A Man Called Otto by Fredrik Backman – another version would be here http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/06/92-out-of-100-for-man-called-ove.html - 8 out of 10

 

A Man Called Otto by Fredrik Backman – another version would be here http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/06/92-out-of-100-for-man-called-ove.html

8 out of 10

 

 

Our greatest thinker is Andrei Plesu, but writing this I am tempted to say We Need to Talk About Kevin http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/07/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-by-lionel.html or some other such nonsense…by the way, I am supposed to put out red flags, spoiler alerts early in the game, to answer demand

 

As it is, these notes and the videos I put up at https://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/ are not really serious, pertinent, relevant, worthwhile material, and hence the ease with which the subject moves from one place to another, when there is no ‘audience’ to speak of, you can enjoy it, right and dance with the film or book

But the other day, I have noticed a ‘comment’ on the blog, which was an epiphany (well, this is exaggerated, but as stated, it is all superfluous here, so you just had another warning, move away from here, it is not really a serious do) in that, well, there is a reader, viewer out there, in the flesh, not just hypothetical

 

Not only that, but he dives into the ‘message’, which is really unexpected (it is also his fault in part, for we know from the classic Blink, the Power of Thinking Without Thinking http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html by Malcolm Gladwell that we take decisions, form opinions in seconds, and therefore, you only need a couple of lines to see where this is (not) going

Trying to mention Otto for a while (we will see it this is just a fluke) the main character of this narrative appears to be somewhat (or completely) bizarre, eccentric, in that he insists on being a pain in the arse, but at the same time he wants to commit suicide, I mean, if you are off from this world, why do you care about fifty cents

 

When we start, we see him taking some rope from a store (let us continue with this stupid joke and place another spoiler, to satisfy our [only] customer) because he wants to hang himself, and only needs some two meters, the equivalent in American units, and then he argues with the employee on two counts

First, he wants to cut the rope himself, since he has a knife with him, and maybe this is a shot at the exaggerations in the system (the infamous court case on the hot coffee at McDonalds has made companies extremely cautious of lawsuits) but it still looks absurd and not all that funny, why would he insist on using a knife?

Then, at the cashier, he makes a fuss about the length, the charge, which Otto finds excessive, and then we have to see – in fact listen  to – dialogue that eventually will envoy an assistant manager, because the ‘big one’ is on lunch break, and why lunch, and it is off to a bad start, because it is not amusing

 

Eugen Ionesco http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/rhinoceros-by-eugen-ionesco.html comes to mind - by the way, it bothers me that I have had this negative comment, however good it is to know that someone watched/read, and now I realize that this is how my mind works (or does not) from one idea, I jump to the another, and another, and then we are off to the Elysian Fields or some other remote place

In Rhinoceros, you have the beasts showing up on the streets, and that at least has the quality of being really outré, impossible, but still, it is a challenge, while here, we have the absurdity of a man who wants to die, but until he does that, he is such a moron, grumpy old fellow that you are tempted to say ‘die already’

 

However, this is Tom Hanks in the American adaptation (which is much less efficient than the original, which has won trophies and laudatory reviews from critics and audiences, to be vicious, I would insert I do not know why) and you do not want to see him expire, and yes, you feel some sympathy

Indeed, the ‘hero aka anti- hero’ is behaving quite atrociously in many situations, because he has had this trauma, he had lost his wife, and with her, any reason to go on, and hence he sees everything in a black color, and if we flip the argument above, he has the sense that he is unpleasant or worse, and ergo, he is trying to say adieu…

 

Part of the humor comes from the fact that he does not succeed, because the things they do these days are not solid, reliable, and then he has these neighbors coming in, that he has to help with the parking of their vehicle, then, when he tries to use theexhaust, he is interrupted (again) and eventually, things change

Victor Frankl http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/mans-search-for-meaning-by-victor-frankl.html has written one of the classics of Psychology, Man’s Search for Meaning, he had been interned in labor camps, although he could get out of the Nazi killing machines, his family could not, and hence, he went into the camp

 

He writes about how essential Meaning is, when men (he was imprisoned with males) lost their Will to live, the meaning, they would very soon die, and that is what happens to Otto, until the new arrivals in the gated community where Otto is in charge push him to see a way out, the eponymous light at the end of the tunnel

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world   – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

From To The Heritage:

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life. As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality. Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“the Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special. Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”