The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Jonas Jonasson's book (translated by Rod Bradbury) is a farcical tale featuring Allan Karlsson, a spry dynamite expert who escapes from an old folks' home shortly before his 100th birthday party in 2005. Without a plan, Allan heads to the bus station and inadvertently detonates a series of incredible, humorous events. Coincidences abound, but rather than resolving the conflict, they thrust the characters deeper into the fray. The chapters alternate between the events following Allan's 2005 escape and his life story spanning 1905-2005. We watch Allan evade the authorities and a criminal gang searching for him, and we learn of the many times Allan survived death in the past (and his secret to longevity). Throughout his extraordinary life, Allan gets entangled in significant historical events and ends up meeting some of the most powerful world leaders of the 20th Century. History buffs who are able to suspend their disbelief will enjoy the guest appearances of these important political figures. Jonasson's novel is best for people looking for escapist literature who enjoyed Winston Groom's Forrest Gump and Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The lack of transitions between paragraphs in some of the chapters (switching between characters) made the book feel clunky at times, but overall, this novel was a pleasant read due to its fascinating plot and its dark, dry humor that kept me amused and half-smiling throughout the novel's 400 pages.

What a fantastically written tale of a man, Allan Karlsson, who on his 100th birthday decided to sneak out of the Old Folks' Home through a window in his room and "disappeared." The author did a decent job of spinning the adventure of Allan and his newly acquired friends while simultaneously giving us insight into his life from youth to present. The characters were endearing, strange, eccentric and all things out of the norm...which I liked so much. Appreciate how they all eventually seemed to gel with each other and form this close knit family with secrets that make life interesting. The investigation surrounding them was comical, true to form and intriguing. [My most favorite character of all, besides Allan, was Herbert Einstein] While I was reading this book, especially the adventures of Allan, I thought how I loved, as a little girl, sitting around listening to my father and his baby brother telling stories of their lives and family secrets...histories, etc. I also kept thinking about my youth and the love I had for Mr. Peabody and Shermon, the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and the reinventing of Aesop Fables. Tall tales...exaggerations...histories. Loved, loved, loved every bit. Liked how this book did an outstanding job of story telling and I smiled so much as I read while even thinking a little how this was similar to Forrest Gump and how he met all the Presidents and in this case other world leaders. Tales of espionage, travels, prison camps, bombs, war, etc., etc., etc.. All Allan needed to survive was good food and alcohol, especially Vodka. This book captured/held my imagination as I watched Allan’s tale unfold before my eyes and hearing (since I also listened to the audible). I recommend this book if one is interested in reliving historical events as told through the life of an old man and his adventures in history.

I found this novel one day while I was browsing at the bookstore. I like to look around the store, see what books look interesting and then download them to my Kindle. The Kindle has me so hooked that I rarely purchase a real book anymore. I've got enough reading material to keep me busy for a very long time all carefully stored on a device I can easily carry in one hand. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared is an absolute hoot! I'm gong to call it a cross between Forrest Gump and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's set in Sweden after all. Allan is the 100 year old man who would rather have a drink of vodka than attend his birthday party at the Old Folk's Home. So he climbs out the window and walks to the bus station. The bus station is where his adventure begins. Or at least this part of his adventure. The story is a wonderful blend of the past and the present. What we come to know is that this 100 year old man has had a life well lived. He has only attended three years of schooling, yet he has become a highly sought after explosives expert. Throughout his life he has hob nobbed with world leaders and traveled the world. Life in the Old Folk's Home paled in comparison even at 100 years of age. I stopped counting how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book. It's funny and charming with a historical twist. Murder and intrigue are combined with outright silliness and the author told the story with a unique yet dry sense of humor. I couldn't wait to turn the page to see what happened next. There was an unexpected surprise around every corner. I can only hope I live as long and have as many interesting stories to tell. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared will lighten up any day and bring a smile to your face. Life is worth living no matter what it hands you. The 100 year old man can vouch for that.

展開の運びが何とも言えないぐらいうまく構成されていて目が離せない。

TRIGGER ALERT: Talk of: Gang rape, abuse of women and children sexually, killing of innocent people for fun and sport, capturing young girls to use as sex slaves for the troops. On top of that there are details of what the Japanese did to the Korean, similar to what the Catholics did with our First Nations: "forced them to adopt Japanese names and in other respects done his best to eradicate the Korean language and culture". -Apart from what I wrote in the trigger alert, I thought it was over-the-top funny with unbelievable adventures, interesting politics and history bits. Funny, sad, awful, but always entertaining. -The back and forth into Allan Karlsson's life was well-written and I didn't find it confusing or boring in the least. -Father Ferguson had no respect for other religions whatsoever and his brutal death was no surprise; he had it coming. -Wow, the irony that a bigger country would get most of the money out of an agreement because, well, the other one only provided cheap labor and the oil in their soil. Most still think like this. -I was confused at to why the scent of death couldn't have been from someone previously on the trolley or right after the duet left it. -How many of you Googled "how to make alcohol from goats’ milk"? Well, if you didn't, it's actually possible and someone in Tasmania is doing it.

The author has been incredibly imaginative creating adventures in an almost believable story. You can have very much fun and even learn or revisit history.

I absolutely loved this book! I was gripped from start to finish! The story of Allan Karlson who wants to avoid the 100th birthday party given to him by his care home simply jumps out of his bedroom window and heads to the nearest bus station. There he meets an unsavoury looking character who asks him to look after his suitcase whilst he goes to the toilet. Alan sees the bus arrive and just steals the suitcase. Inside is $50m dollars. And there starts the tale. There are two story lines - one follows Allan's path to avoiding the suitcase's owner - he meets some great entertaining characters along the way who help him on his journey - there are murders, a frustrated policeman, a hot dog stall owner, a woman with a hidden elephant - and the notorious gang who want their cash back. The second story line goes back in Allan's history - and for me this was the really clever part of it. In a similar style to Forrest Gump (where Forrest was ultimately responsible for Elvis, for the acid man face and for Watergate) Allan plays an influential part in all the major world conflicts of the 20th century due to his skills in dynamite and explosives. It is so well written it could be believable - the story lines are clever and downright funny on many occasions. Every page brings a new joy and the ending is great as well (as so often they're not). A terrific book and recommended to everyone. Can't believe it's only 20p on the Kindle now!

Una historia divertida, ingeniosa y llena de situaciones inesperadas. El humor absurdo engancha desde el principio y convierte la lectura en un viaje entretenidísimo. Muy recomendable para quien busque algo ligero y original.