"You might think he could have made up his mind earlier, and been man enough to tell the others of his decision. But Allan Karlsson had never been given to pondering things too long.
So the idea had barely taken hold in the old man's head before he opened the window of his room on the ground floor of the Old People's Home [..] and stepped out -into the flowerbed.
This manoeuvre required a bit of effort, since Allan was one hundred years old. On this very day, in fact. There was less than an hour to go before his birthday party would begin in the lounge of the Old People's Home [..] It was only the Birthday Boy himself who didn't intend to turn up".
This hilarious comedy, which is blended with some twentieth century history, combines fictional characters with real-life characters and events, both of which intermingle in the most far-fetched ways. Taking on the form of two parallel narratives, one telling of Allan's present life, and the other of his personal history, you get the impression of time-travelling whilst realising that behind every elderly person is a story of personal adventure, survival and hardship: " I haven't always been a hundred years old" . You're never too old to have an adventure in life.
I loved this book; this author has my humour 'down to a tee'. The characters are loveable rogues, especially the protagonist Allan, and the ways in which they bluffed themselves out of trouble on multiple occasions gave me several laugh out loud moments.
I would rate it more as an adult novel than YA as some of the historical bits could be a bit 'dry' for younger readers, but it has definitely motivated me to read Jonasson's other book The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden. Absolutely brilliant!
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