Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All audiobook

Some people would hate this novel. I loved it and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.I honestly haven’t laughed as much at this kind of religious irreverence since I read God Knows, by Joseph Heller (who also wrote Catch 22). So the writer of this book, Jonas Jonasson, is in good company indeed.I knew from the start I was going to like this book.It takes black comedy to new heights. It’s farce. It’s madcap. It takes the funny bone and gives it a damn good thrashing. I suspect the author delivers some underlying messages about the meaning of it all. But don’t ask me what they are. I’m just not that deep.I know this though: the book should come with a warning about drinking any kind of beverage, especially Moldovan red wine, when reading Hitman Anders, lest liquid come out of your nose, when you snort at the one of the many funny, clever sentences. This reminds me of Joseph Heller too.I loved most of the characters. They are caricatures for sure, but I could picture most of them.The book moves along at a fair pace and there are twists and turns.So why would anyone hate the book? I suspect the violence might offend some. I’d argue it’s cartoon violence though.The Bible certainly comes in for ridicule.You’d have to hope God has a sense of humour.

the orginal title of the book is Hitman Anders and His Friends, but I must say i like the translation title better, and i like the translation as much as i like Johansson's way of narrating everything, it is so objectively subjective, so pleasantly familiar ans surprising, so overwhelmingly simple, and so elaborately complicated.

Since I read The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared I have been a fan of Jonas Jonasson. He is in my view is one of the best humor writers in Scandinavia at the moment. This book has a very similar humor as was in The Hundred Year Old Man, but somehow the scale of it is much smaller. It's not a globe-trotting affair, but sticks to Sweden completely. Even so it works on the same principle, a certain kind of "unusual" heroes, and a wildly improbable plot. All of which made me laugh out loud quite often, which must be a good thing for a humor book to do.It doesn't top The One Hundred Year Old Man. In fact there was a little longer between laughs in this one, but I still enjoyed it very much. But it is good enough for me to wait for the next book impatiently. I suspect I will read everything that comes from this author in the near future. I just like him that much.

Also posted on Eva Lucias blog (detailed review)Jonas Jonasson has a special place in my heart. I read his two first novels and was expecting a lot of this one - of course, I wasn't disappointed!Blog ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Youtube ~ Spotify ~

Nu e nimic surprinzător in faptul ca deja sunt la a treia carte scrisă de Jonasson si nu m-am săturat, dar poate fi surprinzător faptul că nu ma pot decide care dintre ele imi place mai mult. ;)) sunt indragostita de stilul lui. Si aceasta, la fel ca si celalalte, este scrisa intr-un mod absolut delicios, tratând niste subiecte "fierbinti" ale societății de astăzi, printr-un sarcasm fin, ce frizează realitatea. Totul in cărțile lui Jonasson este diferit. De la numele personajelor, alese in asa fel incat sa aduca zâmbetul pe buze, până la acțiunile lor ieșite din comun la fel de amuzante si absurde. In povestea asta, personajele principale sunt un recepționer al unui hotel, o fostă preoteasa si un asasin ce il descoperă pe Dumnezeu. Întâmplările prin care trec sunt pe cat de amuzante pe atât de ireale. Nu stiu ce sa spun mai mult despre aceasta carte... e clar ca fiind pe placul meu, am numai cuvinte de laudă la adresa ei, asa ca nu voi mai zice nimic si voi lasa pe fiecare sa descopere "lumea pe înțelesul tuturor". 5 stele ♡♡♡

Mörder Anders hat schon dreimal wegen Mordes gesessen. Doch damit ist jetzt Schluss. Er will sein Leben ändern und die Zukunft auf freiem Fuß verbringen. Ein neuer Job und neue Freunde müssen her. Die atheistische Pfarrerin Johanna, die aufgrund eben dieser Haltung selber arbeitslos geworden ist, wittert eine neue Geschäftsidee. Zusammen mit Per, dem Rezeptionisten des Hotels, in dem alle drei Zuflucht gefunden haben, gründen sie eine "Körperverletzungsagentur" mit Mörder Anders in der Hauptrolle. Alles könnte so schön sein, wenn Anders sich nicht plötzlich für Gott interessieren und sich von nun an weigern würde auch nur einer Fliege etwas zu Leide zu tun. Denn die Gangsterbosse der Stadt haben noch eine Rechnung mit ihm offen.Diesmal hat Jonas Jonasson sich gleich drei Anti-Helden als Protagonisten gewählt. Obwohl mir keiner von ihnen besonders sympathisch war, empfand ich sie dennoch als authentisch. Meistens werden sie nicht mit ihren Namen betitelt, sondern lediglich mit "der Rezeptionist", "die Pfarrerin" und "Mörder-Anders". Dies hat eine zusätzliche Distanz, ja schon fast Kälte geschaffen. Ich kam nicht wirklich hinter die Emotionen und Beweggründe der Charaktere. Bei Rezeptionist und Pfarrerin war sicherlich die Geldgier das beherrschende Thema, während Anders einfach nicht besonders viel mit gekriegt hat. Dies lag vor allem an seinem wachsenden Alkoholkonsum, welcher auch seine einzige Sorge und sein einziges Ziel am Tag war. Er selber hat absolut keine Ahnung, was Geldfragen angeht und lässt sich dementsprechend nach Strich und Faden ausbeuten, ohne etwas zu bemerken. Grade wenn es um ihn geht, wirkt die Sprache oft roh und platt. Sein einziger Lösungsweg von Problemen sind und waren immer der Alkohol und die Gewalt . Dies spiegelt sich hier wieder.Idee und Handlung sind äußerst verrückt und auch genauso umgesetzt. Das Trio taumelt von einer gefährlichen Situation in die nächste und hat dabei oft mehr Glück als Verstand. Meistens wissen sie gar nicht in welch brenzlicher Lage sie sich zur Zeit befinden – ganz im Gegenteil zum Leser. Dieser ist nämlich aufgrund des allwissenden Erzählers ständig auf dem neusten Stand. Toll dabei fand ich, dass man auch immer wieder über die Machenschaften der Gangsterbosse auf dem Laufenden gehalten wird. Spannend waren auch die kleinen Einschübe, die sich mit dem Leben des ein oder anderem Nebencharakters beschäftigt haben.Langweilig wurde es im gesamten Buch nie, was unter anderem an dem bereits bekannten humorvollen und sarkastischen Schreibstil des Autoren liegt. Auch hier kombiniert er Witz und Gesellschaftskritik. Das große und zentrale Thema ist definitiv Profitgier, welches Jonas Jonasson wirklich gekonnt auf die Schippe nimmt.

3.5 Stars Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com I've been planning to read The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window for years, but somehow never managed to. But when I was offered a review copy of Jonas Jonasson's third novel, it seemed a good chance to finally dive into the world I had heard so much about it.Hitman Anders, just released from prison, is being exploited by a receptionist and a priest, until one day he finds Jesus and stops his former ways of killing/hurting people. As the receptionist and the priest are unhappy with the situation, (how are they going to make money now?) they need to come up with a new business model.I've been reading some reviews of Hitman Anders and one thing that becomes clear is the comparison to his other novels. Many seem to think less of this one. I can only say that in that case I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy The Hundred-Year-Old Man when I finally get to reading it. While Hitman Anders is far from a deep read, as a light read I enjoyed it a lot. You need suspension of disbelief, and just go with the story, but I found it was a quick read. Not everything was funny, some things were very predictable, and I didn't really like the ending. But still, looking back I did enjoy myself, which for me is the most important reason to read.I can see why not everyone likes it, but I did!Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

With the catchy title and author's name, the lovely cover, funny lines and other weird factors –like a crazy apical x-ray bookmark– one ought to give this book a good rate.One of the richest vocabulary I've ever read in a book, and also the first funny story with many many events!"It's never too late to start again. And again. And again."Every character in the book, no matter how bizzare they seemed, was a special one.

Negde između 3 i 4. Dobar je Junason, ali ne kao i onaj sa kojim sam se prvi put susreo prilikom čitanja "Stogodišnjaka".

Believe it or not, Hitman Anders was my first foray into the madcap world of Jonas Jonasson. You would have thought that with previous titles such as The 100-year-old man who climbed out of the Window and Disappeared, that might have given me a clue as to what to expect, but the answer is no!Let's set the scene. Hitman Anders has just served a prison sentence for murder. In his mind, he's spent far too much time in there already, so he decides to tone it down by limiting himself to breaking limbs (specialising in kneecaps) for the Swedish underworld.His admin team, a receptionist called Per Persson and Johanna, a priest who not only lost her faith but never found it in the first place, feed his appetite for alcohol, keeping him so sizzled he doesn't realise that they are taking most of his profits.However, it turns out to be pretty dangerous having a priest on your admin team, even one who has no faith in the Almighty. Hitman Anders finds religion, and it would seem their previously lucrative business is destined to fail. Ahh but reader, have faith in the innovative brain power of our admin team. We take a trek across Sweden, following our unlikely trio, one on a quest for salvation, the other two on a quest for profit, and right up until the last few pages I didn't know where we going to end up.A novel bursting with humour, albeit of the dark variety, and if you're of a religious mind set and prone to take offense this wouldn't be the book for you, but if you like finding humour in the most unlikely situations give it a read. You won't be disappointed!