Every once in a while a book comes along that is engrossing and un-put-downable but rarely does a book come along that has those 2 qualities and is also humourous.
"The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" fits in the latter category. It tells the story of Alan Karlsson, who has just turned 100 years old but who is fed up of the life that he leads in the old age home and runs (figuratively) away.
We follow Alan as he travels across Sweden making friends and experiencing adventures that you wouldn't associate with a centerenian. E.g. riding on a rail inspection trolley with a corpse while disguising it to look alive, travelling with a circus elephant, and not to forget an event that pretty much started the mad adventures - stealing 50 million kroner from a goon.
Along the journey, Jonas Jonasson takes us into Alan's past to discover that this demolition expert has been an involuntary part of some of modern history's pivotal moments and met the men and women that have scripted the world as we know it. From Mao to Truman, from Churchill to Lenin, DeGaulle to Reagan and many more in between.
Besides enjoying his outlandish life story, you take back much more than giggles and guffaws. Alan's a laid back kind of guy who believes in taking life as it comes. He makes no plans for the future and just deals with what life doles out to him; something that this generation of micro managing & over planning individuals would frown upon from behind their smart phones screens.
It's a must read for anyone looking for a laugh. The incredulous adventures of Alan Karlsson will have you smirking all through the book.
Highly recommended.
