Samyann
This book reminds me of Forrest Gump or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, in that historical license is taken with several famous people, like Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and many historical events. Allan Karlsson, the lead character, has had an extremely colorful life. A man of somewhat opportunistic character, he isn’t about to die in an retirement home. Karlsson steps out on an adventure, quirky characters crossing his path, and the author intersperses his life story throughout. Within the retrospective portions, famous politicians are liberally sprinkled. De Gaulle, Lyndon Johnson, Joseph Stalin … the guy is 100 years old, so most of the famous individuals of the nineteen century are cameos. What ever you do, don’t take this stuff as accurate history, it’s tongue-in-cheek! Albert Einstein has a moronic brother in this tale … not in real life!
The narration by Steven Crossley is superb. Originally published in 2009, the story has been translated from Swedish, but you can’t tell. It’s wonderfully done, award winning. It’s my understanding that a movie was released in 2013 in Sweden … but, don’t know anything about it. Worth the credit, enjoyed the listen. About 12 hours.
