The Hundred Year Old Man

My first, and only major qualm with The Hundred-Year-Old-Man was it's branding. On the back cover, (off my copy at least) is the tag line "it's never too late to start over". This implied a lovely story of a homely old man who suddenly decides though being aged beyond the average, he's ready for a bit of an adventure. mr Karlsson, however, is not an adventure-less homebody. A Swedish dynamite expert unwittingly tangled in politics, science and major events of history throughout the past 100 years, Karlsson's life was and and has been, remarkable. 

The novel writes with a wit and clarity that is both humorous and honest, immediately pulling in the reader as you learn about both Karlsson' current adventure - on the run from the senior's home whose window he's climbed out of - and his younger years, globe trotting and generally causing great pleasure and chaos all around him. 

A wonderful novel of character, friendship, and a great deal of history - albeit presented in an unusual (and dare I say far more interesting) manner, The Hundred-Year-Old-Man who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared is a great success of a novel, well suited to anyone looking for something a little off beat, quirky or down-right weird. Challenging both our ideas of age, and it's limitations, as well as the dichotomies of right and wrong, Jonasson blurs humour and tale with deep rooted realities and questions of humanity.