NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: LibraryReads BookBrowse Goodreads “You’ll love this engrossing novel.” –People The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream–and the price required to make it come true. People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground … true.
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever-encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is 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.
Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is 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, leaving no resident unaffected.
Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
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I just finished reading Beartown, and I’m struggling to find the words. This book gives the reader so much to take in and ponder. With every book I’ve read by Fredrick Backman, my appreciation of his writing and storytelling talents is affirmed. He has a way of drawing the reader in and really making them care about the characters in the story.
I live in the South. Hockey is not part of who I am. But I do understand the themes Backman portrays throughout this story of a hockey town. What does a community rally around? Do we pin our hopes and dreams on the teenagers in our community? What is loyalty? What is the difference between right and wrong, good and evil? Are girls treated as less important and trustworthy than boys? Who are our true friends? Can parents ever truly protect their children?
So many things to think about…this is a story that will stay with me. Well done, Mr. Backman, well done.
This is the story of a town that has one thing going for it—hockey. I don’t know the first thing about the game except it happens on ice, but as was true for Friday Night Lights, this book is not really about hockey…it’s about life in a small, cold town and the chance to get out. Trigger warning—a girl is raped. At this point, I almost stopped reading, but I’m glad I didn’t.
4.5 out of 5 stars to Beartown, a 2016 contemporary novel by Fredrik Backman. Although the book had a bit of a difficult start for me, it developed into an emotionally-charged hot bed, triggering anger and frustration over so many things about the human race… and I’m quite glad I read it and enjoyed it. But wow… I haven’t a visceral emotional reaction to words like this in a very long time.
Why This Book
Beartown began showing up on a few of my Goodreads’ friends booklists earlier this year, intriguing my interest. I read the overview and saw many comments that “although the premise of all about a junior hockey team, it’s so much more.” I had a hard time believing that to be true but thought it might be worth a chance if I could get it from NetGalley. And then I was approved to read it in early April. It took me a few weeks to find the right time in my reading schedule, but it all fell into place last week when I finally took the book on. Also of note: it’s translated from Swedish.
Overview of Story
Beartown is a very small town in the middle of a forest far away from everywhere else. It was once bigger and stronger, but the economy has pushed it further and further down a hole — to the point where all they have left is the possibility of a good junior hockey team in the future. Everyone in the town gets involved to some degree, either playing, supporting or raising the players who range from 13 to 17 years old. It’s the place where agents sometimes go to find the next great star of the professional leagues.
But the lack of resources and funding has led to a bitter passion among the residents, who seem to stop at almost nothing to ensure their kids have an opportunity to win their games. Some of the residents are fair and honest. Some are rude and malicious. It feels like a typical American sports town, (but the story is set in Sweden) breeding team camaraderie fueled in some cases by hatred and anger, but in a few, promoting acceptance and tolerance.
Each of the key team members (8 to 10) has a personal story. Each of the parents and coaches have a vision. Rivalries and favoritism shine all around. And with each passing game, the school decided what side of the coin they’re on… supporting the team and accepting hockey will always comes first, before education, or fighting back to keep a fair balance. But when someone is attacked, sides must be taken within the school, the team, the hockey league and the town.
It’s a story about hope, control, loss, jealousy, anger, and desire. It’s about parenting styles. It’s about looking the other way for the sake of long-term goals despite what you may be letting someone get away with in the short term. It’s about how people treat one another. And in so many cases, it is not the way it should be.
Approach & Style
Beartown is told by an omniscient narrator who can look into any characters head at any moment.
It’s told in the present tense with a few small reflections on the past.
Point of view changes and hops around within chapters, defined by a few spaces between paragraphs.
It’s mostly short sentence structure and paragraphs. Told the way people speak.
Strengths
1. I am not a big sports fan. I played on a soccer and baseball team when I was younger. And I worked for a sports arena for nearly 20 years. But I have never been interested in hockey. And while the story is too focused in the beginning on the pertinent parts of the sport and rules, it generally has a very good approach to building a fever for the team among us readers. When an author can do that, it’s a strong book.
2. The characters are fairly vivid, each representing a difference slice of life and personality. You will like a few. You will hate many of them. It’s another good thing when an author can deliver this level of emotion. As an example, Maggan Lyt supports her son no matter what he has done. And she’s rude to everyone, lies, believes her own lies and has no sense of morality. She wasn’t a huge part of the story, but she is the epitome of what I hate about what sports can do to a kid. She’s the worst kind of mother and should have been taught a bigger lesson. (I rarely go off on topics, especially like this… but she is what is wrong with so many things right now about how people behave in this world…)
3. The setting is described nearly perfectly. You feel the despair. You see the emptiness. You can tell it’s a freezing cold pit of fear.
4. Views are told from everyone’s angle. And even though you will have pure hatred for some of the people, part of you has a small understanding of why they do what they do. You won’t accept it or like it, but you can see how it happened in Beartown. And you will wonder if that’s what’s happening in so many other towns across the country.
Open Questions & Concerns
During the first 60 to 75 pages, I was a little frustrated at the focus on hockey as a sport the town rallied around. It was slightly boring and difficult to connect. I trudged through, reading 75 pages the first night and the second night. By the third night (last night). I was 35% through and starting to feel that intense sensation where you just don’t want to put the book down, and I finished the last 300 pages all in one sitting (in bed). Intense because I was so angry at the people, the actions and their beliefs. It made me feel sorrow for any town who focuses on sports as the center of their life. I’ve always thought high school sporting teams were full of nonsense. I don’t want to alienate any readers of the book or even my reviews… but I really have to ask the question… Do school sports breed teamwork or do they breed arrogance and nasty habits of accepting things just because you’re on the same team? I’m sure there are good examples of a team building positive traits in children… but this was not one of them. When they’re proud to have injuries… when they support someone who has clearly done something bad because they are on the same team… when they use derogatory language in a locker room because it helps create a bond… that’s not teamwork. That’s humanity at its worst… that’s people thinking they are above others because they have some physical talent for playing a sport. I have little if any tolerance or patience for people like that. Even when I played on teams, sure, I bought into the “rah, rah, let’s win” concept. But the second it crosses that line and because a situation where it’s just bad behavior or the thoughts of the uninformed and lazy, ridiculous politics of small minds, I wish they’d all go straight to hell in a hand-basket. And that’s how this book made me feel – it conjured up those feelings…. and it was really well done. It hit all the hot spots I have about awful sports parents, horrible team members who think they can do anything because they’re a “hero.”
I couldn’t push this up to a perfect 5 for a few reasons, but it’s very close!
1. Some of the characters felt too similar / duplicate. I had a bit of a hard time distinguishing them from one another, e.g. which parent is that, what happened to that kid before the game? It could have been a little tighter in this area.
2. I’m a bit unclear on the ending… it was like there were 2 possible versions… and I wanted to know exactly what happened. It also didn’t feel like every character had a proper ending… a few open issues left for me.
Author & Other Similar Books
I haven’t read any other sports-themed books, so I don’t have anything to compare it to from that perspective. But as far as the intensity of your anger or hatred for some of the characters… I would liken it to how I felt about James K. Morrow’s The Philosopher’s Apprentice.
Final Thoughts
I’ve ranted a bit here. It’s a powerful book. It showcases many of the fears I have about a good portion of the country. I’m all for team spirit and finding hope in an activity when there seems to be nothing else available; however, if this is a commentary on what it’s like for many towns across the world… my fears are justified. And when a book can share and show that… it’s a really strong one… and worth the read.
P.S. No offense intended to anyone who is a big sports fan, sports parents or sports player themselves. The anger I felt in reading this book is for the negativity steaming off all the wrong things about sports and how they make people act. I’m all for a positive, character-building team sport where the intensity is on the field… and the only thing left off the field is friendship, fair and honest support and an ability to know when to draw the line.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews… here’s the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you’ll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I’ve visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
Backman writes an intricate yet accessible tale of a hockey-obsessed community faced with an event that tears the town apart. The characters are so finely crafted they jump off the page, and the emotional build-up peaks at the point of discomfort (in the way only a gifted writer can accomplish). This was a book club pick and I’m expecting a fantastic discussion, as moral dilemmas abound and any reader will find characters and controversies to relate to.
You need not be a hockey fan (or even a sports fan) to enjoy BEARTOWN. It is a deeply woven, complex, family drama. The book is brutal, but redemption emerges from rock bottom, justice finds a way, the good of the “team” of the greater community triumphs.
Beartown is a fairly large departure from all of Backman’s other books. While it starts out similarly to Britt-Marie Was Here (but in a hockey town instead of a soccer town), Beartown quickly takes a heartrending turn.
Maya is an exemplary character, and through her and her family Backman examines the implications of scandal in a town where children who are great hockey players are put on a pedestal that allows them to do just about anything without consequence. While the weight of the town’s economic future rests on the hockey’s team ability to win, Maya is threatened, alienated, and treated in awful ways in order for the townspeople to feel better about failing to persecute its 17-year-old hero.
I really appreciated Backman’s exploration of sexism through both major and minor characters, and Beartown’s ending — which highlights girls’ and women’s abilities to achieve just as highly as men (even in sports) — is something we need to see more of these days.
Incredibly well done.
Loved everything about this book. Totally captures the small town hockey angst and feel and yes, desperation.
This book was such a departure from Backman’s other novels, it was almost shocking. What was truly shocking was how deeply the story affected me. I grew up in a small, dying town. The atmosphere was spot on here; the desperation, hope and despondency was genuine.
As uncomfortable as the plot became (this is NOT a story about hockey) I felt compelled to read, to finish. It’s impossible to not compare how you would react as a parent in this situation. How you would react as a bystander, as part of the community. Backman always makes me think, well after I’ve finished reading. This is doubly true for Beartown.
You don’t have to like hockey or even know much about it to find this novel riveting for the story revolves around the inhabitants of a small town, their fears, and sorrows and loves – all wrapped around the town hockey team. When violence enters, hearts break and yours will break too for the characters you have come to love.
Blurb:
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is 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.
Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is 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, leaving no resident unaffected.
Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
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Beartown is a hockey town and almost everything revolves around the sport and their teams.
A failing economy has taken away the prosperity, but not the pride. This year’s junior team could be real winners and bring a hockey academy to the small town which everyone hopes will lead to more business and industry. However, just before the semifinal a star player commits a terrible act and leaves the town divided. How do the people handle this – the victim, her family, friends and schoolmates? Their reactions make up this story of who you can count on to do the right thing and who your real friends are.
nothing like his other books but a great read. Wonderful characters and tough decision making by kids. At times I kept forgetting these were kids and the adults were the ones making the worst decisions about their actions.
All the feels – recommended!
I read this book a while back, and I truly enjoyed it. The town is a great setting, and the plot unfolds well, the characters engaging. While not my favorite of Backman’s books, it’s a good read, and I’d recommend it.
This is a book that will stay with you for a long time. Set in a tiny, waning mining town in Sweden, the plot revolves around the hockey team. I listened to this one, and the emotions it pulled from me ! GAH! I love a book that is so through in its coverage of all the characters and their motives. It was my second book by this author, and I can’t wait to read more.
Oh. My. Gosh.
This book has wrecked me. Completely and utterly wrecked me. I will never not be able to think about this book and how it made me feel. How it continues to make me feel. I actually had to stop listening to this audiobook and read read this – to hear the horrors that are on the pages between the covers of this book is W A Y worse, in my opinion, than reading them and trust me, reading them is difficult enough. You know that something is going to happen, but when it does…
I love hockey and from my teens years until I got married, followed hockey. That said, there is a lot of hockey in this book. You do need to be prepared for that. And it is very much the small town mentality. If you have never ever been to, or lived in, a small town, you probably will struggle with this book and it may be even more difficult than the hockey. Because things are just different in a small town. Especially a small town obsessed with a sport.
I grew up in a town like Beartown. Our sport wasn’t hockey though, it was football. We all ate, drank, and slept football. If a teacher came to you and told you to “help” a football player with his school work, you did, no questions asked. You went to games. You went to pep rallies. You turned a blind eye to certain “behaviors”. And you ate, drank, and slept football. And you most importantly, won. No matter what, you won. I remember my senior year a guy on our team getting hit on the field and the whole stadium going silent at the crack of the bone that reverberated throughout the stadium. And watching as this guy TRIED to stand up so he could continue playing [he never played again]. Because you WIN when you play. And nothing keeps you from WINNING. And as I read this book I had to wonder how many people I know/knew were just like Maya. Who had to make a choice and then live with that choice. And my heart breaks. Because I am pretty sure that there were girls like Maya and they chose winning over living. And my heart breaks again as I wish that I could have been a friend like Ana was to Maya. That someone would have trusted me like Maya trusted Ana. But secrets are big in a small town and you just never know who you can and cannot trust.
This is an important book. Read it and then be the change. Make the hard choices. Tell the truth. Because living will always be better than winning. No. Matter. What.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman is one of those books that completely engulf the reader. Right from the start, I could tell I was in good hands, that I was being led on a journey by a writer who knew what he was doing—a master storyteller, spinning a yarn—and all I had to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. I had no idea where the story was going to take me, as I usually don’t read the blurbs. I remember thinking, okay—this is a book about hockey players and a town that pretty much exists because of hockey, but it’s well-written and has a lot of subplots going on, so I’ll go with the flow. One act changed all that, and I didn’t see it coming.
After that pivotal moment, all the groundwork the author had laid came into play. It was all there, ready to dovetail and fall into place like a chain of dominos. Everyone who’d been introduced now flashed a different side of his or her character, be it a piece of personal history that slanted their take on events, or nuanced emotions to the gut-wrenching situation they now found themselves in. It would be almost impossible as a reader to not feel as torn as the players in this drama. There’s so much at stake, and so many will be destroyed by the outcome, one way or the other.
I take my hat off to this author. It’s rare to come across a novel where every character is fleshed out in a way that they become instantly visible in the mind’s eye, even though he doesn’t go overboard with descriptions. He is a master at giving just the right details to sum up each person. Then he layers their personalities with flashbacks and secret moments of doubt and anguish.
I give this book 4.5 stars, not because it is faulty in any way, but because it wasn’t an easy journey for me as a reader. Fredrik Backman has the courage to write a tough book that embraces all life can dish out, without judging and without pulling punches. I really respect him for this and I will happily read more books by him. I feel a little conflicted about the rating, but I reserve 5 stars for those books that leave me with a warm glow in my heart. This book is an instant classic and deserves to be so, but it’s not an easy read, in that it takes the reader places that are far from comfortable.
This book! I did not want this story to end even though the tension was so high I stopped doing everything just so that I could finish it.
You don’t need to love hockey to love this story. You don’t even need to love sports. You just need to love a story filled with honesty and failure and mistakes and friendship and love. Read it!
I loved Backmann’s book, A Man Called Ove and was keen to read another of his and Beartown is very different.
It’s about a small town nestled in a forest somewhere in Sweden. The community is depressed and the only thing that brings the town together is ice-hockey. Hopes and dreams are pinned on the junior hockey team and in particular its seventeen-year-old star, Kevin. The burden of hope rests with the team and their General Manager, when the team has the chance to win the national championship. An act of violence by a boy to a young girl tears the town and the team apart. Is she telling the truth or is it a conspiracy to prevent the team from winning?
Let me say at the outset that this is a long book with many characters. We are introduced to many of them and are witness to each of their hopes, dreams, weaknesses and strengths. The town itself is set in a snow covered wilderness and even though it’s summer here, I shivered and not always from the images of ice and snow.
I’m not much for following sport although living in a football loving city, I regularly witness the fanaticism, zealotry and love for a team of men who often have no other talent than play sport. And this is what this book shows us. But it also shows us that sports players are not God, they are mere humans who get things wrong.
This story also shows us what happens when money and sport mix and when it can be a lethal combination blinding everyone to accept a toxic culture for the greater good of winning. It also tells us about community, of the rich and powerful who don’t hesitate to use their power for what they want regardless of who they may hurt; about the brave and the cowards and the honest and the cheats.
There are many facets to this book and it comes with a warning. It takes a long time to get there. The first three-quarters gives us a multitude of characters in the town and in the team. There is a lot explained about the sport of hockey, as there should be. But for me it got a bit too much and I almost gave up on several occasions, and at times, I admit it, I did skip some bits (sigh).
But if you persist, you’ll be rewarded with a story about right and wrong which will stay with you for a long time after.
I’m impatient. Things I don’t like I don’t do. The thing is, I love to read, anything. On the other hand, I think books that describe one boring action for dozens of pages only to get the reader to the beginning of the point are books that are a problem for people like me. So yes, I read the book to the end, and although the bottom line of the subject well emphasized and the message is undoubtedly appropriate, still, I find it very difficult to recommend this book.
On the third hand (what? I’m sure some people got one of those,) if you are an ice hockey enthusiast of youth groups – you will probably enjoy (well it’s not the right word to describe the filings at the and of reading this one, but I suppose you get my point) the book.
I recommend Fredrick Backman’s “Bear Town”
Brilliant writing in a tale that involves wonderfully wrought characters involved in issues of class, gender, law, athletics, and injustice while addressing universal aspects of individuals and communities.
This story is set in a fictitious Swedish town yet the descriptions, human dynamics, and other elements will be familiar to any Minnesotan.