A Man Called Ove is about a grumpy old man (he’s not really that old) surpassed by time and the society around him. He is a misfit and always has been. His constant grumping, stubbornness, and antagonist behavior make you wonder why you are sympathisizing with him. But indeed, it is impossible not to.
Norwegian Wood is a novel that recounts the observations and memories of Toru Watanabe, specifically during his high-school and university years.
Its subjects are love, grief, death, and loneliness.
As a person, Emma Goldman has my respect for the difficulties she lived through and her unwavering pursuit of justice. During her life, she was a leading light for liberty and conscience. Nowadays, I think her ideas are less shocking and more mainstream. Her essay on prison reform and her criticism of prisons would hardly be out of place in a moderately left-wing newspaper today; similarly, her thoughts on love, marriage, birth control, and patriotism.
It is a long life Siddhartha lives in this short book. Hopefully, yours and mine will be as full and varied.
Salient themes include the search for meaning in life, the oneness of all things, grief, love, wisdom vs. knowledge, and time.