And you thought that the Swedes wrote only brooding psychological crime thrillers!
Well there is crime in this best selling novel by Jonas Jonasson but there the comparison ends. The Hundred -Year -Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared is the story of Allan, about to have an wanted centenary celebration imposed on him in the care home where he lives.
Shortly before the party starts he vacates his room and thus starts a wonderful journey both for the reader as well as for the chief protagonist of this novel. There seemed to be little pre-meditation in his plan to decamp and even less in Allan’s decision to steal a suitcase full of money from a member of a criminal gang, at his first port of call, the local bus station.
The loss of the suitcase is the catalyst for the adventure which follows; Allan needs to keep on the move to avoid the criminals who are in hot pursuit of their ill-gotten gains.
What makes this more than a routine chase is the chronicling of Allan’s earlier life via flashbacks where we learn about his childhood, his brief incarceration in an institution (no, it’s not all grim!) and later his involvement in some of the historical milestones of the twentieth century. To some extent he is a Forrest Gump character whose influence has been vital to the shaping of many of the century’s events.
Request your copy now at Meath County Library Service
Reading this at the moment. It’s quite quirky and rather enjoyable.