Reviews with content warning for Violence - The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

This one was a really fun read! I love how the main character decides to just climb out of the window and disappear into a new life he chooses for himself. It was a very action-packed, adventurous type of book. I really liked how the author tied historical events into the book and added their own personal twist to them by involving the characters in the development of world history. The characters do many ethically questionable things at times, but they're so likeable that you can't help but to cheer for them.

The part where they lie about the chronological order of events and about what actually happened was especially entertaining. I love how they all get mostly happy endings; it goes to show that people can create new lives and realities for themselves at any age, and that it's never too late to have fun adventures and to do all the things you want to do.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes themes of adventure, historical fiction, situational irony and friendships in books.

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lackyducks's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A thoroughly enjoyable and highly unpredictable book.

The book tells the story of Allan, going between the present from his one hundredth birthday, to the past. It follows him through the years, where he's inserted into a variety of fraught political situations with an entirely unbothered attitude. Meanwhile, in the present day, the reader follows him through another adventure filled with twists and turns of it's own. You reach a point where you say 'sure, this might as well happen' in the best way.

I found the cast of characters thoroughly enjoyable and each had distinct personalities. I enjoyed the way they intertwined and interacted with the absurdity of the story. Despite several atrocities, you still find yourself rooting for them, with the occasional aside to discover the backstory of another person that doesn't feel out if place.

The book takes a little while to find its stride, but once the main plot hook comes in it was an instant sell for me. I truly didn't know what to expect next and it was always exciting to find out. There are difficult topics dealt with throughout the story, but they're all handled with Allan's sense of bemused attachment. Although the story is light-hearted, be prepared for those darker topics to come up.

I think the enjoyment of the book also greatly depends on what's expected from it. I loved the absurdity and silliness the book provided, and didn't care about it's disregard for realism. However I can understand this might be a sticking point for others. Similarly, although I'm not particularly well-versed on politics or history, I didn't have trouble following the narrative, though I'm sure I must've missed the occasional joke.

Overall, this book is just an incredibly fun time. Coming to the end where the two narratives join back up in time and seeing it all come together felt like a fitting ending.

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withlivjones's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I decided to reread this book so that I remembered the plot before tackling the Accidental Further Adventures. Jonasson’s writing is blunt and witty, which turns what could have been a very tragic book about a man surviving countless wars and political crises and outliving his friends and peers into a funny, matter of fact book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’d describe it as similar to Terry Pratchett’s writing but for people who aren’t big on fantasy. The characters are all very compelling, and I really like the fact that very few of them are particularly likeable, as their (many) flaws make even the most outlandish ones seem very realistic. Jonasson doesn’t make Allan a hero, or even a particularly virtuous person, but instead he’s an average man who has a habit of ‘just happening to be there’, and this for me makes his story more enjoyable than if he were a more active protagonist. At times the blunt narration makes the dialogue a bit dense and difficult to get through, but the story moves so quickly that it’s difficult to get bored with it.

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kshertz's review

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It’s definitely such an interesting book. I love a curmudgeon so much but this curmudgeon is basically sociopathic. It’s like if Forrest Gump was a sociopath. He basically goes into every historical event and is the reason that terrible things have happened. That made it a hard book to read. I wasn’t rooting for the 100 year old. I just wanted him to die. Which didn’t make the book all that exciting for me to want to pick up all the time. It was kind of a slow reader for that reason.

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