Book review: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Apparently The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is an "international sensation," although I hadn't really noticed it sensating anywhere near me, I just spotted it when I was browsing through the Kindle shop, as per. Jonas Jonasson's novel does what its title suggests, as a man called Allan climbs out of the window of his old people's home on his hundredth birthday, and goes off on an adventure, meeting new people, accidentally killing half the members of a criminal gang, and being chased by the police. This is entertaining enough, but better are the flashbacks every other chapter to Allan's century-long life. Singularly uninterested in politics, he stumbles into some of the biggest events of the 20th century, meeting everyone from Stalin to Mao Zedong, Churchill and Presidents Truman, LBJ and Nixon, like a Swedish Forrest Gump - or Forrest Gümp. As in his present life, his past also seems to have seen him leave a trail of death behind him wherever he went while he remained unscathed, and although it's a gently amusing story I did like the hint of a message underneath that keeping yourself clear of all important matters might leave you safe to live a long and happy life, but be disastrous for those around you.