Tuesday 20 November 2012

Jonasson, Jonas "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared"


Jonasson, Jonas "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" (Swedish: Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) - 2009

Translated into 35 languages, the biggest success, except for his native Sweden, was in Germany where he sold over a million copies. And that's where I found this gem of a book. This story contains everything, crime, murder mystery, historical fiction, alternate fiction, love, drama, and a huge sense of humour. It is so hilarious, and exciting. The story is told in two parts, the life of Allan Karlsson until he turns 100 and after he turns 100. And both parts are full of adventures.

This is an easy read novel that is still full of information and philosophy. A nice story about a man who does not want to fit in, who does not want to give up.

On Jonas Jonasson's website, you can find all the countries he travelled to and the people he met during his life. He travelled from Sweden to Moscow, Stalingrad (Volgograd), Gulag camps, Vladivostok, Los Alamos, The White House, Washington, China, Himalaya, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Bali, Paris and met Tsar Nicolas (well, that was his father), Gustav Fabergé (his father, as well), Vladimir Lenin, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Francisco Franco, Robert Oppenheimer, Harry S Truman, Soong May-ling, Eleonor Roosevelt, Jiang Ping, Winston Churchill, Tage Erlander, Joseph Stalin, Kim II Sung, Kim Jong II, Kirill Meretskov, Mao Tse Tung, Charles de Gaulle, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon.

Apparently, the author is presently writing his second novel. I know exactly who is going to read it once it's out.

From the back cover:
"It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun, feel-good book for all ages."

5 comments:

  1. I wish I could look back some day and know I have lived as wonderful a life as Jonas Jonasson.
    Nice review!

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  2. My sentiments exactly, Jeff. What a life! If only part of it were true. Still, not really a serious book. Thanks for the compliment. I try not to reveal too much about a book but still get people excited so they might want to read it.

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  3. Marianne, thank you for linking this in to Books You Loved. I have put the title in for you. Cheers

    PS A big thank you too for following Carole's Chatter. I have followed you right back.

    Ps If you would like email reminders of future editions of Books You Loved, just pop by and comment and include your email - I won't publish it - and the reminder will be by bcc so it will remain private

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  4. Sounds quite interesting...thanks for sharing.

    NEW FOLLOWER...nice blog...great posts.

    Stopping by from Carole's December Books I Loved. I am in that list as #4.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog

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  5. Thanks, Carole, I left a comment on the December link and "followed" it, so I hope to receive future e-mails. If I need to do anything else, please, let me know.
    Elizabeth, thanks for the interest, I really like your blog, as well, and followed it right back.
    I always love hearing from other readers, get new inspirations and recommendations for interesting books, not that I need any with an enormous TBR pile already. ;-)

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