Book Review: The Invoice

Book: The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Hilarious, profound, and achingly true-to-life, Jonas Karlsson’s new novel explores the true nature of happiness through the eyes of a hero you won’t soon forget. A passionate film buff, our hero’s life revolves around his part-time job at a video store, the company of a few precious friends, and a daily routine that more often than not concludes with pizza and movie in his treasured small space in Stockholm. When he receives an astronomical invoice from a random national bureaucratic agency, everything will tumble into madness as he calls the hotline night and day to find out why he is the recipient of the largest bill in the entire country.

What is the price of a cherished memory? How much would you pay for a beautiful summer day? How will our carefree idealist, who is content with so little and has no chance of paying it back, find a way out of this mess? All these questions pull you through The Invoice and prove once again that Jonas Karlsson is simply a master of entertaining, intelligent, and life-affirming work.




Rating: 5 stars

Review:

There's something wonderful about finding a book that's different and The Invoice was certainly that. Imagine out of the blue receiving an enormous bill and you have no idea what's it for. But that doesn't stop the company demanding that you pay it. Now imagine after what seemed like jumping through hoops you find out that the bill you were issued is to pay for all your life experiences up until now. Everything we experience in life has value and when the time comes we are supposed to start paying for it.

In this story, a guy whose name was never given finds out that he is being charged an unbelievable price for his life from the World Resources Division (W.R.D.). He can't figure out why since he doesn't do anything that would warrant such an astronomical amount. He's not rich and famous nor travels the world seeking out adventures or hangs out with plenty of people attending lavish parties. Instead he's an average guy who works part-time at a movie rental store and rents a small apartment in Stockholm, Sweden. According to him, he lives a rather unremarkable life but for some reason his bill keeps increasing with every assessment he gets from W.R.D.

The reader along with the main character are baffled as to why he had such a high bill. What made his life so expensive? The reasoning for it was interesting, but frustrating at the same time and not to mention it's hard to imagine how anyone who isn't rich can possibly afford to take care of such a bill.

Something else I found interesting was that during the process of trying to deal with his bill, he developed a sort of friendship with one of the customer service reps named Maude. There were times you could tell she was exasperated with him with his constant calls. But I think there was a part of her that found him interesting, peculiar and a little charming because she never stopped taking his calls. She could have easily passed him to another representative but didn't. By the end you could see something potentially developing between them but there's a slight possibility that it might not lead to anything but I would to think it would.

This was a quick and good read, I was so drawn into this story that I didn't realize how fast I had finished it. It's one of those stories that makes you think while also making you laugh. It makes you wonder how much is your life experiences really worth? Can you even truly put a price tag on it? Here is a guy who didn't do much but was being billed for an enormous amount of money. It makes you wonder what constitutes a good life?

This is the first book I've read from the author but after reading The Invoice I'm interested in reading more. I really enjoyed reading this.