Anxious People: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller, now a Netflix TV Series

♥️"Everyone inside the apartment had their own complexes, their own demons and anxieties" True for the book and for the real world too. ♥️There were several heartwrenching,heart touching moments, when your heart is in your throat. I did tear up in several places. ♥️There was a major twist that I did not see, so a tip to the reader is to read very carefully. ♥️The writer talks about many things including generation gap, adulting, parenting,('Parents are defined by their mistakes.')’ love, marriage, relationships, the epidemic of loneliness,('loneliness is like starvation, you don’t realize how hungry you are until you begin to eat.' ) etc and is a tongue in cheek commentary of the ironical times we live in. The author writes with scathing honesty about the human condition. ♥️There is humour, dark humour and sarcasm. ♥️Narration keeps the intrigue on how the characters are connected in in real life and also humanly. ♥️I found it very relatable, highlighted much in the book that spoke to me, "We don’t have a plan, we just do our best to get through the day", "restore life to its factory settings", empty bed and sleeping pills', love can make you do quite a lot of ridiculous things.., It just hurts so much at times, being human, ♥️A Thought-provoking read. ♥️I Found the relationship between Anna and Roger most touching My ♥️favourite excerpts from the book: ♥️We can all be idiots, but we’re still all human beings worthy of connection and love. ♥️Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of; the moment we relax, they drift off and fall in love and get broken, all in the wink of an eye. ♥️Because you’ve probably been depressed yourself, you’ve had days when you’ve been in terrible pain in places that don’t show up in X-rays, when you can’t find the words to explain it even to the people who love you ♥️We lie to those we love. ♥️because sometimes it’s easier to live with your own anxieties if you know that no one else is happy, either. ♥️Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect. ♥️you are loved in spite of everything that you are. ♥️We give those we love nicknames, because love requires a word that belongs to us alone. ♥️you should always be nice to other people, even idiots, because you never know how heavy their burden is. ♥️He was my echo ♥️humour is the soul’s last line of defence, and as long as we’re laughing we’re alive, so bad puns and fart jokes were their way of expressing their defiance against despair. ♥️That’s the power of literature, you know, it can act like little love letters between people who can only explain their feelings by pointing at other people’s. 📖I read the kindle edition ⚠️A Trigger warning for : suicide,suicidal ideations,depression, substance abuse/drugs, heroin, anxiety, panic attacks and heroin addiction,obsessions and addictions. ♥️A 4.9/5 star read for me.

When we are children, most of us live our lives in a routine manner, from getting up in the morning to going to bed in the night but while growing up into adults,our lives become complicated as we get more engrossed in our daily lives - from finding a job, a home to live, taking care of our family, remembering to pay taxes,wifi passwords etc.The other factors that stops our becoming a normal adults are that, as a child if we had been through bad past or witnessed any shocking incidents, then in such case the nightmares of the past haunt us for long,when we enter into adulthood.Hence, these nightmares may act as a stumbling block for growing up into normal adults & may effect our serene & happy life. As an adult, we see the reflection of our scary past that was spent as a child & which influences the decisions that we make & that which may not only harm us but also that of those who are dependant on us.Thus, in genral we lead a life of confusion & then if you are driven by frustration & helplessness, it adds much fuel to our thoughtless actions,resulting in instinctive decisions.But later on hindsight,we may regret our actions & realize our absurdities.We may tend to cure our chaos with chaos,that lead us to an unhappy life filled with anxieties & worries."Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman is one such story. 10 years ago, Jack as a child,witnesses a man jumping from a bridge but couldn't convince the man from doing so & save him from jumping.A woman,Zara ,standing at the far end of the bridge also witnesses the incident.Earlier, the man who jumped, meets Zara at the bank for a loan as he was going through financial crisis but couldn't be able to secure a loan to overcome his debts as he had nothing to mortgage at the bank.Zara was able to recognize the man & also finds a letter in an envelope written to her by the man,at the other end of the bridge in water.She carries the envelope in her purse for 10 long years without opening it. A week later both, Jack & Zara witnesses a girl (Nadia) at the same spot ,also trying to jump from the bridge,under distress.Jack driven by guilt of not saving the man earlier,instinctively pushes the girl & runs away while the girl falls unconscious on the ground.Since then Jack & Zara couldn't quite get over from the incidents,they have witnessed at the bridge and their nightmares continued to haunt them even after 10 years.Jack becomes a police officer & Nadia chooses to be a psychalogist with the primary intention of helping the people in distress. Besides the book is also the story of another child(the bank robber)with a troubled past & whose divorced mother couldn't quite get out of her drinking habits & the impact that had on her as a child.The bank robber,when forced by financial crisis,a divorce notice,eviction of building premises,loosing a job & most importantly holding the custody of her two children decides to rob a bank,on an impulse thought.The bank turns out to be cashless bank & just as she decides to abort the plan of robbing & quietly walking away from the scene,the cashier at the bank mentions calling cops which makes the bank robber panicky.She runs into the street & into the building opposite,where an house was on for sale & where a few people gather for viewing the house.What originally was a bank robbery turns out into an hostage drama,just because of one bad idea & poor planning.When you are blinded by love,you take actions more out of instincts than by deep thought. The book is simple and funny, and the writer has got a unique writing skills.Use of the names like "London" for cashier @ bank is hilarious.The interrogation of cops with that of hijacked people is quite funny and makes you wonder as to who is interviewing whom? The bank robber actually turns out to be a woman, which we learn very late in the book.The humane side of the two police officers(father/son,duo) touches the heart of the readers. The revelations of the characters very subtly as we read along the book is quite intriguing.Above all an interesting book where we,as readers find ourselves in one or the other characters. Lastly ,the quote of Martin Luther,through Jack's mother -'Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my Apple Tree, 'Will go a long,long way with the readers.

“It was a long story. All stories are, when it comes down to it, if you tell them from start.” This line appears within Anxious People and quietly signals what Fredrik Backman is doing throughout the novel: asking us to slow down and look beyond first impressions. Lives, like stories, resist being understood in fragments. The novel begins with a failed bank robbery that leads to a group of strangers being held hostage during an apartment viewing. What unfolds is not a crime thriller but a tender, often funny exploration of fear, loneliness, regret, and the ways ordinary people carry extraordinary emotional weight. Backman populates the story with a small, carefully drawn cast: a sharp-edged banker living with grief and isolation; an elderly woman whose calm presence holds deep loss and wisdom; a young couple anxious about money, responsibility, and becoming parents; a relentlessly upbeat real-estate agent using cheerfulness as armour; and two police officers; a father and son navigating their own complicated bond. Each character is sketched lightly yet meaningfully, never overstaying their place in the narrative. Through interviews, digressions, and gentle humour, Backman lets misunderstandings slowly dissolve into empathy. The structure mirrors anxiety itself ; circular, restless, and unresolved yet the novel moves steadily toward warmth rather than chaos. Anxious People ultimately isn’t about a robbery at all. It’s about people trying, imperfectly, to understand one another. Backman’s compassion, restraint, and belief in human goodness make this a quietly moving and deeply satisfying read.

My first Fredrick Backman book. After reading this, I bought two more books of the same writer.

It’s such an amazing book takes you through different emotions one second you’re feeling deep for the character the next unexpectedly laugh out loud. Love it from start to finish. must read

"This is a story about a bank robbery, an apartment viewing and a hostage drama. But even more it's a story about idiots. But perhaps not only that." (Chapter 27) Fredrik Backman is one of the most gifted contemporary Swedish storytellers and he is widely known for his novel, A Man Called Ove, which has been adapted into a film by Hannes Holm, starring the veteran actor, Rolf Lassgård as the grumpy, borderline misanthropist, Ove. Both the book and the movie gained critical acclaim and there is also an American remake coming soon, with Tom Hanks as the protagonist. What fascinated the audiences was Ove's peculiar idiosyncrasy as well as the great outline of the secondary characters, a kind of trademark for Backman. He is an author that is oriented towards the lives of the ordinary people, their struggles, anguishes and questions that remain unanswered no matter how often they are being raised during a lifetime. In Anxious People, Backman uses the crime element as a facade to tackle several universal and amaranthine themes such as depression, suicide, what it really means to grow up, how hard it is for the average man to meet the standards that the postmodern societies set in order to distinguish the successful from the failure and many others. All the above are presented through a gripping prose that is full of hilarious dialogue and remarks made by the main characters in this odd story of a botched bank robbery that leads to an odd hostage situation where the role of perpetrator and victim often interchanges. If one reads the synopsis of the book, he will think that this is a typical crime story, full of action and suspense but this is not the case here. Backman, once again, delves into his fictional characters' deeper thoughts that are instantly discernible by the reader who himself had often had the same thoughts and concerns. Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that Anxious People is primarily a comical novel, sometimes downright hilarious, and you will laugh many times reading the exceptional description and dialogue. The story sets off when a first-time bank robber chooses to storm into a cashless bank to get the limited amount of six thousand and five hundred Swedish Kroner. Soon he realizes his mistake and when is evident that the bank has no banknotes, he attempts to escape in a nearby building. In his fury, he gets in an apartment where a viewing is held for prospective buyers. Holding a pistol in his hand and wearing a balaclava to hide his face, he looks terrifying enough in the beginning, though very quickly he proves to be a rather unstable individual with no experience as a criminal. The hostages, who are the people that happened to be inside the apartment for the viewing at that time, are a rather distinctive group of people and each one of them has some unique character traits that will be revealed as the story progresses. The police officers that are charged with the investigation of this parody of hostage-taking are Jim and Jack, father and son, who both work in the small town's precinct and are thirsty for an opportunity to show to their bosses and their colleagues in Stockholm that they can handle cases of larger magnitude like this one. Jack and Jim have a rather dysfunctional relationship and their communication is often terminated due to a wrong choice of words, or an inappropriate remark made by one of them. Their blood relation doesn't help them much in their professional lives and besides, they are completely different as characters. Backman uses a mixed narrative style that begins chronologically from the end of the hostage situation and in the following chapters talks about the events and interactions that took place inside the apartment after the failed robbery attempt. Furthermore, he interposes witness statements taken from the hostages by Jack and Jim. The small chapters add to an already fast tempo, that makes reading smoother and highly engaging. What is most remarkable about this book is the vast number of insights on the human condition that are scattered throughout the text and I couldn't stop making notes on my Kindle from the beginning till the very end. This was my first reading experience with this author, I've already seen A Man Called Ove in the cinema, and I'm literally thrilled by his craftmanship as far as both characterization and dialogue are concerned. Backman's writing style is refreshing and stimulating and I cannot think of another writer that comes even close to his ingenious prose. Another novel of his, Beartown, has been adapted into the television and I will immediately check it out. If you aren't familiar with his body of work, Anxious People would be an ideal start.

It’s not often you accidentally find a treasure of a book. What story telling, what character building, what plot. Tears in my eyes from laughter … and suddenly not. One of the toughest but warmest stories I’ve encountered.

Good read! Well written and touching Easy to read and makes you think a while It’s a story about life itself