Okay, let’s start this way!
Who is this old man, why he climbed out of the window and where he gets disappeared? I am talking about the book 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared'. It is a bestselling breezy book which gives you loads of laugh but believe me it's not worthy of any serious reader, so how did I come across with this comic book?
The interesting thing is that the book has quite a long title. I wager you won't find any book’s title longer than this. The title itself gives us the plain idea about the pulp of the book.
The story starts at Allan Karlsson's old age home. He escaped before the very same day of his hundred-year birthday party from his ground-floor room's window. Now he is about to start his adventures. They start with the stealing the suitcase. Quite funny, huh? Hundred-year-old man who steals the suitcase.
When it first published in 2009, in Sweden, by Jonas Jonasson, it became the bestselling book. After being published in English, the hype of the book is mounted and became world bestseller.
I went through many rave reviews before starting this fun piece. Many people found this man called Allan same as Forrest Gump, but I have a different prospect. He is not even in the last toe of Forrest Gump.
In an interview with Angela Lenin, Jonas said “I had a bit of Allan in me. When I was a young man I never worried about anything. I lost it by working too hard and through my marital troubles, but I then used him in an extreme way to create the book.”
The funny parts are where he meets with few historical figures such as Richard Nixon, Kim II Sung, Stalin, Mao Tse-Tung, which is a lot absurd thing, but the story has been said in a confident way. Somewhere it reminds me of Sancho Panza, a good comical character in the famous literary work. The structure of this book is, it has a two time-line, one is present time, hundred years of age, and the other one is a past time of Allan’s life. Every alternative chapter describes Allan’s past life.
A centenarian Allan Karlsson is best for explosive materials which were the main reason for every leader from 20th centuries who met with him. Besides, he meets with drug lords and thieves who make the story even funnier. Anyway, at some point, past-stories become the main story.
Aye, I am giving this book 2 stars out of five.