[My bookshelf] The hundred year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared

It's funny that right in the label of the book, you already know its story.

Yes, this book is about a 100-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared.

Sound weird huh?

Then, if you think of a 100-year-old man, what would he look like?

Is that a man with grey hair, shaking legs, wearing glasses, a pair of slippers, and old pajamas?

Yes, apparently Allan Karlsson had that typical look, but he was far from an ordinary old man.

On his 100th birthday, he decided to escape the retirement home, climbed out of the fence, and went right to the travel agent. All of a sudden, at the travel agent, Mr. Karlsson stole a suitcase from an angry young man coming from a drug gang and got away on a bus to Strangnas.

The book followed Allan through his past and present adventures. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan’s earlier life in which – remarkably – he lived through three important events of the twentieth century: World War 1, World War 2 and even became an important participant standing behind the scenes of many historic decisions during The Cold War.

The most interesting feature of this book is how the author - Jonas Jonasson placed the protagonist who had no interest in politics or religion, in such political dilemmas.

Allan's carefree acts (sometimes I must say silly acts) unexpectedly impacted the history of the century. He helped to create a nuclear bomb, met, drank vodka, and became friends with the world politicians from two hostile sides: The Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union) and The Western Bloc (The US and NATO allies)!!

Jonas Jonasson used his imagination to connect all of the historic events and link them with the life of Allan Karlsson. Although this is a fiction book, somehow you can see the whole vibrant picture of the twentieth century, especially the Cold War through the eyes of Sweden - a neutral country.

In my opinion, this book is crazy, cleverly funny, and really worth reading. I think the review from the Telegram is the best description for this book: "It’s a silly romp, but the loopy novelty of it can be very entertaining."

PS.: This is my first book review and I want to choose a recent book that I can not put down until the last page. Though this book received mixed reviews on Goodread (some people consider it too tedious, exaggerated, and annoying), I still think it's worth a try and recommend it as an entertaining choice for your reading journey.

A Thursday morning

Written by Norah