The 100-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson

Subtitle is..."Who climbed out the window and disappeared."

This book is a hoot. Very subtle and intricate with fascinating characters. I bought it when I saw it referred to somewhere and read it as we planned my dad's 99th birthday party!

This old man climbs out his window the day of his birthday party in the old folks' home and disappears. The story unfolds from there, and flips back and forth between his current adventure, and the earlier ones in his life. As the two points in time get ever closer, the story comes together in a very satisfying way.

Basically, the old man is amoral. This bothers me. And somehow he hooks up with both criminals and "good" people and has curious and hilarious adventures with them all. Oh, did I mention he interacts with world leaders like Chairman Mao, his wife, Churchill, Truman, and others??? And Einstein's brother plays a role as well. The humor is very dry as history is recounted with Allan constantly altering its course! Politics is definitely a theme, and Allan's aversion to it while creating solutions is telling, somehow.

The cast of characters is a little large for my brain and the events were such that I promptly read it a second time to get it all sorted out. I enjoyed it even more the second time around. The cleverness of this author to have preposterous events all come together is admirable. Such an enjoyable read. Not the best role model, yet Allan's carefree life and willingness to help out is fun to hang out with...

Another aspect I enjoyed were the backdrops of modern-day Sweden, World War II Russia, and Los Alamos during the development of the bomb...and other sites as well. The modern day Swedish police inspector and system were also very entertaining and revealed a lot of cultural tidbits.

Emma by Jane Austen

I had read this before, and it wasn't one of my favorites. I decided to give it another chance when I found an old hard copy in a used bookstore here in Bismarck. I'm glad I gave it another chance. It's delightful and satisfying!

Emma is a headstrong young woman who forges ahead on her hunches and thinking and influence, much to the detriment of her young friend and a few others. Her wonderful mentor and admirer gives her guidance along the way, which she finally learns to value. I loved watching her wisdom develop over time. I also enjoyed the warm family scenes and interesting characters. Austen draws her characters with so much wit and keen observation...

Here are some quotes:

Mr. Weston notes the following, when his son arrives before the appointed hour...his charm is evident here:
"One cannot creep upon a journey; one cannot help getting on faster than one has planned; and the pleasure of coming in upon one's friends before the look-out begins, is worth a great deal more than any little exertion it needs."

And here's a heartbreaker, when Emma insults Miss Bates, an incessant talker, she says:
"...I will try to hold my tongue. I must make myself very disagreeable, or she would not have said such a thing to an old friend."