DS Book Club # 20 - The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window .............

OxfordGirlOxfordGirl Posts: 3,114
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Just finished this. I can see why its popular but I got a bit fed up with it by the end - wondered what famous world leader there was left for him to meet .
Clever storyline though and well written

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  • clm2071clm2071 Posts: 6,637
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    OxfordGirl wrote: »
    Just finished this. I can see why its popular but I got a bit fed up with it by the end - wondered what famous world leader there was left for him to meet .
    Clever storyline though and well written

    Seconded. I started off loving it but became a bit bored by the end and was glad when I finished it.

    I didn't find it very involving and thought something was maybe lost in translation.
  • SWW (SWW)SWW (SWW) Posts: 23,514
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    I really enjoyed what I perceived as a tongue-in-cheek dark comedy about a 100 year old man 'escaping' from an old people's home and gettting involved in an amazing and funny adventure… in which his incredible past is also revealed… admittedly, I too, was that enthusiactic towards the end, so I can see where the comments above came from... but I really enjoyed the earlier and middle sections of the book... maybe it all went on a but too long and probably needed a darker conclusion? Acid test... woudl I read it again? To be honest, probably not! ...but I ma pleased that I read it.
  • MrstimmyMrstimmy Posts: 1,960
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    I quite liked bits of this book and was reading a bit quicker than usual to find out what happened...for it then to jump back (or forwards) again in time, which just got annoying. Having to read 50 or so pages to get back to where you were, and by then you've forgotten and no longer really care.

    A fairly good read, but wouldn't read again.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 30,839
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    I did enjoy this book, but if I am honest I can't really explain why! I loved the notion of an old man running away from a stuffy nursing home, from the idea that life should be ended sat in an institution. The notion that just because someone is old, does not mean that life has come to an end.

    But I found bits of it a bit odd and lost track in a few places. Like I said I enjoyed it, but its not one I would read again and not really one I would recommend to friends.
  • bornfreebornfree Posts: 16,359
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    crazysusan wrote: »
    I did enjoy this book, but if I am honest I can't really explain why! I loved the notion of an old man running away from a stuffy nursing home, from the idea that life should be ended sat in an institution. The notion that just because someone is old, does not mean that life has come to an end.

    But I found bits of it a bit odd and lost track in a few places.
    Like I said I enjoyed it, but its not one I would read again and not really one I would recommend to friends.

    I like the idea of people trying to escape the hum drum of nursing homes and going on adventures. But I did get bored and will try to finish it.
  • mocha-lattemocha-latte Posts: 2,472
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    Finished this at last :eek:
    . I can see why some enjoy it but I got almost bored by the end and kept putting it down to read something else, yet I was interested enough to pick it up again :confused:

    Well written and would still give it 4 * s but found it far from being a favourite or easy read... but very different ....
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8
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    It took me forever to read this book. I loved it in the beginning but then I just could not wait for it to be finished. I cannot put my finger on the problem I had with the book because I did not mind it when I was reading it but I really had to force myself to pick it up. The best I can say is that the some of the "funny" bits felt a bit forced to me. The fact that one person could have such an influence on world politics was very farcical. I skim read the last couple of chapters because I was in such a hurry to finish it and find out what the ending was & then move on to the next book.
  • pete137pete137 Posts: 18,342
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    My first free download on my new kindle. I read this on holiday on Turkey in June. Realy enjoyed it, although I must admit that I only read the "current" story and skipped through all the back story as I quickly got bored, and it realy serves no purpose whatsoever. Think it was a big mistake by the author to write SO much in these flashbacks and its bound to put a lot of people off.

    The back story became more ludicrous and unbelievable as the book went on and it distracts soooooo much from the actual story, which is great in itself. My advise is to skip all the mammouth back story and enjoy a great, albeit quicker, book !
  • CadivaCadiva Posts: 18,409
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    OxfordGirl wrote: »
    Just finished this. I can see why its popular but I got a bit fed up with it by the end - wondered what famous world leader there was left for him to meet .
    Clever storyline though and well written

    I don't know, I thought that was rather the point, that it was so utterly absurd for one man to have met, and influenced, all those world leaders, it was part of what made the book so funny in a completely dead pan way for me.
    It's very Forest Gump-like in its tone and the suggestion of how inadvertently one man can influence history was very cleverly written imo. One of the best books I've read this year and I though Jonas Jonasson had a very witty style and created four completely distinctive characters in his four "main" protagonists. He's also a very good image creator, the scenes in Bali were some of my favourite and I could picture dizzy Amanda clearly in my head.
  • oldhagoldhag Posts: 2,539
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    It's original and memorable. It's not a great read but a pleasant one.
  • couchpotato2011couchpotato2011 Posts: 1,090
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    Not very good, reminded me a bit of Forest Gump. Just ridiculous story after ridiculous story.:-)
  • BunionsBunions Posts: 14,992
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    Hi Everyone :)

    I'm a DSBB refugee who just heard about this place over there.

    How does it work please?

    Ta
  • abigail1234abigail1234 Posts: 1,292
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    pete137 wrote: »
    My first free download on my new kindle. I read this on holiday on Turkey in June. Realy enjoyed it, although I must admit that I only read the "current" story and skipped through all the back story as I quickly got bored, and it realy serves no purpose whatsoever. Think it was a big mistake by the author to write SO much in these flashbacks and its bound to put a lot of people off.

    The back story became more ludicrous and unbelievable as the book went on and it distracts soooooo much from the actual story, which is great in itself. My advise is to skip all the mammoth back story and enjoy a great, albeit quicker, book !

    I wish you'd written this before I read it! I hated the flashbacks - loathed them - and by the end of the book, I would have pushed the 100-year old man out of the window - and thrown his book after him...>:(
    It took me forever to read this book. I loved it in the beginning but then I just could not wait for it to be finished. I cannot put my finger on the problem I had with the book because I did not mind it when I was reading it but I really had to force myself to pick it up. The best I can say is that the some of the "funny" bits felt a bit forced to me. The fact that one person could have such an influence on world politics was very farcical. I skim read the last couple of chapters because I was in such a hurry to finish it and find out what the ending was & then move on to the next book.


    That was my experience too. It started well and then I think he simply tried to become too clever
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,692
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    Cadiva wrote: »
    I don't know, I thought that was rather the point, that it was so utterly absurd for one man to have met, and influenced, all those world leaders, it was part of what made the book so funny in a completely dead pan way for me.
    It's very Forest Gump-like in its tone and the suggestion of how inadvertently one man can influence history was very cleverly written imo. One of the best books I've read this year and I though Jonas Jonasson had a very witty style and created four completely distinctive characters in his four "main" protagonists. He's also a very good image creator, the scenes in Bali were some of my favourite and I could picture dizzy Amanda clearly in my head.
    Not very good, reminded me a bit of Forest Gump. Just ridiculous story after ridiculous story.:-)

    I was thinking the same thing.

    According to my Kindle I'm 52% in. So far I've actually quite liked it. I've found it rather funny in parts. I can see how a lot of people may not like the story jumping back and forth. Indeed, I've lost track of small parts myself because of this.

    Is anyone familiar with the author's next book and whether that is any good, The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden?
  • mfrmfr Posts: 5,596
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    I made it to about half way through before getting bored. I finally completed it by listening to the abridged version on Radio 4!
  • CrazyLoopCrazyLoop Posts: 31,148
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    Hope you don't mind me contributing :blush:

    But I just finished this a few days back on my Kindle as I'd downloaded it for free ages ago and finally got round to reading it. I really enjoyed it although in parts I'd get confused as it switched from present to past and then back again and you always wanted more on the time you just finished reading.

    Very good story though :)
  • Enfant TerribleEnfant Terrible Posts: 4,391
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    Clever. Well written. But I have to agree with others saying that the constant going back in time gimmick gets just a tad boring after a while.
    Meeting one or two major politicians, yeah, that's amusing. But then it just goes on and on and becomes meaningless and quite disruptive to the current day story.
    Shame really. A good editor would have made all the difference.
  • MissKhimMissKhim Posts: 298
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    To be honest, I didn't like the book. It was a vague book, very boring and I didn't like the characters.
  • misha06misha06 Posts: 3,378
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    I enjoyed it.

    Admittedly the first half was better and funnier, It did drag a bit, but I felt the same about Life of Pi (which I gave up on several times before pushing through)

    For me, I took away from the book, the need for friends; Allan, Aronsson and Julius were all alone/lonely for different reasons, but the unlikely posse came together as genuine mates.

    At the end, although it did bored a bit on 'cheese' I was pleased with the ending.
  • syramusyramu Posts: 1,053
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    I've been struggling to read this book for almost two years! I really am beginning to dislike books where characters meet famous figures, and I'm less and less fond of flashbacks with the more books I read. I wish I had read this thread sooner, though, because it would have made me feel better. I really thought everyone loves this book, and it made it even more difficult to read it, because I'm not enjoying it that much anymore. I can't even keep all the characters straight now.

    Oh well, I'll carry on. :)
  • timebugtimebug Posts: 18,320
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    I simply liked the daftness of it all, and saw the film sometime
    after I had read the book. Naturally the film abandons a lot of
    the book material, (with time constraints on the overall length
    of the final film) but I still enjoyed that as well!
    And I also loved his next book 'The Girl Who Saved The King
    of Sweden'. But be warned, it's equally 'daft'. Those who hated
    the back story and the shifting about in 'The 100 Year Old Man'
    will be complaining of the same sort of thing in this book too!
  • Britt_IshraelBritt_Ishrael Posts: 1,129
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    I started off quite liking this book. I liked the concept of it and found it quite engaging. However, as I progressed through the tale and it became, (I thought) increasingly silly, I started to find it all rather tedious and was relieved when I finished it.
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