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Don’t talk to strangers. As one of the first things we teach children, this warning informs some of our behavior as adults. From an early age, many of us have already been conditioned to be wary of people, places, and things we might not be familiar with. But what if I told you that this negatively affects the way we live? 

You might not agree with me, but hear me out. Not talking to strangers is a definite must for children, I’m not negating that. But for us adults, dismissing strangers breeds contempt for those who are unlike us. In this highly divisive world, caring for strangers is one of the most pivotal things we can do in our life. 

As a noun, the word stranger denotes anyone we are not acquainted with, such as a passenger in a shared bus or the employee who packs your groceries at the store. We don’t know their worries, triumphs, or even something as basic as their names (unless they’re wearing a name tag). As they are typically people we only interact with for a short time, it might seem pointless to even care about them.

I used to think this way too. But Fredrick Backman’s Anxious People helped me realize that there are no strangers in life. There is only ever another you, who most probably has their own set of problems or challenges they need to face.

Backman’s New York Times bestselling novel is the story of “a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.” 

Without giving any of the plot away, I can say that Anxious People masterfully displays how accepting our interconnectedness as humans may be the only way to save ourselves. 

The book begins with the bank robber missing from the apartment where the strangers were held as hostages. As the narrator points out, “One of the hostages must have helped the bank robber to escape. Unless the bank robber hadn’t escaped at all.”

Backman takes his readers through two trains of thought: How – and more importantly, why – did the strangers let the bank robber escape? Or if the bank robber hadn’t escaped at all, where is this elusive bank robber and why didn’t any of the hostages turn them in?

But whichever of these two options might be true, the book shows us that it could’ve only been achieved if the strangers talked to and cooperated with each other. So it takes us through the life stories of the different characters, showing that they are more similar than they might have thought. As for me, I realized that these fictional characters may be undergoing challenges that I also face – which served as a reminder that these challenges may be universal enough that a writer from halfway across the globe managed to put it into writing.

Backman’s novel brings together people from different walks of life to highlight the idea that caring for one another should always be our first response when confronted by conflict. After reading this book, I became more convinced that it is important to look out for people other than ourselves. It is important to take time to put yourself into their shoes and understand where they’re coming from before you dismiss them entirely.

With the isolation we experience amid the pandemic, reading this book can be a reminder that we are not alone. In strangers, in friends, in people other than ourselves, we can see a reflection of who we are. And for that alone, their stories are worth listening to. – Rappler.com

If you’re a fan of Backman’s writing style, you can also check his other works: A Man Called Ove and And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer.