Merry Christmas everyone! (It’s after American Thanksgiving, so I hear I’m allowed to say it now.) It’s been a busy month for me at work, but now that things are easing up I wanted to write about one of the books that’s shot to the top of my recommended list.
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson
This was the last book I ever borrowed at university, and it was truly a surprise gem. I picked it up because the 100-year-old part of the title drew me in. I’m scared of many things – heights, bugs, enclosed spaces – but I think the one I share with the majority of the population is death. Our society is obsessed with finding ways to live longer, and this (albeit obviously fiction) book called out to me as maybe holding some answers.
The title of the book pretty aptly describes what happens: an old man (Allan Karlsson) decides to leave his nursing home without telling anyone, with no idea of what he’s going to do next. But the truly exciting thing is learning about the exciting life this man held before he turned 100 years old. The book jumps between past and present until the two stories catch up with one another. It’s great storytelling, but also just great content. The book was originally written in Swedish, and I’m not sure if the author drew from personal life experience when he wrote this, but it has a ton of historical references and casts Sweden as the home base.
The key things Allan did to live longer:
- Always ate his meals at an appropriate time. He could be talking to a world leader, and instead of answering their questions, he’d ask what was for lunch.
- Never involved himself in politics or religion. It almost cost him his life a few times, but saved his life many times more. The book really paints political and religious zealots as wasting their time on theology rather than reality.
- Never try to predict the future. Alan travelled the globe precisely because he had no idea where he was going, and as a result he ended up having a more colourful life than any of the people he came in contact with during his travels. This didn’t mean he was afraid to stay in one place for an extended period of time; in fact, he stayed inside a prison camp for 15 years. He was the essential “go-with-the-flow” type of guy; if you go where the tide pulls you, you’re apt to go far.
This book is the epitome of why I like fiction: if you had packaged all of these ideas into a self-help book, I would have fallen asleep reading it and probably never finished. But when it’s conveyed through a beautifully woven story with promised entertainment value, it causes you to think about and internalize the ideas much better. It’s the same reason I loved The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged; if you want to see ideas in action, why not give the reader a comprehensive example?
My favourite quote from this book:
Allan Karlsson didn’t ask much of life. He just wanted a bed, lots of food, something to do, and now and then a glass of vodka. If these requirements were met, he could stand most things.
rating: 5 out of 5 explosions engineered by future centenarians
Breathe, 