, small town, family, friendship, love and loss. Oh, my, I wish I could go back inside the book again and continue seeing how the people of this town co-exist and survive the end of events in Us Against You. Only a magician of an author could make me love, not just one book, but two books about a town who loves and lives for hockey. And I’d read a third one right this moment if there was one.
Let me share a few of my favorite quotes from Us Against You.
“…love is like leadership. Asking for it doesn’t help.”
“Fathers need to seize the day, because childhoods are like soap bubbles; you get only a few seconds to enjoy them.”
“For a single wonderful year she was a professional fighter, but hardly anyone in this town knows that because she got injured and things went the way they always do: eighter you’re the best or you’re everyone else.”
“You try to be a good parent, in every way, but you never know how. It’s not a difficult job. Just impossible.”
“Tell your brother that the people who shout the loudest may be the most noticeable. But they’re not the majority. We are.”
“Seen over time, every change is so slow that it’s barely visible when it’s happening.”
“Deep down inside most of us would like all stories to be simple, because we want real life to be like that, too. But communities are like ice, not water. they don’t suddenly flow in new directions because you ask them to, they change inch by inch, like glaciers. Sometimes they don’t move at all.”
“It’s so easy to get people to hate one another. That’s what makes love so impossible to understand. Hate is so simple that it always ought to win. It’s an uneven fight.”
“Life is a weird thing. We spend all our time tring to manage different aspects of it, yet we are still largely shaped by things that happen beyond our control.”
I told you he could write. Now go find a copy and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. The photos in this list are my own and not to be removed from here.
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