Daily Times

“Things are what they are, and whatever will be will be.” Luckily, I happen to meet the coolest ‘100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared’, and thanks to Jonas Jonasson. Imagine, you get to meet a man who since his youth had been an expert in dynamite explosions and because of this quality he happened to blow his own house twice, met various Marshals & Ministers (throughout his life) along with prominent political leaders and presidents like: Mao, Stalin, Truman, Roosevelt, Nixon and the list goes on. A man who even on his 100th birthday fails to avoid an adventure and escapes the old home with an intention to have a better life however gets fixed in a quagmire out of which he manages to smoothly pave his way, thanks to his calm nature and active mind.

“There are only two things I can do better than most people. One of them is to make vodka from goats’ milk, and the other is to put together an atom bomb.” – Allan

Being a Swedish writer, Jonas Jonasson starts the novel on 2nd May, 2005 with the details of Allan Karlsson’s 100th Birthday whose celebration are just about to begin in the care home meanwhile Allan succeeds in managing an escape from the window of his room in his slippers and goes off to the bus station. As the plot proceeds, we are sent back in times when Allan was born in 1905. And so, Jonasson keeps weaving the past and present in a very comprehensible way which instead of tiring the readers succeeds in grabbing their interest. Suddenly, it turns out to be a Crime Fiction which starts off with a single character but as we reach near the end we have two corpses, eight characters, one elephant and a dog to worry about.

Being a Swedish writer, Jonas Jonasson starts the novel on 2nd May, 2005 with the details of Allan Karlsson’s 100th Birthday whose celebration are just about to begin in the care home meanwhile Allan succeeds in managing an escape from the window of his room in his slippers and goes off to the bus station

“Herbert said it wasn’t hard to play stupid when you are stupid. Allan said that he did not know how hard it was, because the idiots Allan had met so far in his life had all tried to do the opposite.”

Because of his incendiary knowledge, Allan had always been in the limelight and was chased by various agencies, secret police and marshals with an aim to create an atom bomb. Even on the last page, when Allan is cherishing three digits of his age, he is visited by a man sent by Indonesian government with a request to impart his lifetime knowledge on explosives.

“Allan couldn’t get used to the way people he befriended went and died right in front of his eyes”

Of all the people Allan met in his life, almost all of them died in front of him one way or the other. The ongoing wars and diplomatic affairs are well knitted with the personal life of the protagonist. Some might argue how can a single man have such an impact or say in the global politics. Such might be the case, but then what else you expect from the piece of fiction? Regardless of its fictional genre, the novel provides some interesting insight and references to historical events that took place from Second World War onwards. Incidents like, Mao’s second wife being kidnapped, Stalin’s death, Herbert Einstein’s life and many others intrigue its reader to revisit the history through several other sources as well.

“I don’t know. But as long as we think positively I’m sure a solution will appear. The problem immediately becomes whole ton less with thinking positively.”

The humor and optimism of Karlsson is something that places him above other characters. His speciality of coming out of every dire situation is what keeps him going even till the end. And you cannot help admiring Allan Karlsson for his humor, wit, patience, composure and sagacity.

“Allan hadn’t listened very carefully to the global political aspect of the plan, because when people started talking politics then he stopped listening. It sort of happened by itself.”

Karlsson thoroughly despises religious and political talk hence succeeds in remaining apolitical despite his indispensable role and part in the events of world politics. So if you’re planning to revisit history with a new perspective and dimension then this is the book for sure!

Published in Daily Times, December 30^th 2018.