Book: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Author: Jonas Jonasson
Country: Sweden
Review: 4/5
I was pleased to stumble upon a copy of this book in a local little library after I got several recommendations to make it my Sweden read. We are introduced to our main character, Allan Karlsson, who is beginning his 100th birthday in a nursing home. Still in decent health and of sound mind, Allan does just as the book’s title suggests and escapes the bores of the home with nothing but his slippers and his ever-optimistic attitude of, “As we think positively, I’m sure a solution will appear.” He embarks on an unexpected and delightful journey, while the novel switches between his current day adventures and his long and eventful life that lead him to this moment, having been a part of some of the most impactful moments of history and meeting many influential people.
Many people have dubbed Allan Karlsson the “Swedish forest Gump”, an accurate description if I had to compare him to someone, Allan being a part of many historic events while not really trying to to and not really realizing the crazy situations that he finds himself in. Overall this was a humorous book that begged the question, what would it be like for a relatively ordinary citizen to play a major role in extraordinary events?
From the get-go, there is something just so quirky and incising about this title that it was a must-read for me. The humour had a simple yet absurd feel, putting the protagonist and newfound friends in insane situations. In general, I preferred reading about the current day events and the clever irony that ran throughout the book, rather than the lengthier moments of history. I do think that a number of these could have been left aside or shortened to keep the attention on Allan Karlsson, and it became a little tiresome to read the flashbacks at times. I think it could have been kept at a better pace had those backstories been shortened or split into a different book as I found the current day events more entertaining. I found the ending to be unsatisfying, I thought that it could have ended well when the detective found them or with one last new adventure to wrap things up. Overall, this was a great feel-good book with clever satire and escapes from unfortunate situations surrounding a simple character that is happy so long as he winds up with Swedish vodka at hand.
Stay tuned for other book recommendations for this country and other countries, and follow my journey on Instagram @beyondpageone and find more reviews on my GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/116494925-kaitlyn-nightingale Thank you and happy reading!
Feature image from Goodreads.