Given that I had no real idea what to expect other than the title and half-heard review, this came as something of a surprise. A tale of two journeys juxtaposed, one in the present-ish day in Northern Europe featuring titular centenarian and a motley crew of associates, the other telling the story of the preceding century through the travels of our protagonist.
The pace never dropped, and although after finishing the book I think that some of the contrivances involving the bodies are unlikely at best, it kept me going right to the conclusion. Interesting to pick this up straight after Ken Follett's book featuring much of the same period and indeed some of the exact same historical events. Jonasson drops in this real events and real people and adds a touch of humour to the situation, something the somewhat portentous Follett does not.
On many occasions this is simply a comic novel, the prose sparkles on the page and there are laugh-out-load moments. The way that our hero is meant to have shaped various key moments in world history is amusing in itself, but masterfully pulled off. Woody Allen's film 'Zelig' covers some of the same ground, a misfit being there at crucial moments and this owes a little to that.
There can't be many books published (in English at least) in 2012 to feature both Chiang Kai-Shek and to an even greater extent his wife Soong May-Ling. Those sections amused me greatly, Jonasson seems to have picked up on her supposedly haughty and aloof personality and sets about describing her with admirable gusto.
It would spoil large sections of the book to describe the other real people involved or indeed the strange group that envelopes our very old man.
Unexpected? Certainly.
Delightful? Quite possibly.
Recommended? Most definitely.
Unexpected? Certainly.
Delightful? Quite possibly.
Recommended? Most definitely.
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