The long titles acquire, in the case of Norwegian writers, a special taste between the commercial claim and the intention of the impact on the reader's mind. At least it seems that way in that kind of quite eloquent statements about what the plot of his novels can offer.
It already happened with the disappeared Stieg Larsson and its continuators in the Millennium saga. And it is repeated in the case of a Jonas jonasson that, in his recent novel «The grandfather who came back to save the world«, It does but round off what is already a considerable literary work begun with this same grandfather who, in a day of youthful rebellion of more than 10 years since its publication,« jumped out the window and took off ».
In the interim, more novels with that parody interest which can already be seen from the indicated titles, always at the service of the sarcastic, with a point of reflection and criticism that immediately arises after getting carried away by the first page.
This author's cacophonous pseudonym it has that virtue of overturning frankly on each story, propping up its plots between dreamlike or surreal aspects at times, but always with a horizon of acid humor about life, reason, social labels, the future of our civilization.
Crowd of literary aromas that flourish thanks to characters always thrown into the open grave on the slope of life, without fear of consequences, delivered to that cause wounded by conventions, routine and even the fatality of those who are unable to remain undaunted in the general masquerade.
Nordic humor with its lights and shadows, perhaps existentialism, but always adventures of deep personal significance about protagonists who win over us in their always unexpected movements but continually faithful to their essence.
Top 3 recommended books by Jonas Jonasson
The grandfather who jumped out the window and took off
It is more than likely that a 100-year-old guy, whom the entire community comes to congratulate on his century of life, if he could, would stand up at the slightest oversight of those gathered for his centenary and walk out shitting from that imposture of life with the smell of the end and the knowing looks of a wake.
And although that can only happen in literature, when it happens, we all end up smiling and celebrating the decision page by page. Let's all take the wind. Allan escaped from the residence as if it were a prison, due to the negligence of his guards and through a window from which the rest of the grandparents now only look at the eternity that is upon them.
To the particular case of Allan's escape we must add the connivance of Providence itself and God himself, infatuated with the cause. Because in the escape from him, Allan finds a path of ease towards that new improvised life.
Among the humorous nature of the matter, the plot awakens I don't know what emotions throughout Big Fish, by Tim Burton, as well as touches of that surrealism that is living and that, in the case of Allan, leads him through memories of great historical moments lived in the first person.
On this occasion, his latest adventure will not detract from the rest of his experiences. And we will enjoy an adventure of the most intense epic style, that of the unconquerable end of our days.
The illiterate who was a genius of numbers
It seems as if Jonasson is always looking for protagonists made the most lost causes of all. From the centennial grandfather rebelling against everything in his last days, to, this time, the young black woman raised in one of the most stigmatized neighborhoods in Johannesburg.
The brilliance, the essence that means that among the lost causes we always have that glimmer of hope, comes from the exceptions, from the cases that end up being reversed for whatever reason.
The future of Nombeko Mayeki points to a miserable life in an unofficial ghetto, but Nombeko has that brilliance that we will soon discover.
The probability of genius is born more (at least for the moment, as long as genetic manipulation does not end up dictating otherwise) from the dice rolled by God than from the will of man.
Nombeko takes advantage of her outstanding intellectual qualities and allows herself to be carried away by hilarious coincidences that lead her to that very distant dream of the most complete fulfillment that a human being can have.
The thug who dreamed of a place in paradise
When a creative formula works, it is not easy to continue the path of success by abounding in it. But Jonasson's thing doesn't seem premeditated. His literature flows with that point of humor born in estrangement, in the surreal, from a fragmented reality to rediscover its nature.
This time everything starts from the undesirable murderer Anders who returns to the streets to continue on his path of evil, only in a more buried way so as not to put his bones in jail again. In the most improvised way, Anders forms a new criminal team with two companions clean of judicial stain but yearning for economic growth, abhorred by their existence devoid of everything.
The new business engineered by the three of them works great, so the reverend seems to be able to free herself from preaching her lies and the gray receptionist at a seedy hotel can rethink new goals.
Until Anders sees the light, his true path towards a faith that makes it impossible for him to continue doing evil. The problem is that his two companions are not willing for Jesus Christ or God himself to take away his leader.
A revisionist novel at times of religion, its paradoxes, its gaps, but always with sarcasm, with humor that parodies everything and with a fundamental critical point for the times we live in.
Other recommended books by Jonas Jonasson
The fortune teller and the idiot
The apocalypse never gets us completely right. We already saw something like this in the movie "Don't look up", with DiCaprio y Jennifer Lawrence. The thing is that the end of the world can also be approached with humor. Because it is what there is, or what there can be. And scientists are then misplaced doomsayers to whom no one pays attention.
Hence, in this quixotic story he goes through moments of delirious certainty. Where conspiracies peek into the only reality of what can happen to all of us and how to deal with it in the best way, with good laughs...
Petra, a self-taught astrophysicist, has calculated that the atmosphere will collapse within weeks, ending the world as we know it.
However, she won't have to bear this terrible news alone for long. Fate intervenes, placing her in the orbit of a pair of unlikely companions: Johan, a man whose intellectual prowess is notably overshadowed by his culinary skills, and Agnes, a seventy-five-year-old widow who has made a fortune posing as a young woman. influencer on social networks.
Hoping to make the world a fairer place, Petra, Johan and Agnes embark on a crazy adventure that will take them from their homes in Sweden, across Europe, to their destination: Rome.
This is pure gold. The girl who saved the king of Sweden is a good read. I'm unable to put it down. But sometimes I stop with deep questions. Is he right that Booth was a well educated man, Voster was a truly committed racist. The book presents dark theory that is hard to ignore. And questions that the reading public is afraid to ask. What was the impact of white minority rule on South African blacks. As the story unfolds, we see the author uses humor to address these salient questions. Questions that the world don't dare to address, as it shows our true colors. The human animal is a savage and a savage it remains, despite all the advances in science. Who will tell the pompous emperor»s emperor that he has no clothes.