The best bit is undoubtedly the short story written by the main character on his shirt in complete darkness. 10 pages redeeming the book from complete failure. The author has imagination but could definitely use the services of a good publisher. One star for him, zero star for the Dilettante.

Okuduğum kitaplar arasında sevmekle sövmek arasında kaldığım nadir eser var, bu da onlardan biri. Hızlıca okunan “hafif” bir kitap deyip tarihimin en kısa incelemelerinden birini yazmış olayım. Kitabın içeriği adından belli. Tek kelimeyle: meh

Ce roman est vraiment un chef-d'œuvre... Je blague.
Il était une perte de temps et pire, d'argent. Je regrette d'avoir acheté ce livre, mais il était obligatoire pour mon cours de français.

2 pages et j’en avais déjà assez de cette écriture raciste. Juste beurk.

Hauska humoristisesti kirjoitettu kirja joka myös herätti ajatuksia. Hieman Alkemistin hengessä mutta hauskempi. Fakiiri joutui Ikean kaapin kautta ihmeellisiin seikkailuihin ympäri Eurooppaa äkäinen taksikuski perässään. Seikkailut herättivät myös hänen omaatuntoaan ja hieman rakkauttakin. Kivaa luettavaa!

Fun, light read, with lots of ludicrous, interesting situations. The process of enlightenment that Aja goes through with his "shocks" gives some depth to the novel, as does the author's descriptions of people crossing borders, having been born on the 'wrong' side.

What made this 3 stars instead of 4 was the addition of the abuse Aja suffered as a child, which was unnecessary and incongruous in this novel towards the end of the book. Up until then, the comments about the unfairness of the world were at the right tone within the book, and give the reader something to think about more seriously.

But, a happy ending is a happy ending, so things are nicely addressed with Aja wrapping up all his loose ends, and the feel good story is an enjoyable read.

Dråplig men fin, med små glimtar av utomordentligt författarskap.

Quite a fun book, but unfortunately it paled in comparison to the Hundred Year Old Man and Barnaby Brockett. It was a touch trite and predictable, although there were some nice highlights - the name game being a source of much laughter.
I'd definitely recommend it as it was nice and light.

3,5*

Honestly... I only read the first 50 pages, and won't go any further. While this is an easy read, with puns and nothing that would force the reader to think more than one millisecond, (and thus a good distraction), it's also filled with clichés and vaguely racist jokes that just perpetuate stereotypes... Not my cup of tea, so, let's not waste any time reading it.

Too bad, I personally worship Ikea (the description of the store might be the part of the book I preferred!)