After a long time, I finally found a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading. A book that I could not put down (which I did as I did have other chores to do) before I realised what happened at the end. I must thank my dear friend Dilip Thosar, the author of ‘The Sci-Fi Six pack’, for suggesting that I read the book ‘The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared ‘by Jonas Jonasson. He thought I would love it, and he was absolutely right about it. And I realised whatever will be will be.
The book is way different. It has a different style, a different approach to humour, and sometimes a wee bit of understated sarcasm. Many people may not like it, and many like me would enjoy it to the hilt. So, if you pick it after reading this review- do it at your risk. And if you do not read this book- published many years ago- then do it at your own risk. I still would recommend you read it. And I realised whatever will be will be.
THE BOOK- The 100 year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared.
‘The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’ is, after all, the improbable story of the adventures of a 100-year-old man who decides it’s not too late to start over. For most people, it would be the adventure of a lifetime, but Allan Karlsson’s unexpected journey is not his first. For a century, he’s made the world uncertain, and now he is on the loose again. As the book title and the blurb suggests, Allan Karlsson, The 100 Year Old Man, is waiting for a party for his 100th Birthday. A party he doesn’t want to begin. So, he escapes in his pee-slippers, climbing Out the Window into the flowerbed. This leads to his unlikely journey involving murder, criminals, police, and a suitcase full of money. In the process is also revealed his active and somewhat unbelievably remarkable life.
The book has two stories running. One is Allan’s life after he escapes from the old age home, and the second is his earlier life – both full of adventure. n his earlier life, Allan has been at the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time ( depending upon the perspective) but always played a role in moulding important world events. And during this period, he ends up interacting with and rubbing the world political figures like President Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Mao Tse-Tung, Stalin, Brezhnev, Kim Il-sung and many others, the right or the wrong way. Each event is more outlandish than the other, but it brings a smile to your face and a desire to continue reading.
IMPRESSION
I am so impressed by the book ‘The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’ that I did not hesitate to order his book- ‘Sweet-Sweet Revenge Limited’. There is also a sequel to the book, ‘The accidental further adventures of the 100 year old man.” I am wary of sequels and prequels as spoilers of the taste. So, I am going for the other title, which may not have anything to do with the old man but serve new stories in the same flavour.
A SHORT PASSAGE FOR THE TASTE.
As Allan understood it, the following had happened.
The Korean Peninsula was kind of left over when the second-word war ended. Stalin and Truman each occupied a bit in brotherly agreement and decided that the 38th parallel would separate the north from the south. This was then followed by negotiations lasting forever about how Korea would be able to govern itself, but since Stalin and Truman didn’t really have the same political views (not at all, in fact), it all ended up like in Germany. First, the United States established a South Korea, upon which the Soviet Union retaliated with North Korea. And then the Americans and Russians left the Koreans to get on with it.
But it hadn’t worked out as well. Kim II Sung in the north and Syngman Rhee in the South thought he was the best suited to govern the peninsula. And then they started the war.
But after three years and perhaps four million dead, absolutely nothing had changed. The north was still the north, and the south was still the south. And the 38th parallel still kept them apart.
Another SHORT Passage.
The friendly man’s chauffeur – who was not really friendly- said nothing. He dropped Allan and the friendly man off by the harbour and left. Before that, the friendly man had managed to get a fur coat out from the trunk of the Ford, and he put it around Allan’s shoulders in a friendly gesture while apologising for the fact that they would now have to walk a short way in the winter cold.
Allan was not one to pin hopes (or, for that matter, his fears) on what might happen in the immediate future. What happened happened. There was no point second-guessing it.
MOVIE– The 100 year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared.
The book has been made into a movie. Here is the Trailer for the movie released in 2013.
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