Published July 12th 2012 by Hesperus Press
Hello there, reader!
Over the past summer holidays, I have read two incredibly amazing books. One, which I shall review when I re-read for it's quite a mind-boggling one, is called To Rise At A Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris. The second one is the book I will be talking about today, which is The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
I know what you're thinking. "That's quite a mouthful." Well, yeah, and that's what drew me to it. Imagine someone sitting on a bench and thinking, 'What if all the world events in the 20th century were connected somehow by one man?' That is what this book does through its protagonist Allan Karlsson, a Swedish man who offers a blind eye to politics, yet finds himself in the middle of many historically impactful circumstances. This includes the Spanish Anarchist Revolution, World War II, the Korean War, and many other political disputes. Allan finds himself in the company of many renowned historical figures, like the U.S. Presidents Truman and Johnson, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill among others.
It also flashes forward to 2005, when Allan has just turned a hundred years old, and decides to climb out the window of his old age home in order to escape the strict and enthusiasm-dampening Director Alice and the hoard of reporters waiting to celebrate his hundredth. He then ends up stealing a suitcase belonging to the criminal organisation Never Again, and finds himself to be on the run from ruthless delinquents and the puzzled police, meeting a variety of characters and personalities on the way, including an exceptionally educated hot-dog vendor, his elder brother with a keen interest for watermelons and the Bible, a 64 year old alleged thief, and the profane owner of a runaway elephant.
If you read books to be transported to new lands and unusual scenarios, this is the one to pick up. It makes you chortle silently under your blanket at 3 am, and when you aren't reading it, it makes your imagination run wild with absurd possibilities. It's a dart thrown right on the line between genius and madness.
If you want to share this fascination with me, go ahead and read it. You can buy it here.
Happy reading! I'll see you next week with another book review.