The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Author: Jonas Jonasson

Publisher: Hesperus Press

Published: 12^th July 2012

RRP: £8.99

  Funnily enough, this is the story of an elderly man named Allan Karlsson who on his 100^th birthday decided he had had enough of the constraints of living in an old people’s home so climbed out of the window and disappeared.  The title pretty much says it all really.  Allan does not literally disappear but instead embarks on an exciting adventure where he meets a plethora of unique and extraordinary characters including gangsters, hot dog stand owners and an elephant whilst managing to evade the police desperately trying to locate him.

  Unlike the stereotypical portrayal of the elderly as weak and feeble, this book characterises Allan as a strong-minded, witty man, completely able to defend himself, at times a little too well.  An interesting character, the Jonasson has used Allan’s age to be able to intertwine elements of 20^th Century History, in a very Forrest Gump-esque style.  

  It is a good, solid read, with plenty to hold your interest but for me I felt there was something lacking.  Throughout the book, from start to finish I felt as though I was reading a screenplay and not a novel.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, except a novel is what Jonasson set out to write.  Books to me should make you feel part of the world you are reading about, you should know the characters as you know your friends; this is achieved through the depth of the description that the author uses.  Yet I felt like an observer throughout this read, there wasn’t the development of the world for me to feel part of just the description of one event followed by another.  

  I think this would make a great Swedish arthouse film of a similar style to ‘Let the Right One In’, but to me it wasn’t quite the full package as a book.

Rating: 6/10

The Diary of a Nobody

Author: George and Weedon Grossmith

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2010 (Originally 1892)

RRP: £5.99

  Everyone knows a Charles Pooter.  He is a lower middle class man working as a clerk in the city.  He is respectable, he has illusions of grandeur and fancies himself quite the comedian.  He decides one day that he will keep a diary for a year detailing everything that happens in his life.  He believes it will be an important record of his life, instead it ends up the trivial whining of a middle-aged man. 

  Although there are few real laugh out loud moments in the book, it never ceases to be amusing. I was not bored on a single page, my favourite moments being when he repeats jokes he makes when he believes no one noticed them (although it’s just that they aren’t funny).  The relationships are completely believeable, the solid marriage he has with Carrie and the friendships he has with the loveable characters of Mr Cummings and Mr Gowings (names which when first reading them, really did make me laugh, such is my sense of humour!).  The key events in the diary tend to centre on his son Lupin, who is not everything Charles expected him to be, he is loud, confident, funny and compulsive, everything Charles is not.  Furthermore, Lupin finds himself in not only work troubles but also in a mess with love.

  It’s hard to believe that this book was first published in 1892 the people seem like real modern people.  That may sound ridiculous but I’m sure I’m not the only one who has assumed that people living over one hundred years ago were prude and boring.  This book is a glimpse into the real world of the late-Victorian era.  It accurately describes the daily life, the jobs, the clothes, the food but it says much more about the people.  Englishmen really haven’t changed as much as we imagine.  A funny, warm and heartfelt read, it’s clear how this book has survived this long and I’m sure it has centuries left in it before the real nature of people change.

Rating: 7/10

The British Museum is Falling Down

Author: David Lodge

Publisher: Penguin Decades

Date: 1st April 2010

RRP: £8.99

  This story, originally written and set in the 1960s, follows a day in the life of Adam Appleby, a practising Catholic studing for his Literature PhD.  He is happily married to his wife of just over three years and because of the Catholic churches stance on contraception already has three children.  He wakes anxious that his wife might be expecting their fourth child, all the signs seem to be pointing that way despite their obsessive use of thermometers and charts to avoid such an event (and to kill the remaining romance of their marriage).  He leaves desperately unhappy on his clapped-out scooter to the Museum Reading Room to work on his thesis.  The day doesn't go well, in fact it goes terribly with a lack of motivation, fire alarms, a man-hunt, an explosion, failed job offers and a test on his marriage. 

  The book really delves into the thoughts and feelings of Adam throughout this day and as the book progresses you begin to feel a great affinity towards him and pity his lack of good fortune.  There are plenty of in-jokes which make you feel part of his exclusive club and some great laugh-out-loud moments.  David Lodge is clearly a very intelligent writer, references to literature are woven throughout the story and quotes about the British Museum add humour to the start of every chapter.  Interestingly the role of narrator isn't consistent throughout and suddenly you are cast into the shoes of Adam and experiencing his day as him rather as an uninvolved witness. 

  What was great about this book was how great it felt to laugh at this unfortunate character despite my conscious telling me he deserved more of my pity.  The story was like a trampoline, with Adam experiencing joyful highs, immediately followed by crashing lows which just added to the pathetic-ness of him.  My favourite section of the book was the epilogue, where we are suddenly transported into the mind of his wife in the middle of the night.  It feels great to finally get to explore her character because during the rest of the book we are only concerned with whether or not she is pregnant again.  It ends with a three-page sentence, a final joke since Adam's thesis was on the use of long sentences in literature.  This is clever humour, to the extent that at times I felt I shouldn't be enjoying this much because by know means am I a literary boff, but nonetheless the story is so truly encapsulating it is definitely worth a go.

 

Rating 8/10

The Wolves in the Walls

Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Dave McKean
Publisher: Bloomsbury
RRP: £5.99

    Lucy hears noises coming from the walls of her house and her claims that wolves are living in the walls are quashed by the other members of her family.  That is until wolves do suddenly burst from the walls of their home and take over.  The family are forced to flee to the bottom of the garden and Lucy tries to come up with a plan to get back their house. 

      This is a picture book like few others.  Aimed at older readers the images are dark and sinister and the plot gradually builds a sense of imminent dread which is suddenly released with a barrage of humour.  The art works within the book are stunning, a blend of collage, paint, photography and drawing create an eerie and unique feel to the book.  There are lots of hidden details etched on the walls of the house which add another dimension to the images created.  The storyline is highly original and the references, jokes and familiar family characters all add to the appeal of older readers of all abilities.  The character of Lucy is strong willed and relentless, children I have read the book with find it funny how submissive and weak her parents are portrayed.  Although there are some notable features of common picture books, such as the repetitive phrases and the use of font size to add emphasis, this is no fairytale.  There is no knight in shining armour.  Instead the book screams to me “If you want something, go get it!”

    I have read this book with several classes of children and every time it has been a huge hit.  I have great fun building up the suspense and horror elements and really going to town with the humour, the kids all end up enthralled and/or in hysterics.  Some reluctant readers have even asked if they could borrow it to read themselves.  This in itself speaks volumes.  Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean have completed several books together and although this is my favourite, they are all well worth exploring.

Rating: 10/10