Book Review: The Hundred Year Old Man

“Things are what they are and whatever will be will be”

This brilliant little book kept me occupied on my latest holiday, as I would chuckle away to myself while drinking a cold SeyBrew in the sunshine.

Written with the precision and structure of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of  A Window and Disappeared  is a comedy novel as black as coal. Long gone is the dark, bleakness of Swedish author Jonas Jonasson’s contemporaries, such as Larsson – this book is bloody funny.

In a nutshell, one hundred year old Allan Karlsson escapes his care home room on the day of his 100th birthday in his pee-stained slippers. Not really knowing where the hell he is going or what his plans are, all he knows is he’s had enough and is on his way to ‘freedom’. Cue a farcical crime story where along the way Allan meets the likes of an ex-drug dealer and alcoholic, a hotdog stall owner and an Elephant called Sonya. Allan’s “geriatric conga line” (The Guardian) are the equivalent of the 21st Century Brady Bunch, on an unknowing mission across Sweden that takes them eventually across the other side of the world.

This playful, knowingly silly and utterly delightful book is a read for all those who enjoy a laugh. The humour is very dry and not to everyone’s taste but the present day storyline of Allan’s insane escapades are interlaced with his own past history – in which  it turns out he’s had the most fascinating past and been involved in some of the key historical moments of the 2oth Century due to his insane luck in life.

On finishing the book, one is left in a reflective mood and the residing adage that keeps Allan going throughout his crazy adventure as a centurion jumps out of the page: “Things are what they are and whatever will be will be.” And when you think about it, it’s a brilliant way to look at life.

I won’t tell you much more – just read it. Trust me 🙂

You can buy this book from all good bookstores and on Amazon here.

LMNH x