The 100-Year-Old-Man...Is a Complex and Unique Book That Makes You Laugh

The 100-Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson, was an unusual book in several ways. Although not a biography, it covered much of a 100-year-old-man’s life. It was an episodic book. It skipped around chronologically, alternating between adventures after the main character (Allan) had run away from the nursing home and adventures he had over the span of his life. It is one of those books that sometimes there is someone in the Book Club who reads the chapters that take place in the present in order from beginning to end and then reads the chapters containing adventures that Allan had during his long life in order from beginning to end. No one in our group read the chapters chronologically. Another oddity was that Allan’s fictitious adventures during his life tended to involve real and significant world leaders during history and, though fictitious, supposedly influenced actual history in outrageous ways. Allan’s adventures after leaving the nursing home involved a rogues’ gallery of characters; the adventures were dynamic, and they unfolded in a way that brought excitement and tension to the reader. Along with all this complexity, the author managed to keep the humor fresh and effective throughout the story. The book didn’t win literary prizes, but it sold 6 million copies internationally, which was a prize in itself.

The most interesting question about the book turned out to be “Who is the oldest person you know?” Answers ranged from “Myself” to an aunt who is 101, a mother and an aunt who are 95, and a father who is 94 to advice from a grandmother of 100 to her adult granddaughter. My policy is to not publish personal information that we discuss at our meetings; so if you weren’t there, you missed this lively discussion.

Thanks to Cindy for sending us questions to ponder well before the scheduled discussion and for creating a timeline for us. I listened to the audiobook; and when I looked at the questions, I was unable to do much with them. Only after getting a copy of the book in writing and rereading much of it with Cindy’s timeline in front of me was I able to answer the questions fully. That was another rarity this book presented!

We started our discussion by talking about the future of our book discussion group as to continued meeting on Zoom versus going back to meeting in person, assuming such meeting becomes reasonable. It’s not reasonable at this time, and Lydia is sharing her Zoom account with us, so we don’t have to make a decision. Please keep your eyes and ears and minds open as to possibilities for continued book discussions when our world opens up again!