Discuss The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and

Discuss the May 2013 book of the month "The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson
Post Reply
User avatar
Fran
Posts: 28072
Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
Favorite Author: David Mitchell
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
Bookshelf Size: 1208
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
Reading Device: B00I15SB16
fav_author_id: 3104

Discuss The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and

Post by Fran »

The May Book of the Month is The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
If you have read the book please use this topic to discuss it. If you have not read the book please be aware this topic may contain spoilers.
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
User avatar
lady_charlie
Posts: 1572
Joined: 01 Jan 2013, 19:19
Favorite Author: Isabel Allende
Favorite Book: The House of the Spirits
Currently Reading: Very Valentine
Bookshelf Size: 19
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lady-charlie.html
Latest Review: The Magician's Secret by Charles Townsend
fav_author_id: 16996

Post by lady_charlie »

I laughed so hard! This was not a comedy at all but it really reminded me of Forrest Gump. Just when I thought it was starting to drag and I was starting to lose interest, here we are in North Korea, or trying to hide an elephant. And it isn't just the visual gags that I can see, it is the twisting turning how does the author keep track of where this guy has been and then, just when all hope is lost, turns out he saved this guy's wife that time when he was traveling.

This is a laugh out loud funny book in spots and yet smart and full of historical characters, which I like.

I can't wait to be a hundred now, and my respect for the elderly has increased a hundredfold - if they remember half of the things they have done in life, I should probably sit down and listen to them talk. Even if they don't, they might tell a good story anyway.
It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. J.R.R. Tolkien
User avatar
blue82
Posts: 3
Joined: 13 May 2013, 02:47
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by blue82 »

I am currently half way through this book on my kindle and thoroughly enjoying it. So much seems to happen in it, but yet you never feel overloaded. It is very cleverly written and continues to bring a smile to my face.

In some respects, you could think that far too much happens to the main character so as to make it totally implausible, but that would be to miss the point - that this is just a fun book to read. I also believe that the character has been so developed that you find yourself believing that absolutely anything could happen to him and you just want to find out what happens next.

Even though I haven't finished this book yet, I have already been recommending it to people. Just a jolly good read.
User avatar
shellyb
Posts: 53
Joined: 22 May 2013, 03:20
Favorite Author: Terry Pratchett
Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Currently Reading: The Midwife - Jennifer Worth
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2791

Post by shellyb »

I read this a few weeks ago, before i joined and have been recommending it to everyone i know. I was going to re-read it before commenting but i think my initial reaction to it is probably the best.

This could be summed up by saying that it was a joy to read and that there is a surprise at every turn. It takes you on a journey you would never have imagined from the title and the opening few pages, where a very old man goes on the run from his 100th birthday party by climbing out of the window of the nursing home, still wearing his pee-slippers ... I laughed all the way through. I'm now going to read it again. Enjoy.
User avatar
Fran
Posts: 28072
Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
Favorite Author: David Mitchell
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
Bookshelf Size: 1208
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
Reading Device: B00I15SB16
fav_author_id: 3104

Post by Fran »

This was actually the last book I read in 2012 so I'll just copy what I posted at the time in "Last Book Read" thread.

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, trans by Rod Bradbury.
I loved this quirky, crazy, funny, mad book - kind of a Forrest Gump meets Just William - as it zips through the whole of the 20th century, with unlikely appearances by many of the major world figures, in a series of mad cap adventures.
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
User avatar
primrose777
Posts: 2012
Joined: 25 Sep 2011, 05:11
Favorite Author: Chaim Potok
Favorite Book: The Chosen
Currently Reading: The Light Between Oceans
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 4227

Post by primrose777 »

I have ordered this, cant wait to read it. Heard lots of great things about it.
There are years that ask questions and years that answer. Zora Neale Hurston.
User avatar
shellyb
Posts: 53
Joined: 22 May 2013, 03:20
Favorite Author: Terry Pratchett
Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Currently Reading: The Midwife - Jennifer Worth
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2791

Post by shellyb »

I wish i could climb out of the window and disappear ...
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing
User avatar
HHMikey
Posts: 5
Joined: 23 Jun 2013, 13:15
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by HHMikey »

I loved this book. I recently experienced a personal trauma and was looking for something light hearted and fun. This book match my criteria perfectly: funny, witty, interesting and the plot is such good fun. I lolled at this quite a few times.
User avatar
jool
Posts: 24
Joined: 09 Jul 2013, 06:49
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by jool »

As much as I am a fan of older people (I find them adorable and worth looking up to), the book didn't really entertain me. I mean, it was well written and the beginning was really intruiging, but then as the plot went on it became too implausible for me. Irritatingly implausible. I know that this is fiction, but still. Although it's not that it didn't make me laugh or that I had hard time reading it. Not at all. But I just didn't feel completely satisfied with it.
User avatar
DanBR
Posts: 45
Joined: 01 Sep 2013, 09:49
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DanBR »

Agree with Jool that it was somewhat implausible, but if a book is well written, implausible can actually add a sense of magic realism (or complete surrealism). Many good books were implausible, from Midnight Children to everything by Franz Kafka. Just my 2c
User avatar
Lexicon65
Posts: 8
Joined: 14 Sep 2013, 01:45
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lexicon65.html

Post by Lexicon65 »

I read this book a couple of months ago, it was most enjoyable. I loved the way it flittered through the 20th Century with humour and grace. I'd highly recommend this book as it covers most genre's from history to love to murder - just great.
lucyrebecca123
Posts: 17
Joined: 20 Sep 2013, 07:33
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by lucyrebecca123 »

Sounds like one for the list :)
User avatar
Jenn+books
Posts: 94
Joined: 26 Sep 2013, 04:50
Favorite Author: Anne Tyler
Favorite Book: Jane Eyre
Currently Reading: Always a Shakespeare
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jenn-books.html
fav_author_id: 6534

Post by Jenn+books »

I hadn't heard of this book until I saw this thread--the title caught my eye. This one sounds great. Outside of the box and funny too--can't get much better than that. Going off to find it . . .
User avatar
vcsadler
Posts: 1
Joined: 23 Nov 2013, 11:17
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by vcsadler »

Ordered it, and it should arrive in a few days. Can't wait!
zoomintovicky
Posts: 12
Joined: 24 Nov 2013, 15:45
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-zoomintovicky.html

Post by zoomintovicky »

I totally recommend this book! I bought it because a random guy at the airport told me it was hilarious. And so it was, really. A bit unrealistic maybe, but it's so funny and well written that you get over that quickly enough.
Post Reply

Return to “"The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared"”