Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I read Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann (The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared) by Jonas Jonasson for 14. A book with one of the five w's or h in the title.

I liked the book, it has some similarities with Forrest Gump (but not that good).
But sometimes it is a bit over the top.

Did you see the film?
I'll look around if I can find it :)

This is one of the few books that I just couldn't finish. I really hated it, but I seem to be completely alone there!

For me, I felt that it was trying too hard (way too hard) & falling flat. I've got a pretty offbeat, quirky sense of humour, but this did nothing for me.

Oh no Jody, I'm scared not to like it now! I'm going to try and read it this year for the Popsugar challenge, but not sure I'm going to have the time.

Some of the events were very far fetched in this story. I just let those go and had a good laugh over the characters reactions to the situations he got himself into. This book is definitely not meant to be plausible at all. Just funny.

I think that's what bugged me most of all - it was too Forrest Gump for me.

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


GR synopsis:
It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people’s home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The Mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not… Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and 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, we learn something of Allan’s earlier life in which – remarkably – he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. Already a huge bestseller across Europe, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun and feel-good book for all ages.

I read this one over the weekend and enjoyed it. It was very different than I thought it was going to be, but it was very ironic in moments. It reminded me too much of Forrest Gump, but if he were an old man.

3/5

I read this for Week 15 - read a book set in Scandinavia

I loved this book and the humor. It did remind me a bit of Forrest Gump which I also loved. This is how I like my history...

This book just did not work for me. It started out quite funny and then just got more and more tedious. I thought the humour was childish

I liked it at the beginning and then each chapter got more and more unreal. I started saying "REALLY" way too much and was glad when it was over.

Read for Week 30. A book featuring an elderly character

Very entertaining book. I also listened to the audible which increased the fun.