The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
Books | Fiction / Humorous / General
3.9
(71)
Jonas Jonasson
THE GLOBAL BESTSELLER Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, Allan Karlsson is waiting for a party he doesn't want to begin. His one-hundredth birthday party to be precise. The Mayor will be there. The press will be there. But, as it turns out, Allan will not . . .Escaping (in his slippers) through his bedroom window, into the flowerbed, Allan makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, Allan's earlier life is revealed. A life in which - remarkably - he played a key role behind the scenes in some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.Translated by Roy Bradbury.
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More Details:
Author
Jonas Jonasson
Pages
400
Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Published Date
2015-07-09
ISBN
0349141819 9780349141817
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"This book was highly recommended to me by a dear friend and I had heard many other great reviews of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared was a fantastic, funny, addictive read. I think I would have actually enjoyed the book more if I read it before the hype was built.<br/><br/>I enjoyed the present story, where Allan is 100, but the fluctuating from the present to the past political/ historical moments started to lose my interest half way through the novel. The first few political/ historical reflections on how Allan was involved, these I found creative and witty but as I said above, the repetition of similar occurrences started to lose my interest and I was looking for additional, new means of creativity from the author.<br/>"
myareads
"Okay so I would love to give this book five stars: it had an amazing plot, hilarious characters, and was extremely well-written. However, it just took me so. Long. To Finish. The last book that neared the amount of time this one took me to actually completely read (that I didn't just give up on) was Inheritance, with its lovely 860 pages. I read about four books in between when I started and finished, something I very rarely do. Anyway, moving on. <br/><br/>THOSE FLASHBACKS. I looovvveeedd reading Allan's history: it bounced everywhere from Stalin to Truman, Mao Tse Tung and Churchill. He had the most interesting stories. If he actually existed, he would probably just go <i>live</i> in some national museum because he knows so much. And then went it involved Einstein's stupid brother? I DIED.<br/> <img src="http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac305/bjsisko/1c9bdc8321.gif" width="250" height="170" alt="me when there was the whole Einstein shenanigan"/> <br/><br/><br/> It was, admitedly, kind of annoying at times though: "Oh look, he was in this and this and this and this and this and this and this and JUST SHUT UP!" but once I adopted Allan's laidback attitude I didn't mind quite so much. He was basically a copy of Forrest Gump, which annoyed and intrigued me."
Jana B.
"Loved it. So charming with delightfully unexpected twists and plot lines."
C B
Courtney Butler
"My favorite book!"
ᴻ
"Witty, charming and increases my desire for vodka."
Liz Thurman