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The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
January 2014 - The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared
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Michael
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 01, 2014 02:50AM
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I ordered my copy a week ago but it still hasn't arrived yet :(
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Anyone else started yet?
I read this some time ago and will be happy to join in to the discussion when everyone has finished reading it.
Hi all. I read this book a few months ago (well, abandoned it half way through actually). Would love to join the discussion.
I read this a few months ago, thought it was very clever. Only just realised it is translated from Swedish!
My copy has finally arrived! I shall be cracking on with it on the train to Birmingham tomorrow!
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Read it last April. OK - I hated the first 50 pages, stuck with the last 50, and then laughed out loud continuously for the rest of the book. The humor worked well at the end, providing you eventually got into just how absurd it was. Good vacation read.
I agree with that Tony. It is a total farce and contains the best comical deaths ever. It was very reminiscent of Baron Von Munchausen .
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I finished it. It was silly but an enjoyable romp. Wouldn't recommend it to others as it's a definite "marmite" book.
Hmm, as you know, I abandoned this book about 100 pages in. I don't think I "got" it. I sat there wondering when it was going to get funny since all the reviews I'd read had listed it as comedy. Perhaps it was the writing style I struggled with. There was a lot of "they did this and this and then they did this" with little elaboration on what and how. There was also very little dialogue and I found it hard to feel like I knew any of the characters.
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I think Marmite is a good comparison to make. Even the reviews on here are "Loved it" or "Hated it", with very little in between.
Actually "marmite" maybe not that good a description. I enjoyed it at the time but have forgotten it already.
I gave up after about 100 pages, the danger of a Kindle, oh look shiny thing over there...anyway it seemed like a pointless story and so farcical, I don't think I've missed much
Excuse this if it goes on but I only have limited internet access this afternoon. I really enjoyed this. As someone has already said I wouldnt necessarily recommend it as it is a little unusual in terms of style and narrative I suppose.
The style was interesting and I couldn't work out if it was a peculiarity of the Swedish language or because of the translation, either way I quite liked it.
I also loved that an elderly person was given a lead in a story. My nan is significantly younger than Allan but they definitely share the same sense of 'mischief' that led him into so many scrapes which is why I think I got on with his character and was interested to see what would happen to him.
I appreciate that some people would have an issue with the way the story ended but without wanting to give it away I think it suited the absurdity of the whole thing.
I think that'll do for now.
I'd be interested to read why people didn't like it if they didn't though as I can kind of see why people might not.
I enjoyed the very beginning of the book, but quickly lost interest in the characters and the story. As I had taken the book with me on vacation I stuck with it for a while, but abandoned after a 100 or so pages. It's been a while since I read it, so I can't really remember what exactly bothered me that much, just that it was too farcical, too much repetition, characters that didn't appeal to me...
The story has been turned into a film which got quite good reviews and received the prize of the audience at the Swedish film festival (Guldbaggen) last week, so I'm actually looking forward to seeing that. The story might work better as a film than as a book for me.
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As I was reading it I thought it would be hilarious to watch as a film. I'd be intrigued to see the bus...
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Very late to the discussion, apologies. I read this a few months back and must say I really enjoyed it - I've also shared it with a few people who have had a similar reaction.I like Allan, the farcical nature of the story-line but also the links to historic events and characters - for me it worked well on a couple of levels. In fact it reminded me at times of Kurt Vonnegut - not in the same league as that master but a fun ride all the same.
Oops sorry I'm late! But agree with Tony and Jade. Read it about a year ago and found it a bit hard to get into the swing of things, but then I did enjoy it, although I thought it did drag on a bit. Liked the idea of someone at 100 still rebelling and having opinions - having spent the better part of the last few months off work sick and at home, I can easily see how people get categorised based on first impressions- ie they are old/sick and therefore aren't interested in stuff. Also thought it was clever how so many events were woven into the story. Thought it was a nice little book.
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I'm attempting to finish this book but finding it extremely difficult. I've abandoned too many books recently.. Trying to change that.
