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Fiction. Literature. HTML: After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health�??and tomorrow is his hundredth birthday. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested, and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption. So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant.Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed over two million people around the world.… (more)
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The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the
It also turns out that Karlsson is much more capable of handling unpredictable events than might be supposed. His back story is threaded through the rest of the book. As a young man he inherited a dynamite factory and taught himself to be an explosives expert. That skill, in turn, gets him involved in many of the wars of the 20th century, and leads him to meeting leaders from all over the world. There's a bit of a Zelig or Forrest Gump quality to it all, as he goes on wartime adventures that include Spain, America, China, the Himalayas, France, Russia and Iran. He spends time at Los Alamos that proves critical to the creation of the atomic bomb, and has an unlikely celebration night drinking tequila with Harry Truman. He has hilarious meet-ups with Franco and Stalin, manages to save Churchill's life, and so on. DeGaulle can't find him to give him a well-deserved medal, and Stalin punishes him for reciting an unintentionally offensive poem.
What adds to the humor is Karlsson is totally apolitical; he is led on his adventures by the friendships he develops. "On the one hand, you shouldn't lie. On the other, it would be best not to reveal to the general that it was Allan who had set the charge under the bridge and that he had, for the last three years, been a civilian employee of the republican army. Allan wasn't shy, but in this particular case there was a dinner and good booze on offer. The truth could be temporarily set aside, Allan thought."
That practical approach, often driven by good food and booze, is his most defining characteristic. As he manages to make friends and navigate his 100 year self through the minefield of potential mishaps in the present day, even the boss criminal develops a grudging admiration for him. If you're looking for a diversion with some good laughs, that also gives some up close and personal Dr. Strangelove-like perspective on key 20th century leaders and events, this one should fit the bill.
Do NOT read it!
Interspersed with this story is the history of Allan's life. Having left school at ten, becoming an errand boy in an explosives factory gives him an expertise in explosives which takes him to the Spanish Civil war (where he inadvertently saves General Franco's life while supposedly on the side of the republicans), to Los Alamos for the development of the atomic bomb, and onwards to most of the major events of the twentieth century. Without ever meaning to, he manages to become on first name terms with several of the major figures of the times, which comes in handy for somehow who finds himself so frequently in the world's troublespots. These two stories do not intermingle until right at the end of the book, where even at the age of a hundred Allan discovers that he still has contacts.
With a surreal and fantastical plot, and a marvellous cast of characters, this is a very funny book. It's totally unbelievable but that doesn't matter: it's clearly not meant to be taken seriously. I rarely find that books that are advertised as funny actually make me laugh - in fact I'm struggling to think of the last adult book that did so - but the current day escapades of Allan and his henchmen did that on numerous occasions. I found that the sections on Allan's past worked less successfully for me, but were still amusing. This is the first book by the author and I'll definitely be on the look out for anything else he writes.
Allan Karlsson of Sweden, living in
And from that point, the fun starts. He meets a young man who asks him to look after his large suitcase while he goes to the bathroom. But before he returns, Allan's bus arrives so what is he to do? He makes a spur of the moment decision to take the suitcase with him, and from that point on, he embarks on a journey in which he meets a poacher, a failed academic who now owns a failing hotdog stand, a woman with an escaped elephant and an injured gang leader.
Oh and the police now have an arrest warrant out for him and his gang.
Alternating chapters with segments of his life from the time his father left him as a boy, through the years when he discovered a penchant for understanding and building explosives, we follow his incredible and hilarious journey through Sweden, China, America, the USSR, Tehran, Indonesia, France and North Korea, meeting world leaders and inadvertently playing a part in certain epic events, not the least, how the atom bomb was invented.
I've not been so entertained in such a long time.
Allan's life, we learn, is characterised by an extraordinary mix of luck and hubris. Endlessly optimistic and resourceful, as Allan travels across Sweden with the grey suitcase variously accompanied by a master thief, a hot dog seller, a red headed woman who spews profanity and an elephant named Sonya, we learn of his astounding personal history. Once an orphaned explosives expert, Allan's skill and his willingness to go wherever life takes him leads him around the globe at the behest of presidents, prime ministers and world leaders. Primarily motivated by good food and vodka, the apolitical, atheist Allen unwittingly plays a integral part in key moments of history from the creation of the Atom Bomb to preventing the assassination of Winston Churchill and giving Richard Nixon the idea that lead to the Watergate Scandal. The intertwining past and present narratives work wonderfully to create a picture of Allan's incredible life and somehow, despite the preposterous connections and unlikely predicaments, it is a journey that seems perfectly plausible.
Translated from the author's native Swedish, the writer's voice has a unique tone that works beautifully with the black humor and wry observation in this novel. The pace is excellent as Jonasson skillfully blends historical fact with fanciful fiction, eccentric comedy with social commentary.
It's fitting that I read The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared sipping on a Vodka 'Cruiser', I only wish I could have shared it with Allan. Charming, sharp and inventive, this novel has earned a place on my favourites list and comes with my sincere recommendation.
So don't
(I read this in German.)
From the
A slight disappointment in the way the story is told from the side of the police pursuing the run-away - no suspense there, as we already know what is happening with him from his own perspective. But great pearls of wisdom here and there - as, for instance, what kept the old man going through life was what his mother had told him in childhood (one of the oldest surviving morals there is...) - that "things are what they are, and whatever will be will be" ... Simple and powerful. And here's one about racism: as a young Swede, the protagonist was extremely curious to see what black people were all about, but "it turned out that there was no difference other than the color of their skin, except of course that they spoke weird languages, but the whites did that too, from southern Sweden onwards." I think this book might make a good movie.
The story follows the exploits of a 100-year-old man who escapes from an old-aged home, makes off with 50 million krona, eludes both gangsters and police, forms curious
At first I thought the problem must be the translation. Later I thought that perhaps the whole thing was just an elaborate joke that the Swedish publishing industry was foisting on us (I’m still hoping that might be the case). But sadly, I ended by concluding that the writing itself is just as plodding and unimaginative as it appears. Even Candide, whose peregrinations must be a sort of source, had something important to convey. Here, not so much.
Road trips are old stories, I suppose, and yet also new. Maybe that’s what we like about them.
The main character, Allan
Delightful.
This seems to be a love it or hate it kind of thing and I loved it. We'll see what my friends say if any of them decide to give it a try.
I skipped through the Forrest Gump-esque reminiscences, and concentrated on the latest adventure to befall the centenarian, his friends, the elephant, the dog and a suitcase of stolen money. This
'But innocence can mean different things depending on whose perspective you adopt,' said Benny.
'I was thinking along the same lines,' said Allan. 'President Johnson andre Gaulle for example. Who was guilty and who was innocent when it came to their bad relationship?
'Please Mr Karlsson,' said Prosecutor Ranelid. 'I beg you, please be quiet.'
Alternate chapters describe the adventures Allan has after climbing out of the window and his earlier life as an inmate in a mental hospital, explosives expert, political prisoner, and later in life a spy. Throughout his life, Allan has been a laid-back guy who tends to go with the flow, so it comes as a surprise that he has had such an exciting life and has met so many American presidents, infamous dictators and secret police chiefs. I loved how Allan's expertise with explosives gets him in and out of trouble through out his life, as when he blows up a whole town while escaping from a Soviet gulag because he has decided that five years is long enough to go without a drink of vodka.
I see that I haven't really said anything about the unlikely adventures he has after climbing out of the window of the old people's home, but I'll leave that for you to discover. I'll just say that they are very amusing and would make a good caper movie.
I read this book for an on-line book club and it's definitely the best 20p I have ever spent on a cheap book download.