The Winners

The Winners, Fredrick Backman
I have always loved reading books by this author because of his final message which is always filled with hope, in spite of the tricks life often plays on us. This one, however, gave me doubts about whether or not that would happen, since it brought me to such height and depths of emotion, that reading it, I found I thought I might lose hope. How could such needless tragedy take place again and again? This book felt almost too close to reality, at times. For isn’t that the source of the stress we experience daily, the constant occurrence of unexplained, unnecessary, unwanted fury and violence for which we seem always unprepared and surprised? Backman does pull hope from the jaws of despair, finally, and show more that is what saved the book for me.
It took me a long time to read this novel because I kept anticipating that something bad was going to happen and after reading the first two books, these characters had become family. I did not want to feel the pain of their sorrows with such immediacy, and with such force as Backman packs very strong feelings into each sentence and description. The scenes seemed so real and full of the emotions the characters were feeling, that I identified with each of their traumas and joys. Each of their problems became my own to solve. In this book, I did not get an equal amount of the hopefulness, I felt in the others, at first. This one played out more intensity, until the end.
So many of the characters were motivated by pure vengeance and the quest for power, without thinking through the reasons or consequences of their actions beforehand. This resulted in so much unnecessary destruction, threats, wasted lives, and negative behavior. In the other books, I always felt that there was an equal or better force fighting the forces of evil in his previous books, but in this book, the forces of evil won so often, that the brutality was palpable, building the tension within me to almost unbearable levels. Was this a representation of our real world? Are we really so thoughtless when it comes to how we treat each other? Are we really so self-interested that we will sacrifice each other to save our own face or something material, something far more meaningless than a life? I was left wondering if Tails act of sacrifice, at the end, was enough, was appropriate, was even moral? Did it mean he had learned to respect the rules and the people above his own needs, but what about the others? Did it mean he was still motivated by the need to save the town, regardless of the cost, regardless of the means to the end or to save a good person and repent for his own misdeeds? Oh yes, Backman has truly captured Sir Walter Scott’s tangled web that we weave, when first we practice to deceive, in this series of books.
The pettiness, immaturity, lying and cheating, adults acting like children, motivated by vengeance, the arrogance and the bullying, the thugs vs the good guys in conflict constantly, the search for someone to hurt or blame, even in the cause of justice seemed cruel, not fair, and all of these emotions and feelings that are deep within each of us is captured by this author. He seems to understand every minute emotional moment perfectly. The book is hypnotic, so you will be compelled to keep reading. Every single word has power. Every human condition will appear at some time and be analyzed for what it really is and what it really means to us. Race, gender, the media, sports, the environment, sex, poverty, fear, shame, guilt, wealth, power, hope, hopelessness, crime, all subjects are fair game as the motivations for actions are deconstructed. Nothing and no one is portrayed as perfect. In the recurrent themes and the bang, bang, bang of the hockey puck, their flaws are exposed, but still, even the worst of the characters is redeemable, as each has some good within them, no matter how bad they seem. I suppose that is the hopefulness at the end of the book, even though it felt overshadowed by so much pain, from natural and unnatural causes.
Hed and Beartown will continue to feud, as real cities continue to have problems, but they will, like all cities and people, repair their damage and move on, as life, too, must go on. This book is not really about hockey, it is about people, real life, friendship, love, how we live, how we die, who we are and who we are not, how we cope and how we don’t, how we respond and how we repent. The yin and the yang are on every page as Backman gives his story life, and as he gives it breath. Each individual character becomes less important than the whole, and it is the survival of the whole that we fight for, in the end. In that purpose is our hope. show less

It’s been a long time since a book broke my heart so deeply. I’ll admit my heart was already prone to that because of real life situations, but I know the people of Beartown and Hed will be with me for a long time. This trilogy makes you feel so deeply for such a huge cast of characters. When a huge storm hits the two towns at the beginning of the book, we meet Hannah the midwife and her sweet family, Matteo, a boy, broken by circumstances, and a newspaper editor with her own issues. By the end of the book, I had no more words, only tears. The vast canvas of human emotions is covered in this book and it’s the characters that make it so memorable.

Wandering Benji who has to travel the globe before discovering his home has been deep show more in this forest all along. Maya, who had to go through hell to find her voice. Amat, a boy whose talent was overflowing, but needed to lose it all before he could appreciate it. Peter and Kira, whose marriage has been through the ringer with tragedies and yet they still feel a magnetic pull towards each other. Ana, a best friend and daughter with loyalty so fierce it shakes the ground you stand on. All of those characters we knew from the rest of the trilogy. And somehow Backman introduces even more, shady Lev with his keen eye, Big City, who could have just been written as one more hockey star, and Elizabeth Zackell, a coach who will never fit in any predictable mold.

Unexpectedly, I think my favorite character in the whole series might be Bobo. He starts off as such a bully because he doesn’t know what else to do with his hulking size. But by the end of the books, he’s the kindest, most protective and calm person in the whole town. It’s a tribute to Backman’s skill as a writer that by the end of the series you can hardly remember Bobo as anything other than a gentle giant.

These books are hard to read. They are filled with loss and pain. But then, so is life. And for me, in the midst of experiencing my own tragedy, these books provided a solace that it’s hard to explain. And isn’t that just the most beautiful thing that books can do? They make us feel connected to others even when we are lost in our own pain.

“One gets more patriotic about where one is from the farther away from home one is.”

“We help if we can, when we can, to the extent that we can.” show less

This is the conclusion of Fredrik Backman's "Beartown" trilogy, and it is outstanding. Absolutely do not read this series out of order, but absolutely read it.

It is difficult to read, often tragic, and we love these characters so much that this is hard to take. Backman even warns us from early in book 1 that a beloved character will not survive to the end of this story, and yet I still hoped that perhaps he was lying to us, and cried my eyes out when it finally happened. Still, there is great hope and uplift in the story as well, you just have to break your heart to get there.

It reminds me quite a bit of growing up in the Maine that isn't the ocean side tourist mecca. At the time, people were reeling from the loss of the paper mills, show more the shoe factories and the military bases. And the solace and the obsession was not the hockey of Beartown, but High School Basketball. It was a passion and a religion and the past and the future all in one. Even though Backman is writing about hockey in a forest town in Sweden, he captures the feeling all the same. show less

*Free e-book ARC received from the publisher through Edelweiss Plus - thank you!*

A major storm hits Beartown and Hed: one person is born and another dies. The ripple effects are many, from Benji and Maya's return, to the hockey rivalry between the towns reaching new heights.

I really enjoyed this story, which has a large cast of characters from the first two books, as well as a new family from Hed. The narrative focuses on each character in turn, and occasionally veers into a collective "we" of all the people of Beartown describing how events unfolded or affected a larger group of people. It was a very effective device, giving away a major plot point early on in a way that increased the tension and - even though I knew it would happen - show more I still cried when it did. You may not love hockey like the Bears in Beartown do, but surely you've experienced being a part of something, an enthusiastic fan of something, and somehow defining "us" as those that share that passion. There's both good and bad that can come with that, and all three books in the Beartown trilogy address those aspects, show you the dark side of humanity, but also infuse some hope and even joy in the end. It was a superb way to wrap up the story. show less

A star hockey player rapes a girl; the town divides (very unevenly) as to who is telling the truth…because the rape affects whether Beartown will win the national championship. Many residents believe the allegation was motivated to prevent the team from winning. The book dissects the gut-wrenching view from a huge cast of characters. Trigger warnings abound. This is a dark, dark book and takes readers to a despairing place so beware. But as with all Backman books, it is brilliantly written. Just move forward with extreme care. This isn‘t light-hearted at all like his other books I‘ve read that have taken on dark themes. Very few (but some) glimmers of light and hope.

I never thought I'd read a book that I would love more than Beartown, and never thought that when I did, it would be written by the same author and with the same wonderful characters that were in Beartown, Why wouldn't I have thought that? I have read everything that Fredrik Backman has written, and loved all his books, but this ONE! This One is something else entirely.. This is a book that first appears like a lovely visit with old friends, and old enemies. It appears that the rivalling communities of Beartown and Hed have not progressed at all getting rid of their hatred for each other from 2 1/2 years ago when the appalling happenings which occurred split them up even more But as you read deeper, and there is a long way into deeper show more as this is a very long book, you realize that though things seem the same, things are very different too. Right at the beginning, Backman states:, "The problem with hockey and life is that simple moments are rare. All the others are a struggle." And this book, although simplistic in some ways, is a real struggle to get through because I felt like I was on the edge of a precipice for all 700 plus pages. Then when the hammer does comes down right at the end, I felt like I'd been hit over the head by that hammer. It's been a long while since I've cried over a book, but I cried over this one. I will miss these characters as it is the last time we will see them. This is supposed to the last book in the Beartown trilogy. I hesitate to open a different book by a different author because I won't be able to concentrate on it while my head and heart are still full of Benji, Amat, Maya, Ana and Peter, as well as all the other wonderful characters. Even the new ones that we meet seem to be a fixture in the Beartown mystique - Big City, Lev, and the marvellous hockey coach - Elizabeth Zackell. I will miss each and every one of them. As for me trying to outline the story in this review, I can't even begin to do so. "This hurts too much to touch with words." - Fredrik Backman. All I can say is thanks Mr. Backman for finishing the story of these characters and this place. I am so glad that I read it. Now I just need a Ramona or a Peter to talk to about all my feelings, needs and hurts. No one else would ever understand. To me this is that point where fiction becomes fact. It doesn't seem possible that these are not real people living real lives. show less

Neighbouring towns Beartown and Hed have hated each other both on and off the hockey rink ice for as long as anyone in either town can remember. On the night of a huge storm, a child is born to a Hed couple and a beloved citizen of Beartown dies. These two events will precipitate major upheavals in both towns.

The Winners is the third and final chapter in the Beartown series by author Fredrik Backman and it was just as compelling and unputdownable as the previous two books. And, like in those previous books, Backman deals with some very important but dark issues like rape, depression, and the dangers of ‘othering’ whether in politics or intense loyalty to a game like hockey.. But as always, although he doesn’t try to sugarcoat show more them, he treats every issue with compassion, insight, and empathy.

Returning to Beartown is like visiting a place and people you have grown to lovemaking to hard to say goodbye. Backman has the ability to create places and characters that are completely relatable. Even those who do terrible things are treated with empathy. He also makes you care what will happen to the two towns and their citizens after these events and, even though, it’s clear, at the end that, people being people, their dislike of each other will not change there is still the hope that they will find a way to overcome this because, in the end, regardless of who beats who on the rink, there are no winners if they can’t get past this hatred. And perhaps that’s Backman’s great gift as a writer and why he is one of my favourite authors - because, no matter how dark things get, there is always hope.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less