...from a BookLover

Sunday 10 November 2013

The hundred-year-old man who...




...climbed out of the window and disappeared

By Jonas Jonasson

This book is originally written in Swedish. It is a quirky story about a man who does not want to celebrate his one hundreth birthday with a bunch of oldies and nurses on his nursing home, so he decides to carefully climb out the window into the flower beds - in his slippers, of course - and walk away from the whole celebration.

Now, this is the start of a story so complex and funny you have most likely never seen anything like it. Have you ever wondered what a person can achieve if said person lives to be a hundred years old, by any chance? A century, that is? Well, this guy has done it all...and more. He has played a part in a rather large number of scientific discoveries and historical events during his time. The result is a life so remarkable it is hard to even know where to begin telling about it. If I may, I will simply suggest you sit down with a couple of free hours and a cuppa or two and read it for yourself. Find the hidden geek in you - and enjoy the story!


Here is a teaser from the book:

"The problem now was that Allan, Julius, Benny and The Beauty had one thing in common: an almost total absence of relatives and friends. How were they going to find someone who would shelter a yellow bus with four people, a dog and an elephant?"
from p. 152



8 comments:

  1. I actually couldn't quite make my mind up about this book. I like the story, but I wasn't very convinced by the language... Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

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    1. I cannot really say, as I have only read the Norwegian version of the book... I do have the English one back home as well, though, so I might give that a go sometime (whenever my tbr list shrinks a bit, which is not likely in the near future!). However, I am glad you liked the story! :)

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  2. A so-so experience for me. I liked it at first, but tired eventually, it got a bit much :)

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    1. It sure was a long story, and not a fast-paced one at that. I loved the quirkyness of it, which is what kept me turning the pages :)

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  3. Det var en nydelig bok! Nå gleder jeg meg til å lese forfatterens neste bok; Analfabeten som kunne regne. Ha en fin dag!

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    1. Ja, ikke sant? Den skal jeg også lese - det gledes! :)

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  4. Jag hoppades så mycket på den här boken, men den föll... kanske inte platt, men ganska rejält.

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    1. Å, det var synd! Godt det finnes så mange andre bøker å velge i ;)

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