The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson- Book Review

 

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson- Book Review

Title: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Author: Jonas Jonasson

Publisher: Hesperus Press

Publish Date: 2009

Rating: 5/5

Summary(blurb): A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert) decides it's not too late to start over . . .

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant). 

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.....

**This book review may contain spoilers**

A man blows up his own house, knocks back tequila with Harry Truman, makes Kim Jong-Il cry, and tells Joseph Stalin to shave that mustache. All in the span of a hundred years-- and we haven't even got to the elephant yet.

Swedish explosives expert Allan Karlsson's historical adventures are obviously untrue, but he is certainly an amazing man who's done incredible things. I first read this book a few years ago in the Korean translation, and it was so hilarious that I had to read it in English as well. Although I forgot about it quickly, my parents recently read the book in Korean, which is why I got my hands on an English translate and reread the novel (this was originally written in Swedish (the author's native language)). Since this time I was reading it after having studied AP World History, I was able to recognize much more significant world events than my first time reading. It certainly got multiple laughs out of me, as the combination of humorous description, deadpan dialogue, and unhinged situations was utterly priceless. 

The book details Allan's life in a double timeline, starting moments before his hundredth birthday party in the Old People's Home. Allan wants to get away from the attention, so as the title suggests, he climbs out of the (first-floor) window and disappears (to the nearest bus station). He is then unwittingly assigned brief charge of a man's suitcase while the man goes to the bathroom, which Allan then unwittingly brings onto the bus ride- while the man is still in the bathroom. The man turns out to be a gang member, and as Allan makes unexpected friends, the chase story is full of twists and turns and a frozen corpse and an elephant and half a ton of Bibles. 

At the same time, all hundred years of Allan's past is explored as an alternating storyline, each with its own twists and turns. He meets notable historical figures such as Franco, Oppenheimer, Harry Truman, Soong Mei-ling, the Swedish prime minister, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il, Churchill, Einstein('s half-brother), Charles De Gaulle, and more. He solves the secret to making nuclear bombs, lives through a hike across the Himalayas, lives in a Gulag prison camp for five years, saves Mao Zedong's wife from death, works as a double agent for Reagan, and elevates a very stupid Indonesian woman to governor of the region. I've left out a lot of events, but simply too many things happen in this book for it to be all neatly packaged into a two-paragraph-long summary. 

Both narratives are filled with hilarity and deadpan humor, and gifted me with endless laugh-out-loud moments. I loved how Allan had experienced and lived through many of the defining moments of the 20th century, with the central lesson of his life being thus: 

1. Stay out of politics. 

2. Don't talk too much. 

3. Vodka is always the solution. 

I especially wish to emphasize the third point; Allan has gotten out of many life-threatening situations in the past by asking for vodka (or similar strong alcohol), then sharing it with whatever world leader he's talking with, and befriending said world leader. Such a friendship has many benefits; Allan was saved from suspicious authorities by his friendship with Truman multiple times. The first two points were also equally important-- Allan has zero political preferences and shies away from it as much as he can, although he often does political missions (as is often the case when you associate with multiple world leaders). As a result, he contributes immensely to both the US and Soviet blocs during the Cold War (by which I mean he transferred nuclear bomb knowledge to both nations), and is even put in a Soviet labor camp by Stalin (leading to a particular dislike for communism). Not talking too much has also greatly helped Allan, since many of his too outspoken acquaintances ended up dead, and his stance has saved his life many times by making others assume he is not much of a threat while keeping the lies to a minimum. As for applying these things to my own life, I'm not too sure about the third one since I don't plan on drinking in the future, but the first two points I can definitely agree with. 

This book was intended to be a humorous but critical story pointing out the shortcomings of the twentieth century-- and point them out it did, with guffaws every step. Allan pokes fun at the US, the Soviet Union, the Spanish civil war, North Korea, and much more; however, I felt that the strongest criticism was towards Indonesia and its high level of corruption. Allan sets up a highly incompetent woman as governor of Bali with a suitcase full of money from Mao Zedong (long story), then later lands an elephant-containing airplane without flight permits on Bali (also long story) by temporarily changing his name to Mr. Dollars (his first name being Two Hundred Thousand). The political satire was brilliantly funny, to say the very least, and even in the present timeline there are plenty of hilarious situations. 

Speaking of the present timeline, there are some people who disliked the book because they wanted to know more about what was going on in the present, but the book focused too much on the past aspects. Personally I liked the past stories much more than the present; it was interesting to see how Allan influenced the most central events of the 20th century, In a way, if it weren't for Allan the Cold War might not have happened at all, since he was the one who supplied the key to nuclear weapons to both the US and USSR. Following that line of thinking, if it weren't for Allan, Franco might have lost the Spanish Civil War, Churchill would have been assassinated, the French prime minister would have had a spy on his hands, Reagan would not have launched his Star Wars weapons buildup program, Stalin would not have died as early as he did, and more. 

However, if I had not studied world history, I would have understood much less of the backstory and historical humor. I had (obviously) not studied world history in sixth grade, and I only understood the part about Oppenheimer, the atomic bomb, Stalin, and a few other events. It was only after this reread that I was able to catch all the other history references-- the Spanish Civil War, Reagan's SDI (strategic defense intiative), the 1953 Vladivostok fire, Suharto's policies, and more. 

 

All in all, The Hundred Year Old Man (sorry the title's too long) is a side-splitting tale of historical humor, with our centenarian hero putting all 100 years of his life to great use. The scale at which Allan has single-handedly changed the course of world events is massive to the point of hilarity, and even his adventures after turning 100 are spectacular. This is without a doubt the best side-splitter I've read, a record that likely won't be beaten for years to come. 

I would recommend this book for anyone looking for something to laugh out loud at, preferably with a decent knowledge of 20th century world history. Reading this book knowing about the historical references make so much of a difference, and I absolutely recommend anyone to read it (if you're fine with Gunilla's occasional swearing). 

Rating: I would give this a 5/5 - The integration with world history was brilliantly executed, and both past and present storylines were amazing. I look forward to reading the second installment of this never-meant-to-be-a-series series, The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man.