Things My Son Needs to Know About The World by Fredrik Backman: My Review

 

Off-late I have been reading reviews of the books read by my uncle and it kindled a sense of inspiration in me to jolt down the reviews of the books I read, which in a way, gives a sense of direction to my thoughts.

With this in my mind, I thought to review this latest book I read: "Things My Son Needs To Know About The World-By Fredrik Backman"

Let me start with the very conclusion and then take you through the realm of my experiences of reading this.

After completing this book, I felt that, the author, wanted to give his Son various myriads of experiences on the different facets of life, but, the most important aspect here is that he insisted to have his son to have experience the best among the available ones. In case his son wants to learn music, then let him learn from the best teacher , if his son wants to learn martial arts, its best to learn from the top master or don’t learn at all. This really made me to pause and re-think.

Well, now there are several interesting areas where author would like to tell his son that 

when he is the most angry at him, he want him to try to remember that , he’ll always be the tiny one-year-old boy standing naked in the hallway with a toothless grin and a cuddly lion clutched to his chest. Whenever he is difficult. Whenever he is embarrassing. Unreasonable. Unfair. He want him to think back to that day. That day when he refused to tell him where he would hidden his car keys. And Author wants his son to remember that it was him who started it. I really felt this was cute. Because I can relate my now 6 year old daughter, who hides my car keys so that I can spend more time with her. 

Few lines that strikes me are as below:

1) I just want you to know that I love you. Once you’re older, you’ll realize that I made an endless line of mistakes during your childhood. I know that. I’ve resigned myself to it. But I just want you to know that I did my very, very best. I left it all on the field. I gave this every ounce of everything I had.

2) People can say whatever they like, but when a couple who has been married for ten years walks around the bookshelves section calling one another words normally only used by alcoholic crime fiction detectives, they might be arguing about a number of things, but trust me: cupboard doors is not one of them.

3) Follow your passions. Find someone to love. Do your best. Be kind when you can, tough when you need to be. Hold on to your “true” friends. You’ll be just fine. And most importantly, Find someone who doesn’t love you for the person you are, but despite the person you are.

4) Whenever your mother has given you breakfast, the kitchen looks like an advertisement for cleaning products. Whenever I give you breakfast, it looks like the part of The Hunger Games where everybody dies. There’s something someone’s not telling me here, dammit. So, will be the case with you. Boys will be boys and its okay 

5) I want you to avoid that feeling of not fitting in. So experience different things but most importantly learn only from the BEST.

6) You might end up hating football. And I want you to know that I’ll never, ever, ever love you any less in that case. Or be any less proud of you.

7) We shouldn’t judge. We should have empathy. And we can never allow stuff to become more important than people8) They say that it’s a father’s job to teach his son what it means to be a man.

9) I want you to always remember that you can become whatever you want to become, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.

10)  I will never tell you whether you should be religious or not. Or even if you should believe in God. That’s a thing between God and you, or not. As long as you are kind to your mother and don’t murder or steal

11) Sometimes, when I was quite small, your grandpa and I would go out in the car together. Round, round, round we would drive. I don’t really know where we were going. Things needed picking up. Things needed dropping off. We never said all that much. We probably didn’t even talk much at all when I was small, your grandpa and I. And when I got older, I used to think those car trips must have been incredibly boring. We just sat there next to one another in silence and drove, you know? It was not until after you were born that I realized those were probably some of the very best moments of my childhood, for both me and your grandpa. Because they were ours.

12). And when you’re all grown up, I guess it’ll be the memory of nights like this that I’ll hold most dear. I won’t remember the headaches and the swearing then. Your expression then. That laugh. That’s what I’ll remember. Those hours were ours

13) sometimes the strongest person isn’t the one who hits. It’s the one who doesn’t hit back. All right?

14) Never mistake kindness for weakness.

15). Your mother loves nothing in this life as much as she loves singing, and she chose to share her time on Earth with a man she can’t sing

16) life is all about the small margins. A few inches here or there.

17) always remember: Whenever I’m difficult. Whenever I’m embarrassing. Unreasonable. Unfair. Just think back to that day when you refused to tell me where the hell you’d hidden my car keys. And never forget that you started this.

While reading this I was thinking about my own parents, who never used to argue about money, but only about “principles”. They’ll never understand why you would pay anyone to do something you could just as easily do yourself (and their sons will never understand why you would want to do anything all wrong by yourself instead of hiring an expert to begin with, which is actually the cause of almost all of our inter-generational conflicts). They’re a different breed, pure and simple. They know how an extension cord works

Well, this book is a great refresher, definitely not a one-time read for sure.

I will start reviewing more books from now and there’s something so special in this experience, in falling in love with words. Feeling them like fluttering butterflies beneath your skin. Like whirlwinds in your head. Like a punch to the gut.

Brilliant book to read, takes you back memory lane for sure.