Review: The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared

Der Hundertjährige, der aus dem Fenster stieg und verschwand by Jonas Jonasson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Firstly, I'd like to say that I read the English translation of this - for some reason that didn't appear on Goodreads! The book itself (The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared) is highly amusing.

The main character Allan is instantly likeable and this doesn't change as the story progresses. The way the book is structured - mixing his history with current events - provides interesting interludes.

While the story may come across as a little far-fetched initially, I quickly got caught up in it and loved the way that Allan gradually met more people and added them to his little band of followers.

This is a fun and entertaining book, none of the content is too heavy and it made me laugh out loud.



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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The fact that it's taken me just 3 days to read this book probably says something and I'll start by saying that it's fantastic (if that wasn't apparent from my 5 star rating).

This is the third John le Carre novel I've read and have enjoyed them all thoroughly, although this one certainly stands out as the best I've read so far (the other two being A Small Town in Germany and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold).

I love his writing style, the slow build up as the story slowly winds to its conclusion. For me, this is the best kind of thriller - it's not about rip-roaring action, it's about the investigation and the end result.

George Smiley (who appears in numerous le Carre books) is the main character and it's his memories and investigations that you follow as he tries to root out a mole deep in the Circus. I won't say more than that, as it's much better to pick this up and see how le Carre works his magic for yourself.

I was already familiar with the story, having watched the BBC TV Series of it (which I'd highly recommend) about a year ago, but that didn't make the book any less enjoyable. I have yet to see the recent film, but am not sure how the story will work on the big screen. I'm reserving judgement though.

The small drip, drip of information is expertly fed to the reader and you feel as though you're working the case alongside Smiley. I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more of le Carre's work.

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