It’s Allan Karlsson's 100th
birthday and the mayor, among many other distinguished guests have
gathered at the retirement home to wish him well and congratulate his
advanced age, but Allan has another plan, and by the time the
matronly care nurse comes to collect him from his room, he's already
slipped out with just his wallet and indoor slippers.
Allan makes it to the bus station
before anyone notices he is gone and a chance run-in with an
unpleasant youth transporting an inestimable suitcase alters the
course of his gentle escape plan. Luckily a
seasoned, but accommodating, criminal takes Allan under his wing and
leads him safely from the encroaching police search party and the
owner of the inestimable suitcase.
Despite multiple deaths, close-calls
and a nationwide search, a recognisable tedium stunts the flow, and a
little more pace when describing an armed robbery or gallant
cross-country escape would've been more fit for purpose. The snail's pace might characterise the
experiences of our centenarian hero, helping us to understand his
very unusual version of a crime-caper, but lengthy descriptive
passages combined with the clean, direct writing (which works in some
instances) makes for a dry reading experience.
However, when Jonasson skips back
several decades and better acquaints us with Allan's impressively
colourful past, this chapter of his life seem much less extraordinary
and more like the way this gallivanting munitions expert who has not
only seen but shaped some of the most important events of the last
century SHOULD end his time on earth.
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