The book opens with the main character, 59-year-old Ove, attempting to buy a computer in an electronics store. He is demanding and out-of-touch with modern technology, asking the shop assistant about an “O-pad” in a dismissive manner: “So this is one of those O-pads, is it?” (1).

He is suspicious of the tablet and doesn’t quite understand it. When the young shop assistant tries to explain, Ove quickly becomes exasperated: “I want a computer! A normal bloody computer!” (2). The shop assistant proposes a laptop, but this also does not fit into Ove’s definition of what he considers to be a computer.

The assistant convinces Ove to consider a MacBook—or “McBook” (3) as Ove calls it. Ove’s ornery manner wears out the assistant, who calls over a colleague to demonstrate the device while he goes to lunch. The young man’s mention of lunch sets Ove off again: “Lunch […] That’s the only thing people care about nowadays” (4). Then, sneering, Ove walks out of the shop without buying anything.

The second chapter jumps back to three weeks earlier and describes Ove’s regular routine at the house in Sweden where he has lived for almost four decades. The