Overall rating:★★★★
Allan Karlsson decided to escape the senior citizen home on the day of his 100th birthday. He had one problem with the place: too many rules – no alcohol, no cigarettes, and all meals at the same time and all tasteless. Allan wanted to buy some vodka, after all it was his birthday and not every day one gets to become 100 years old.
After he jumped out of the window of his room (on the first floor) he decided to go to the bus station and take a bus far away from the home. At the station he meets a much younger man with a big suitcase who needed to use the restroom but it was not possible to get inside with the big suitcase. The young man asks Allan if he could take a look at his suitcase while he went to the bathroom. Allan agreed with the clarification that if his bus came before the young man came out of the restroom Allan would leave anyway. The bus came, the man had not finished his business, and Allan decided to take the suitcase with him on the bus. I personally thought this was a great way to start the story.
The adventure started the minute Allan took the suitcase. He made friends and enemies on the way but for someone like Allan with so much experience in the world, who had been very high and very low, these events didn’t seem to bother him.
As the events of the suitcase unfold, the readers get to know Allan’s story and life experience. It seems that Allan was involved in the main events of the 20th century – since the start of World War II and the atomic bomb to the fall of the Soviet Union.
The entire novel is a satire of politicians, history, justice system, legalities, etc. It is a light read, entertaining, and for those with a good sense of humor, funny. Jonas Jonasson did a great job bringing Allan and the rest of the characters to life… I did not know Albert Einstein had a brother.
Originality:★★★★
Beauty and use of language:★★★
