Allan
Karlsson lives in a old-people's home and a birthday party has been organised
to celebrate his 100th birthday. But Allan is bored so he decides to give the
party a miss and climbs out of his bedroom window. He walks down to the bus
station where he boards a bus to a random destination in Sweden. And so unfolds
a picaresque story involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of
cash and incompetent police. As the escapade unfolds, we get flashes of Allan’s
past life and his incredible involvement in the main events of the 20th
century...
We
loved Allan’s odd personality: he is an expert in explosives and gets involved
in all sorts of military missions all round the world but Allan always refuses
to take any sides politically. Allan is like a Forrest Gump character, focused
with the missions he fulfills but not fully understanding the full impact of
his actions. He stays detached but also stays true to his word and believes He
shows great expertise and cleverness but always stays naive in his approaches
and this makes Allan’s character charming and endearing. There are even signs
of Asperger syndrome in his personality.
Allan is also a great socialiser and linguist; with the help of a few
vodkas and tequilas, he befriends the most powerful men during the last century
such as President Truman, Franco...
Allan
goes on his escapade with a group of friends who are equally endearing: they
are all unique in their own ways, all misfits. We have Benny who nearly knows
everything as he was a student for 20 years; we have Beauty, a red-haired
fouled-mouthed middle -aged woman who looks after an elephant... and we have
Julius, a petty criminal who offers Allan refuge. This singular and incongruous
group is bound by true friendship and true affection and concern for each
other...as they continuously escape from Detective Aronsson’s grasp.
The
backdrop to this charming and comical chase is a detailed account of the
world’s main historical events which took place during the last 100 years. In
this clever way the author mocks the extremism of politics such as fascism or
communism or any extreme movements. We are taken all round the world, from
Sweden to Spain, the USA, China, Iran....And, each event is linked together as
Allan plays a role in each single one.
We
all enjoyed this book, first of all for its title. In fact the author, Jonas Jonasson
says that he fell in love with the novel as soon as he had invented the title.
It is well written, the style flows easily which makes it a great read. Some
comical events made us roar with laughter, especially when the elephant is made
to sit on a nasty gangster, flattening him under its weight!
Would
we recommend this book? Most definitely! We all loved this incredible tale. And
it made us wonder what we will do when we reach 100!
We will be meeting on Thursday 14th November 2013 at 20:00 at The Ashendon Hundred (pub). Sue Lewin has kindly offered to 'host'. We will be discussing Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K Jerome.
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