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The Invoice
Hilarious, profound, and achingly true-to-life, Jonas Karlsson’s novel explores the true nature of happiness through the eyes of 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.
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.
204 pages, Hardcover
First published September 22, 2011
67 people are currently reading
3538 people want to read
About the author
Jonas Karlsson
45 books257 followersSven Bert Jonas Karlsson is a Swedish actor and author. He won a Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in 2004 for the movie Details. He published his first book, a collection of short stories, in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 745 reviews
May 9, 2023
welcome to...PROJECT 5 STAR.
this year, i'm trying to read more for Quality instead of Quantity (after nearly ruining my life last year reading 365 books), and so part of that will include revisiting every book i've ever rated as perfect!
please join me in praying that this project is whimsical and optimistic instead of a devastating loss of all my favorites.
this is one of my earliest favorites, and i remember it almost not at all, and i am nearly certain it won't hold up.
but life is about adventure.
and ultimately this is just as simple and lovely as i remember, and just as much a part of my favorite cross-media subgenre (Everyday Life Is So Stunning And Magical In Its Mundanity), but it does have some weirdnesses i didn't recall.
still an enjoyable read!
bottom line: from a five star fav to a four star fav!
--------------------
original review
i love translated books and i read this in one sitting. i also love character-driven novels. i love this man, this happiest man on earth, and his simple story. initially i gave this 3.5, but i'm dumb. this is a 5 star read.
this year, i'm trying to read more for Quality instead of Quantity (after nearly ruining my life last year reading 365 books), and so part of that will include revisiting every book i've ever rated as perfect!
please join me in praying that this project is whimsical and optimistic instead of a devastating loss of all my favorites.
this is one of my earliest favorites, and i remember it almost not at all, and i am nearly certain it won't hold up.
but life is about adventure.
and ultimately this is just as simple and lovely as i remember, and just as much a part of my favorite cross-media subgenre (Everyday Life Is So Stunning And Magical In Its Mundanity), but it does have some weirdnesses i didn't recall.
still an enjoyable read!
bottom line: from a five star fav to a four star fav!
--------------------
original review
i love translated books and i read this in one sitting. i also love character-driven novels. i love this man, this happiest man on earth, and his simple story. initially i gave this 3.5, but i'm dumb. this is a 5 star read.
December 27, 2021
Do you want to be happy? Most people do. Our happiness, and that of those we love, is worth a lot. But should it cost? That’s the question at the heart of this humorous novella, battling Kafkaesque officialdom.
The narrator is a slightly dull everyman: nearly forty, living alone in a rented flat, working part-time at a very quiet video store, indulging his love of movies. He has a rather depressed and depressing friend, Roger, and has lost the love of his life, Sunita. Nevertheless, his needs and wants are modest (as is his income), so he’s broadly content. He takes pleasure in little things like nice weather, and sating his thirst and appetite with simple fare - especially ice-cream.
When he suddenly gets a huge, one-off invoice for about half a million pounds/dollars from WRD (World Resources Distribution), he first ignores it as a prank, then tries to have it reduced.
“I hear you’ve had a decent life… without paying your way.”
The omniscient bureaucracy is comically absurd, but also familiar, and of course, everything he does only makes things worse.
In his world, being “happy with so little” is a disadvantage and although wealth doesn’t necessarily correlate with happiness, he’s an anomaly and therefore a problem:
“It’s unusual for people with similar [happiness] scores to you not to have any money.”
Sometimes it pays to avoid positive thinking and not to be happy with your lot!
Image: Imbalance by erhui1979 (Source)
Quotes
• “Nothing but character-forming setbacks… a text-book example of the Live for today template.”
• “You still had your self-esteem intact.”
• “You’re actually a perversely happy person.”
• “Pain isn’t a universally negative emotion.”
• “He would turn his successes into failures, like some back-to-front version of Buddhism.” [Roger]
See also
• This is told in a similar style as Karlsson's The Room, which I reviewed as 4*, HERE.
• Karlsson's The Circus, is recognisably his, but not quite as enjoyable. I reviewed it HERE.
• The actual story has many similarities with Marc-Uwe Kling’s brilliant QualityLand, which I reviewed HERE.
• For a practical approach to happiness, at negligible cost, see Mark Hebwood’s Happiness Rules, which I reviewed HERE.
Bonus joke
It’s oft said, including in this book, that if you owe the bank a million, it’s your problem, but if you owe the bank a hundred million, it’s theirs. That reminded me of Mitchell and Webb’s “Identity Theft” sketch. A bank manager explains to a customer that his account was emptied via identity theft. But the customer still has his identity, whereas the bank has lost the money, so surely it’s a bank robbery! You can listen to it HERE.
The narrator is a slightly dull everyman: nearly forty, living alone in a rented flat, working part-time at a very quiet video store, indulging his love of movies. He has a rather depressed and depressing friend, Roger, and has lost the love of his life, Sunita. Nevertheless, his needs and wants are modest (as is his income), so he’s broadly content. He takes pleasure in little things like nice weather, and sating his thirst and appetite with simple fare - especially ice-cream.
When he suddenly gets a huge, one-off invoice for about half a million pounds/dollars from WRD (World Resources Distribution), he first ignores it as a prank, then tries to have it reduced.
“I hear you’ve had a decent life… without paying your way.”
The omniscient bureaucracy is comically absurd, but also familiar, and of course, everything he does only makes things worse.
In his world, being “happy with so little” is a disadvantage and although wealth doesn’t necessarily correlate with happiness, he’s an anomaly and therefore a problem:
“It’s unusual for people with similar [happiness] scores to you not to have any money.”
Sometimes it pays to avoid positive thinking and not to be happy with your lot!
Image: Imbalance by erhui1979 (Source)
Quotes
• “Nothing but character-forming setbacks… a text-book example of the Live for today template.”
• “You still had your self-esteem intact.”
• “You’re actually a perversely happy person.”
• “Pain isn’t a universally negative emotion.”
• “He would turn his successes into failures, like some back-to-front version of Buddhism.” [Roger]
See also
• This is told in a similar style as Karlsson's The Room, which I reviewed as 4*, HERE.
• Karlsson's The Circus, is recognisably his, but not quite as enjoyable. I reviewed it HERE.
• The actual story has many similarities with Marc-Uwe Kling’s brilliant QualityLand, which I reviewed HERE.
• For a practical approach to happiness, at negligible cost, see Mark Hebwood’s Happiness Rules, which I reviewed HERE.
Bonus joke
It’s oft said, including in this book, that if you owe the bank a million, it’s your problem, but if you owe the bank a hundred million, it’s theirs. That reminded me of Mitchell and Webb’s “Identity Theft” sketch. A bank manager explains to a customer that his account was emptied via identity theft. But the customer still has his identity, whereas the bank has lost the money, so surely it’s a bank robbery! You can listen to it HERE.
September 1, 2016
This book is cray! And a little scary when I actually think about it!
So this nameless dude works part time in a video store. He has an average life. He doesn't do too much. He has a sister and his parents are deceased. He has a friend.
And then one day he gets an invoice in the mail saying he owes 5,700,000 kronor. Now I'm not going to tell you what this money is for but it's crazy train and I'm sure glad it's not real. Lol
He thinks this is a joke at first but then he decides to call the number to the company, W.R.D. The hold time is 2 hours and then it goes up instead of down! So he hangs up and tries again. FINALLY, he gets through to Maud and she tries to explain everything to him. She stumped me and him both. She gives him her personal call through number so he can call back and not wait a long time. He needs some time to think about all of this. He tells her he doesn't have that kind of money, uh, he does work part-time in a video store. Hello?
The next thing you know (nameless) and Maud are talking on the phone all of the time. It was kind of sweet, but then he has to go in and talk to some peeps in the company because things are just weird. They are like, "oh yeah, there is a mistake, you owe more." Um, no!
So he's talking to Maud again about all of this and then he happens to mention something and she's looking into his stuff and he has to go back into the company. OMG! Then they give him a higher number! I won't even tell you that number because it's a stroke out number. You can check it out at the library and find out.
I do have to agree with him about the number going up all of the time and some people around him have lower numbers.
Anyway, this was a bizarre little book that was kind of cool, but not, if that makes sense! And don't open any random invoices in the mail!
*I would like to thank Blogging For Books for a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
So this nameless dude works part time in a video store. He has an average life. He doesn't do too much. He has a sister and his parents are deceased. He has a friend.
And then one day he gets an invoice in the mail saying he owes 5,700,000 kronor. Now I'm not going to tell you what this money is for but it's crazy train and I'm sure glad it's not real. Lol
He thinks this is a joke at first but then he decides to call the number to the company, W.R.D. The hold time is 2 hours and then it goes up instead of down! So he hangs up and tries again. FINALLY, he gets through to Maud and she tries to explain everything to him. She stumped me and him both. She gives him her personal call through number so he can call back and not wait a long time. He needs some time to think about all of this. He tells her he doesn't have that kind of money, uh, he does work part-time in a video store. Hello?
The next thing you know (nameless) and Maud are talking on the phone all of the time. It was kind of sweet, but then he has to go in and talk to some peeps in the company because things are just weird. They are like, "oh yeah, there is a mistake, you owe more." Um, no!
So he's talking to Maud again about all of this and then he happens to mention something and she's looking into his stuff and he has to go back into the company. OMG! Then they give him a higher number! I won't even tell you that number because it's a stroke out number. You can check it out at the library and find out.
I do have to agree with him about the number going up all of the time and some people around him have lower numbers.
Anyway, this was a bizarre little book that was kind of cool, but not, if that makes sense! And don't open any random invoices in the mail!
*I would like to thank Blogging For Books for a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
June 15, 2016
How much would you pay for happiness, for special memories, for a reasonably pleasant life? Is a placid existence worth more than a turbulent, more passionate one?
In Jonas Karlsson's new book, The Invoice , the unnamed main character lives a simple life. He's a film buff, working part-time in a video store in Sweden, where he likes to talk to people about movies, although he rarely gets the chance. He has a few friends whom he sees periodically, but since a relationship ended some time ago, he has no one special in his life. Mostly his nights include re-watching his favorite movies, and enjoying pizza and/or ice cream. It's not an exciting life, but even though he doesn't have much money or promising career prospects, he's not unhappy.
One day he receives an invoice from an unknown national company. The invoice is for an amount of money he cannot even fathom, and it doesn't explain why he suddenly owes this money. He soon finds that he's turned a blind eye to something that's happening in Sweden—people are literally being billed for the expense of their lives, differing amounts based on events that have occurred throughout their lives, how happy they have been, etc. But what he cannot understand is how can someone with not much to show for himself owe the largest amount of money in the country?
This is a charming little fable of sorts, which raises some interesting issues about happiness and how people perceive our lives differently than we do. Are happy moments better than those which cause us to feel strong emotions? Should we really be financially responsible for how our lives turn out emotionally?
I thought this was a sweet book, but it never really engendered a great deal of excitement for me. (Which, perhaps in light of this book isn't a bad thing?) I kept expecting something big to happen, and although there were some lovely small moments, it just didn't wow me as much as I thought. But the main character is appealing in a sweet, befuddled way, and I thought parts of the book really were charming. An interesting idea to think about.
NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and Blogging for Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
In Jonas Karlsson's new book, The Invoice , the unnamed main character lives a simple life. He's a film buff, working part-time in a video store in Sweden, where he likes to talk to people about movies, although he rarely gets the chance. He has a few friends whom he sees periodically, but since a relationship ended some time ago, he has no one special in his life. Mostly his nights include re-watching his favorite movies, and enjoying pizza and/or ice cream. It's not an exciting life, but even though he doesn't have much money or promising career prospects, he's not unhappy.
One day he receives an invoice from an unknown national company. The invoice is for an amount of money he cannot even fathom, and it doesn't explain why he suddenly owes this money. He soon finds that he's turned a blind eye to something that's happening in Sweden—people are literally being billed for the expense of their lives, differing amounts based on events that have occurred throughout their lives, how happy they have been, etc. But what he cannot understand is how can someone with not much to show for himself owe the largest amount of money in the country?
This is a charming little fable of sorts, which raises some interesting issues about happiness and how people perceive our lives differently than we do. Are happy moments better than those which cause us to feel strong emotions? Should we really be financially responsible for how our lives turn out emotionally?
I thought this was a sweet book, but it never really engendered a great deal of excitement for me. (Which, perhaps in light of this book isn't a bad thing?) I kept expecting something big to happen, and although there were some lovely small moments, it just didn't wow me as much as I thought. But the main character is appealing in a sweet, befuddled way, and I thought parts of the book really were charming. An interesting idea to think about.
NetGalley, Crown Publishing, and Blogging for Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
July 24, 2016
Παρόλη την πρωτότυπη ιδέα και την φιλοσοφία του "καλυμμένου" μηνύματος που εκφράζει δεν ήταν αυτό που περίμενα. Το επαναλαμβανόμενο μοτίβο της πλοκής (στις 190 σελίδες ο ήρωας δύο διαφορετικά πράγματα κάνει εναλλάξ ξανά και ξανά) κάνει το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη να ξεφουσκώνει σελίδα με την σελίδα. Δεν είναι κακό, καθώς έχει ευχάριστη αφήγηση και έναν πάρα πολύ συμπαθητικό ήρωα, απλώς πιστεύω πραγματικά πως μια τόσο ωραία ιδέα θα μπορούσε να εξελιχτεί σε μία μοναδική ιστορία και σίγουρα τελείως μα τελείως διαφορετικη απο αυτή που τελικά έγινε.
January 30, 2019
What if the best things in life weren't free? There is an utter sweetness to this novel in which Karlsson explores exactly this question. The protagonist isn't an especially good person. His life is not particularly well-lived in terms of experiences or relationships or achievements. And yet in each of the every-dayness of his experiences he manages to find great pleasure. There are such delightful details in the writing where the narrator recounts what should have been a dull experience in obsessive detail, it seems, until you as a reader realize that the narrator finds these things worthy of his attention and his joy, from just the kinds of events that would bore or irritate or frustrate anyone else. The novel is light and short and a pleasure to read. At times I was thinking, well, there is not much to this novel, and then would find myself oddly influenced by the message in the text itself--to just let it be, I was enjoying myself and enjoying the words and didn't need to spoil that pleasure by wanting somehow to be reading something more complex. It has influenced my thinking.
October 13, 2024
What if the best things in life were not free? How much would you pay?
This book was very charming, intriguing and gets you thinking.
How much would we pay for a happy life?
What are the different meanings of a "good" life? What would that take into account exactly?
The novel is light and short and a pleasure to read.
But... It made you think, and isn’t that what we want our books to make us do, sometimes?
This book was very charming, intriguing and gets you thinking.
How much would we pay for a happy life?
What are the different meanings of a "good" life? What would that take into account exactly?
The novel is light and short and a pleasure to read.
But... It made you think, and isn’t that what we want our books to make us do, sometimes?
July 5, 2016
This novel brought to mind, “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, a novel I read back in high school, due to the absurdity of the premise and the situation of the protagonist. “The Invoice” is not nearly as dark and in fact this novel has everything to do with happiness. The protagonist is a 39-year-old single male living in Sweden who works part-time in a video store. His only friend, Roger, seems to be pretty miserable. He has a sister who seems overrun with her family life. His parents are deceased. Yet, he receives an invoice stating he owes a ridiculous sum of money for his assessed happiness. Through his investigations into the reasons why he owes so much money which is primarily through the woman he reaches at the call-in center, Maud, it is revealed that calculations were mistaken and the amount he owes keeps increasing. It seems incredible to him that he could owe so much working a dead-end job, having very little actual life experience, and no money to speak of. In the end, he realizes just how lucky he his that he is able to experience happiness with the simple things in life where others do not. He ultimately finds that the ridiculous sum of money they wanted to charge him does not come close to the amount he should owe for all of the happiness he has in his life. I enjoyed this philosophical, satirical novel that seems light-hearted and deep both at once. It is a novel that makes you think about happiness, the roots of happiness, what it means to be surrounded by people who are truly happy and to be truly happy yourself. I recommend it to everyone. It's a great book to think about and discuss!
Thank you to net galley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For discussion questions, please see http://www.book-chatter.com/?p=445.
Thank you to net galley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For discussion questions, please see http://www.book-chatter.com/?p=445.
August 9, 2022
A man receives an invoice of millions for the life he’s lived thus far, simply being alive! The man tries to understand his predicament by calling the company charging him and, amidst this Kafkaesque scenario, unexpectedly finds romance at the other end of the line - but what will happen to him if he can’t pay the bill?
Swedish author Jonas Karlsson’s novella The Invoice is an intriguing and original tale of existentialism that won’t say anything that’ll blow your hair back or have you on the edge of the seat, but is also quite pleasant and gently entertaining.
The premise is interesting up until he starts going to the company to speak to its investigators, then it becomes less compelling as you realise it’s just a faceless company like any other - the mystery is gone. The conversations between our nameless narrator and Maud, the woman handling his case over the phone, were convincingly realistic and I liked that Karlsson slowly developed their relationship to the point where you believed they might have feelings for each other - it was never rushed or melodramatic.
The main character’s life is unremarkable - he works part-time in a video store, he lives alone in a modest apartment, he has a friend, he enjoys the simple pleasures of life - but he likes it. It’s only when he’s forced to evaluate his life, like this company has done, that he becomes unhappy - comparison is the thief of joy, as Teddy Roosevelt said, and that’s exactly what happens. It leads to the best scene in the book when the narrator breaks down to Maud but also gets to the heart of what I think the story is really about: perception is everything when it comes to personal happiness.
The narrator is happy precisely because he’s not worried about how others view him - he lives the life he wants to live and finds pleasure in the smallest of things, like his favourite ice cream, or watching a good movie. The other characters in the story are unhappy because they’re focused on things like money or career advancement to the detriment of all else, and our narrator is only brought down to their level when he’s forced to see things from those limited perspectives as well. The narrator also has an Escher print on his wall, an artist who famously played with perspective.
It’s also about other things like being happy with what you have and recognising that, if you’re a Westerner living comfortably, most people’s lives are going to be worse than yours, all of which feed into the idea of perception.
The story doesn’t really develop after a certain point and becomes repetitive with the narrator either going into the company’s offices for another meeting or another long convo with Maud, and the ending is underwhelming but satisfying. So it’s not the most consistently engaging narrative, though it has enough going on to keep from becoming tedious. And it’s well-written and easy to read with a sweet, guileless message in keeping with the narrator’s character.
I didn’t love The Invoice but I enjoyed it enough to say it was worth reading and I’ll keep an eye out for more from this author. If you like Haruki Murakami’s novels, which also blends the mundane everyday with the surreal, you might enjoy Jonas Karlsson’s The Invoice too.
Swedish author Jonas Karlsson’s novella The Invoice is an intriguing and original tale of existentialism that won’t say anything that’ll blow your hair back or have you on the edge of the seat, but is also quite pleasant and gently entertaining.
The premise is interesting up until he starts going to the company to speak to its investigators, then it becomes less compelling as you realise it’s just a faceless company like any other - the mystery is gone. The conversations between our nameless narrator and Maud, the woman handling his case over the phone, were convincingly realistic and I liked that Karlsson slowly developed their relationship to the point where you believed they might have feelings for each other - it was never rushed or melodramatic.
The main character’s life is unremarkable - he works part-time in a video store, he lives alone in a modest apartment, he has a friend, he enjoys the simple pleasures of life - but he likes it. It’s only when he’s forced to evaluate his life, like this company has done, that he becomes unhappy - comparison is the thief of joy, as Teddy Roosevelt said, and that’s exactly what happens. It leads to the best scene in the book when the narrator breaks down to Maud but also gets to the heart of what I think the story is really about: perception is everything when it comes to personal happiness.
The narrator is happy precisely because he’s not worried about how others view him - he lives the life he wants to live and finds pleasure in the smallest of things, like his favourite ice cream, or watching a good movie. The other characters in the story are unhappy because they’re focused on things like money or career advancement to the detriment of all else, and our narrator is only brought down to their level when he’s forced to see things from those limited perspectives as well. The narrator also has an Escher print on his wall, an artist who famously played with perspective.
It’s also about other things like being happy with what you have and recognising that, if you’re a Westerner living comfortably, most people’s lives are going to be worse than yours, all of which feed into the idea of perception.
The story doesn’t really develop after a certain point and becomes repetitive with the narrator either going into the company’s offices for another meeting or another long convo with Maud, and the ending is underwhelming but satisfying. So it’s not the most consistently engaging narrative, though it has enough going on to keep from becoming tedious. And it’s well-written and easy to read with a sweet, guileless message in keeping with the narrator’s character.
I didn’t love The Invoice but I enjoyed it enough to say it was worth reading and I’ll keep an eye out for more from this author. If you like Haruki Murakami’s novels, which also blends the mundane everyday with the surreal, you might enjoy Jonas Karlsson’s The Invoice too.
July 21, 2016
Jonas Karlsson's second novel to be translated into English is the charming, funny and surreal tale of a man – our unnamed narrator – who is sent an invoice for a huge amount of money. At first he ignores it, assuming it's a clerical error. But then he overhears other people talking about the amount they owe, and it turns out he's missed an 'information campaign, all the discussions... the whole debate'. Swedish citizens are being invoiced for, basically, everything – the whole experience of their lives – and the more content they've been, the bigger their debt. Maud, the exasperated helpline operator he starts to develop a crush on, tells him there's a discount for anxiety – 'provided it can be verified, or you can give us specific dates that can be compared with other activities that aren't incompatible with poor mental health'.
The narrator lives a pleasant, unassuming life: at 39, he has a low-effort job in a video shop, and rents a small apartment. He's been single for a while, and occasionally thinks wistfully of the long-gone 'love of his life', Sunita. He isn't unhappy, but the suggestion that his 'Experienced Happiness' has been dizzyingly high baffles him. Naturally, he starts to wonder whether it's some kind of conspiracy. Have the people he overhears been planted to make him more likely to pay up? 'After all, no one I knew had said anything about this. And there was something a bit odd about all those people discussing it in the city, wasn't there?' He decides to pursue W.R.D., the shady organisation responsible for the invoice, to get to the bottom of it all – and hopefully meet Maud.
I liked Karlsson's way of illuminating the good things about the narrator's life, showing how happy and lucky he's been without even realising it, and without 'achieving' any of the things many of us regard as markers of success and fulfilment: a significant career, marriage, children, owning property. Indeed, some of his experiences, such as his short relationship with Sunita, are deemed to have generated maximum happiness precisely because they were fleeting. It's a concept this short book seems to adhere to itself. The point is that a human life doesn't have to match a conventional template to be satisfying, but Karlsson isn't pushy about his 'message' and doesn't let the quirky characters outstay their welcome.
This is a sweet, feelgood tale – it's not deep and it doesn't examine the ideas it broaches in any detail. There are a few touches of satirical humour, especially when the narrator visits W.R.D.'s head office, but nothing to match Karlsson's dark and hilarious debut The Room. It's simply a lovely, life-affirming story.
The narrator lives a pleasant, unassuming life: at 39, he has a low-effort job in a video shop, and rents a small apartment. He's been single for a while, and occasionally thinks wistfully of the long-gone 'love of his life', Sunita. He isn't unhappy, but the suggestion that his 'Experienced Happiness' has been dizzyingly high baffles him. Naturally, he starts to wonder whether it's some kind of conspiracy. Have the people he overhears been planted to make him more likely to pay up? 'After all, no one I knew had said anything about this. And there was something a bit odd about all those people discussing it in the city, wasn't there?' He decides to pursue W.R.D., the shady organisation responsible for the invoice, to get to the bottom of it all – and hopefully meet Maud.
I liked Karlsson's way of illuminating the good things about the narrator's life, showing how happy and lucky he's been without even realising it, and without 'achieving' any of the things many of us regard as markers of success and fulfilment: a significant career, marriage, children, owning property. Indeed, some of his experiences, such as his short relationship with Sunita, are deemed to have generated maximum happiness precisely because they were fleeting. It's a concept this short book seems to adhere to itself. The point is that a human life doesn't have to match a conventional template to be satisfying, but Karlsson isn't pushy about his 'message' and doesn't let the quirky characters outstay their welcome.
This is a sweet, feelgood tale – it's not deep and it doesn't examine the ideas it broaches in any detail. There are a few touches of satirical humour, especially when the narrator visits W.R.D.'s head office, but nothing to match Karlsson's dark and hilarious debut The Room. It's simply a lovely, life-affirming story.
July 4, 2016
(2.5 Stars) It didn't stir any strong emotions in me, but it was an extremely quick read.
A part-time employee at a video shop receives an invoice for 5,700,000 kronor (≃671,635 US Dollars) from World Resources Distribution. Surely it must be a mistake, so he calls the company to inquire about the absurd bill. WRD informs him that it is the debt he owes based on his 'Experienced Happiness' score (E.H.). Every attempt he makes to lower the score just makes the situation worse! There is nothing special about his life; he works a low-paying job, doesn't have many possessions, has a very small social circle, and spends most of his time at home. How did such an unambitious person with an ordinary life get such a large bill? How is he going to get out of this situation that he can't afford?
It was a very easy read! There are few words per page and it's filled with dialogue. It's a little over 200 pages and took me about 2 hours to read. (The audiobook is 3 hours and 28 minutes.) It felt like a magazine article converted into a fictional story. I think I would have enjoyed it more as a short story or if the story and characters were more fleshed out. Not everything about the premise and the agency made sense to me, so it required some suspension of disbelief. I did enjoy the over-the-phone relationship that develops between the unnamed protagonist and a representative for WRD, as well as the details about the interior workings of the bureaucratic agency.
The Invoice is 100% about the message. It explores that nature of happiness and the life-enriching value of enjoying the little things and going with the flow. Happiness doesn't always come from the places one would think and it's impossible to make comparisons based on outward appearances. A successful life comes in many forms.
The writing style and the emphasis on message reminded me of Hector and the Search For Happiness. It's charming and the end was very sweet, but it didn't do much for me on an emotional level. I bounced between 2 and 3 stars, but in the end I felt it was just okay. It would work really well as a light-hearted read between emotionally difficult books or while traveling.
_______________________________
Thank you to Penguin Random House First to Read for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on July 12, 2016.
A part-time employee at a video shop receives an invoice for 5,700,000 kronor (≃671,635 US Dollars) from World Resources Distribution. Surely it must be a mistake, so he calls the company to inquire about the absurd bill. WRD informs him that it is the debt he owes based on his 'Experienced Happiness' score (E.H.). Every attempt he makes to lower the score just makes the situation worse! There is nothing special about his life; he works a low-paying job, doesn't have many possessions, has a very small social circle, and spends most of his time at home. How did such an unambitious person with an ordinary life get such a large bill? How is he going to get out of this situation that he can't afford?
Life was just so good, somehow. It was perfectly natural that it should be expensive.
It was a very easy read! There are few words per page and it's filled with dialogue. It's a little over 200 pages and took me about 2 hours to read. (The audiobook is 3 hours and 28 minutes.) It felt like a magazine article converted into a fictional story. I think I would have enjoyed it more as a short story or if the story and characters were more fleshed out. Not everything about the premise and the agency made sense to me, so it required some suspension of disbelief. I did enjoy the over-the-phone relationship that develops between the unnamed protagonist and a representative for WRD, as well as the details about the interior workings of the bureaucratic agency.
"Think about it like this: when you go to the cinema— one day you might see a comedy, the next a tear-jerker. The experience isn’t any the less valid as a result. It all gives E. H. points, you see. You know as well as I do that pain isn’t a universally negative emotion, don’t you?” I said nothing. “We wouldn’t want to eat nothing but sweet things . . . just as little as we’d want to avoid all adversity. In fact, there has to be a degree of adversity for us to appreciate our blessings."
The Invoice is 100% about the message. It explores that nature of happiness and the life-enriching value of enjoying the little things and going with the flow. Happiness doesn't always come from the places one would think and it's impossible to make comparisons based on outward appearances. A successful life comes in many forms.
The writing style and the emphasis on message reminded me of Hector and the Search For Happiness. It's charming and the end was very sweet, but it didn't do much for me on an emotional level. I bounced between 2 and 3 stars, but in the end I felt it was just okay. It would work really well as a light-hearted read between emotionally difficult books or while traveling.
_______________________________
Thank you to Penguin Random House First to Read for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on July 12, 2016.
September 20, 2016
Ένα τιμολόγιο με ένα εξωφρενικό ποσό είναι ο πρωταγωνιστής του βιβλίου θα έλεγα. Η εμπειρία, τα περιουσιακά στοιχεία, οι διαφορές καταστάσεις, ο τρόπος που ο καθένας αντιμετωπίζει τα προβλήματα της καθημερινότητας κ ο βαθμός αυτόαξιολόγησης της προσωπικής ζωής, βαθμολογούνται και υπόκεινται σε καθεστώς"άτυπης" φορολόγησης.
Ένα βιβλίο, που με τον αστείο αυτό τρόπο, μας δείχνει πως οι πολύ καλά οργανωμένες κοινωνίες, ενδέχεται να μας υποχρεώνουν να πληρώνουμε επειδή..... υπάρχουμε.
Ένα βιβλίο, που με τον αστείο αυτό τρόπο, μας δείχνει πως οι πολύ καλά οργανωμένες κοινωνίες, ενδέχεται να μας υποχρεώνουν να πληρώνουμε επειδή..... υπάρχουμε.
July 1, 2018
Only I knew that I was probably the happiest person in the country. And at absolutely no cost.
February 18, 2018
Συμπαθητικό, αστείο και σχετικά σουρεαλιστικό μυθιστόρημα, με τον ανώνυμο πρωταγωνιστή και αφηγητή της ιστορίας να δέχεται ένα τιμολόγιο από έναν μυστηριώδη οργανισμό, ο οποίος τον καλεί να πληρώσει ένα ιλιγγιώδες χρηματικό ποσό για την ευτυχία που βίωσε μέχρι την ημέρα παραλαβής του τιμολογίου. Τι στο διάτανο είναι ο οργανισμός "Κατανομή Παγκοσμίων Πόρων" και γιατί καλείται να πληρώσει τόσα χρήματα για την απλοϊκή και μονότονη ζωή του; Είναι τόσο ευτυχισμένος και ικανοποιημένος από τη ζωή και δεν το ήξερε; Όσο όμως επιχειρεί να ξεκαθαρίσει την όλη κατάσταση, τόσο πιο πολύ θα μπλέξει... Ο συγγραφέας θίγει με ευχάριστο και διαφορετικό τρόπο διάφορα ζητήματα που έχουν να κάνουν με τον άνθρωπο, όπως η ευτυχία και η σχέση της με την κοινωνική και επαγγελματική επιτυχία. Η κεντρική ιδέα αν μη τι άλλο είναι ευρηματική και ενδιαφέρουσα, με την εκτέλεση να είναι αρκετά ικανοποιητική, αν και ίσως όχι και η καλύτερη δυνατή. Νομίζω υπήρχαν οι δυνατότητες και οι προϋποθέσεις για κάτι πιο σφιχτοδεμένο και δυνατό. Πάντως μου άρεσε η γραφή, έτσι ευχάριστη και ευκολοδιάβαστη όπως ήταν, ενώ συμπάθησα σε πολύ μεγάλο βαθμό και τον ανώνυμο αφηγητή. Πρόσημο θετικό.
June 19, 2016
Our nameless narrator gets an invoice in the mail for a giant, ridiculous amount of kronor. (He lives in Sweden). Surely there must be a mistake! He calls the number for the company and finds out he's been charged for all the happy (or at least somewhat affirming) moments in his life. But how can that be? He isn't that happy, he claims. But as he walks through each (boring) life moment with the customer service representative, his eyes are opened and now he sees how blessed he's been.
Vomit.
Seriously, just no. This book was so boring. So horribly, dreadfully boring. I get the metaphor. I get the allegory. But it was all played out after, like, 30 pages. The only part of the book that was kind of okay for me was about midway through when our nameless narrator finally starts having some slightly meaningful interactions with his customer service rep. At least that provided a bit of story.
But the rest... Oh dear God, the rest was trite and cheesy and so, so heavy-handed. I will owe zero kronor after reading this book. In fact, I feel like Jonas Karlsson owes ME kronor.
ARC provided through Amazon Vine. See more of my book reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com.
Vomit.
Seriously, just no. This book was so boring. So horribly, dreadfully boring. I get the metaphor. I get the allegory. But it was all played out after, like, 30 pages. The only part of the book that was kind of okay for me was about midway through when our nameless narrator finally starts having some slightly meaningful interactions with his customer service rep. At least that provided a bit of story.
But the rest... Oh dear God, the rest was trite and cheesy and so, so heavy-handed. I will owe zero kronor after reading this book. In fact, I feel like Jonas Karlsson owes ME kronor.
ARC provided through Amazon Vine. See more of my book reviews at www.BugBugBooks.com.
October 8, 2015
Για μένα είναι ένα βιβλίο υπέροχο. Πρώτα από όλα από την κεντρική ιδέα αλλά και από την εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης. Ένα βιβλίο που αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους μας για να μας κάνει να εκτιμήσουμε αυτά που έχουμε στην ζωή μας και τελικά τι είναι αυτό που αξίζει να αναζητάμε και να κυνηγάμε. Μου έδωσε ένα συναίσθημα Οργουελ αλλά στο πιο θετικό. Μπορώ να πω ότι νιώθω τυχερή που αυτό το βιβλίο βρέθηκε στα χεριά μου. Δεν βρίσκω καμία αδυναμία. Είναι ένα βιβλίο που μπορείς να πάρεις πράγματα, να σκεφτείς και να αγαπήσεις.
July 12, 2016
Nem tenho palavras! Fabuloso!!!!!!! Logo de início nos prende! E depois, há tanto para ler nas entrelinhas. Queria mais! Não queria que tivesse acabado! Vou recomendar ao mundo inteiro porque preciso de falar sobre ele! Leiam! Post em breve no FLAMES!
August 14, 2020
7 de 10*
Aqui está um livro que me deixou com um sentimento agridoce. Se, por um lado, achei a premissa fantástica e o início altamente viciante, por outro o remate da história ficou aquém do que eu esperaria. Como um fogo de artificio que começa forte e, quando esperamos ainda mais para acabar em grande, temos apenas uns foguetes a rematar a festa.
Comentário completo em:
http://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.com...
Aqui está um livro que me deixou com um sentimento agridoce. Se, por um lado, achei a premissa fantástica e o início altamente viciante, por outro o remate da história ficou aquém do que eu esperaria. Como um fogo de artificio que começa forte e, quando esperamos ainda mais para acabar em grande, temos apenas uns foguetes a rematar a festa.
Comentário completo em:
http://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.com...
June 15, 2016
I received this via GoodReads FirstReads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
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(more about the line below than the picture)
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This book was very charming, intriguing and gets you thinking. How much would we pay for a happy life? What are the different meanings of a "good" life? What would that take into account exactly? If you went to a lot of concerts, had a large family and circle of friends you were close to and had great memories with? The fact that you enjoy sitting on the porch in the rain, that you enjoy taking trips to the lake, to Kennywood, or going for walks in the woods to raise your spirits?
How would the experiences of your life add up?
Our hero (who remains nameless) is a man who thinks he leads a quiet and generally good life... he's happy with the way things are going... then he receives this invoice in the mail, which at first he perceives to a be a mistake or a joke perhaps.
The business end of things with this WRD went over my head as it did his but things become clearer somewhat as it goes on, and even though there isn't much details the scope of things are still clear. Their reasoning in part made an odd sort of sense and I can see how some things add up for certain people.
Also that sometimes those who look the happiest may not necessarily be and we can't presume to know someone's life story from looking at the trappings surrounding it.
This concept was strange but also profound in its little ways, and had me wondering what my "E.H." score would be...
I don't want to say too much and give this book away so just go ahead and read it... one of those books I think everyone should read and discuss :)
4.5 stars
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(more about the line below than the picture)
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This book was very charming, intriguing and gets you thinking. How much would we pay for a happy life? What are the different meanings of a "good" life? What would that take into account exactly? If you went to a lot of concerts, had a large family and circle of friends you were close to and had great memories with? The fact that you enjoy sitting on the porch in the rain, that you enjoy taking trips to the lake, to Kennywood, or going for walks in the woods to raise your spirits?
How would the experiences of your life add up?
Our hero (who remains nameless) is a man who thinks he leads a quiet and generally good life... he's happy with the way things are going... then he receives this invoice in the mail, which at first he perceives to a be a mistake or a joke perhaps.
The business end of things with this WRD went over my head as it did his but things become clearer somewhat as it goes on, and even though there isn't much details the scope of things are still clear. Their reasoning in part made an odd sort of sense and I can see how some things add up for certain people.
Also that sometimes those who look the happiest may not necessarily be and we can't presume to know someone's life story from looking at the trappings surrounding it.
This concept was strange but also profound in its little ways, and had me wondering what my "E.H." score would be...
I don't want to say too much and give this book away so just go ahead and read it... one of those books I think everyone should read and discuss :)
4.5 stars
February 17, 2018
Zanimljiva prica o momku koji zivi savrseno srecan zivot, a da toga nije ni svestan.
Jednog dana stize mu racun od 5.7 miliona kruna koje treba da plati. Ne znajuci o cemu se radi istrazuje i shvata da postoji kompanija koja se bavi procenom dogadjaja u zivotima drugih koji se vrednuju i naplacuju. Spletom okolnosti njegov dug se uvecava. Da li ce uspeti da vrati dug kompaniji ili ...?
Da li smo svesni srece iako je ne osetimo uvek? :)
Jednog dana stize mu racun od 5.7 miliona kruna koje treba da plati. Ne znajuci o cemu se radi istrazuje i shvata da postoji kompanija koja se bavi procenom dogadjaja u zivotima drugih koji se vrednuju i naplacuju. Spletom okolnosti njegov dug se uvecava. Da li ce uspeti da vrati dug kompaniji ili ...?
Da li smo svesni srece iako je ne osetimo uvek? :)
July 16, 2016
Is it just me, or is this book really badly written? Maybe something got lost in translation, but honestly, reading this book was like pulling teeth! It might have worked better as a short story, because even though this isn't a long read, it sure felt that way. I really like the concept and I figured the extremely dull protagonist was almost like a plot device to really drive a point home, but unfortunately I lost interest before finding out what that point was :(
September 23, 2020
In the search for great things, do we forget to pay attention to the little things that bring a smile to our face? How long does it take to be happy? Can we recognize that?
What is quite interesting about this book is that the writer never gives us the name of the protagonist, he is a totally nameless person, an unassuming hero, bordering on the line of malcontent .
The unnamed man is a real slave to habits. Living in a small apartment in Sweden, he works part-time in a video store near his apartment, has a small living wage and a small circle of friends. His addiction to watching movies , accompanied with pizza eating is more than obvious, and sometimes, but only sometimes, he affords small luxuries, such as buying his favorite chocolate ice cream with menthol and raspberries.
Finding an invoice for a giant, ridiculous amount of kronor will truly awaken his emotions.Surely there must be a mistake! He calls the number for the company and finds out he's been charged for all the happy (or at least somewhat affirming) moments in his life. And as if things were not going badly enough .. he begins to realize that everyone around him receives invoices with different amounts of money. Is he going crazy?
With the concerned call, we are introduced to the second significant character of the story, the operator with a sweet tone of voice, named Maud. When our hero asks Maud about the reason for getting such an enormous amount of money, she calmly answers - "Do you think it is cheap to be alive?". Simple question, that somehow challenges all of us to think a little more deeply about the ral cost of living.
Maud with her brutal honesty, and her hidden sadness is a really strong character. When the protagonist complains about not understanding how he is considered a happy man when the woman he loves is not by his side - the beautiful Sunnah, her cold blooded answer seems more than perfect - "How many people in the world are privileged to experience true love?" Again, the author throws a thought-provoking question, that shatters the readers.
Unquestionably, this book is not intended for everyone. It is definitely not intended for those who read in order to relax and to travel in the world of fantasies and better stores. But it certainly will be perfect choice for those who read non-fiction books, books on how happiness lies in in the little things, for those who like the motto - the glass is not half-empty, but half-full. If nothing else, it is a fictional story, in which there are no enumerations and tips, but the thought-provoking dialogues between Maud and the protagonist before you know it, record themselves in your mind.
This book will make you grateful for what you have, and on the other hand sad with about it, you can always do better , if you are ambitious enough to achieve what you want. What effect it will have on you depends on how you experience the characters. For some of you, the unnamed man will be a total failure, and for some a real hero.
While reading this book, I wanted to start plucking my hair, feeling the full frustration that the main character is going through. The end of the book gave me a bittersweet emotion, that I cannot quite define. But on the other hand, it made me realize that some things just never change, no matter what I try.
What is quite interesting about this book is that the writer never gives us the name of the protagonist, he is a totally nameless person, an unassuming hero, bordering on the line of malcontent .
The unnamed man is a real slave to habits. Living in a small apartment in Sweden, he works part-time in a video store near his apartment, has a small living wage and a small circle of friends. His addiction to watching movies , accompanied with pizza eating is more than obvious, and sometimes, but only sometimes, he affords small luxuries, such as buying his favorite chocolate ice cream with menthol and raspberries.
Finding an invoice for a giant, ridiculous amount of kronor will truly awaken his emotions.Surely there must be a mistake! He calls the number for the company and finds out he's been charged for all the happy (or at least somewhat affirming) moments in his life. And as if things were not going badly enough .. he begins to realize that everyone around him receives invoices with different amounts of money. Is he going crazy?
With the concerned call, we are introduced to the second significant character of the story, the operator with a sweet tone of voice, named Maud. When our hero asks Maud about the reason for getting such an enormous amount of money, she calmly answers - "Do you think it is cheap to be alive?". Simple question, that somehow challenges all of us to think a little more deeply about the ral cost of living.
Maud with her brutal honesty, and her hidden sadness is a really strong character. When the protagonist complains about not understanding how he is considered a happy man when the woman he loves is not by his side - the beautiful Sunnah, her cold blooded answer seems more than perfect - "How many people in the world are privileged to experience true love?" Again, the author throws a thought-provoking question, that shatters the readers.
Unquestionably, this book is not intended for everyone. It is definitely not intended for those who read in order to relax and to travel in the world of fantasies and better stores. But it certainly will be perfect choice for those who read non-fiction books, books on how happiness lies in in the little things, for those who like the motto - the glass is not half-empty, but half-full. If nothing else, it is a fictional story, in which there are no enumerations and tips, but the thought-provoking dialogues between Maud and the protagonist before you know it, record themselves in your mind.
This book will make you grateful for what you have, and on the other hand sad with about it, you can always do better , if you are ambitious enough to achieve what you want. What effect it will have on you depends on how you experience the characters. For some of you, the unnamed man will be a total failure, and for some a real hero.
While reading this book, I wanted to start plucking my hair, feeling the full frustration that the main character is going through. The end of the book gave me a bittersweet emotion, that I cannot quite define. But on the other hand, it made me realize that some things just never change, no matter what I try.
June 6, 2016
This narrator never divulges his name, but he's become one of my heroes. His story is a great example of why some of the most memorable books about happiness need to be told in story form rather than self help or non-fiction.
Imagine that happiness is no longer a free commodity. The government suddenly decides to make it a revenue raiser, and citizens are asked to pay for all those moments of contentment and satisfaction we've enjoyed all our lives. Invoices are sent out which carefully take into account every happy moment we've ever lived.
Our hero is gobsmacked that his own bill is astronomical compared to others, since he believes his life is a pretty underwhelming mess. He's a bachelor in his 30s who lives in a modest apartment, and has a part-time job in a video shop. Whenever he tries to argue his case, extra proof keeps rolling in that he's definitely lived a happier life than those with higher profiles and more trappings of success, like his friend Roger.
Maud is one of the company's case workers who tries to help him sort through his paperwork. She finds herself growing more attracted to the hero and his simple philosophy, even as she tries to explain to him why human beings are generally a pretty miserable lot. She also latches onto the ways in which his rosy spin is all in his own head. Given the same scenarios as others, he has a way of maximising his fun and wow factor over simple things.
I enjoyed his desperate attempts to explain why his score shouldn't be so high. He reasons that he's wasted his life and missed out on several experiences he should have chalked up, such as travel, study, marriage, kids and a higher profile career. I couldn't help wondering to what extent we're simply taking cues from the world around us, which tells us that we need these things to inflate our value, and therefore make us happier. It's a good challenge to make sure that our goals and ambitions in life genuinely come from our own hearts, and not those of others.
I love it that a guy like this hero, who never bothers to put himself ahead of anyone else, becomes our role model. He is humble, enthusiastic, and nothing which brings him such genuine pleasure is ever out of our reach either. He represents anyone who can simply gaze outside and enjoy a sunset, wander down the street for an ice-cream, or discuss the merits of a good story. The little things really are the big things, and if we can't be content with them alone, we probably can't be content with more.
The nice, romantic little twist was very cool.
4.5 stars
Thanks to Blogging for Books and Crown Publishing for giving me a review copy through NetGalley.
Imagine that happiness is no longer a free commodity. The government suddenly decides to make it a revenue raiser, and citizens are asked to pay for all those moments of contentment and satisfaction we've enjoyed all our lives. Invoices are sent out which carefully take into account every happy moment we've ever lived.
Our hero is gobsmacked that his own bill is astronomical compared to others, since he believes his life is a pretty underwhelming mess. He's a bachelor in his 30s who lives in a modest apartment, and has a part-time job in a video shop. Whenever he tries to argue his case, extra proof keeps rolling in that he's definitely lived a happier life than those with higher profiles and more trappings of success, like his friend Roger.
Maud is one of the company's case workers who tries to help him sort through his paperwork. She finds herself growing more attracted to the hero and his simple philosophy, even as she tries to explain to him why human beings are generally a pretty miserable lot. She also latches onto the ways in which his rosy spin is all in his own head. Given the same scenarios as others, he has a way of maximising his fun and wow factor over simple things.
I enjoyed his desperate attempts to explain why his score shouldn't be so high. He reasons that he's wasted his life and missed out on several experiences he should have chalked up, such as travel, study, marriage, kids and a higher profile career. I couldn't help wondering to what extent we're simply taking cues from the world around us, which tells us that we need these things to inflate our value, and therefore make us happier. It's a good challenge to make sure that our goals and ambitions in life genuinely come from our own hearts, and not those of others.
I love it that a guy like this hero, who never bothers to put himself ahead of anyone else, becomes our role model. He is humble, enthusiastic, and nothing which brings him such genuine pleasure is ever out of our reach either. He represents anyone who can simply gaze outside and enjoy a sunset, wander down the street for an ice-cream, or discuss the merits of a good story. The little things really are the big things, and if we can't be content with them alone, we probably can't be content with more.
The nice, romantic little twist was very cool.
4.5 stars
Thanks to Blogging for Books and Crown Publishing for giving me a review copy through NetGalley.
May 2, 2020
https://www.vintagestories.gr/to-timo...
«Το να είσαι ζωντανός κοστίζε��».
Το τιμολόγιο (εκδόσεις Παπαδόπουλος, 2015) του Jonas Karlsson ήταν ένα από τα βιβλία που με συντρόφευσαν στις χριστουγεννιάτικες διακοπές μου· ήταν μια γρήγορη και απολαυστική ανάγνωση που μας καλεί να αναλύσουμε πόσο ευτυχισμένοι μπορεί να είμαστε σε μια κοινωνία που φαίνεται να χάνει τις ισορροπίες της.
Καταρχάς, είναι ένα βιβλίο που σε κερδίζει από την πολύ πρωτότυπη ιδέα του, η οποία μου θύμισε την απόγνωση του ήρωα στο κορυφαίο μυθιστόρημα του Φραντς Κάφκα, Η δίκη, που χωρίς να το καταλάβει βρίσκεται εγκλωβισμένος και καταδικασμένος σε ένα σύστημα που δεν μπορεί να ελέγξει ο ίδιος· κάτι αντίστοιχο συναντούμε και στο Τιμολόγιο.
Το τιμολόγιο, είναι λοιπόν ένα μυθιστόρημα που με αφορμή ένα γεγονός με διάχυτη ειρωνεία αλλά και «μαύρο» χιούμορ, προσπαθεί να μας εξηγήσει ότι το να είσαι ζωντανός κοστίζει, τίποτα δεν είναι «τσάμπα», όπως χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρει το οπισθόφυλλο της έκδοσης. Είναι ικανό όμως να μας κάνει να εκτιμήσουμε περισσότερο τα πράγματα της ζωής μας; Πώς συνδέεται με την ευτυχία μας; Δεν έχουμε παρά να το απαντήσουμε στο τέλος της ανάγνωσης.
Πώς θα αντιδρούσαμε στην ιδέα ότι μία μέρα μάς ζητούν χρήματα για όλα αυτά που έχουμε απολαύσει κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής μας; Και βέβαια αυτό δεν θα είχε καμία υπόσταση αν δεν υπήρχαν και οι κατάλληλες «οργοουελικές» υποδομές: ένα κράτος που υπολογίζει κάθε μας κατανάλωση/ευχαρίστηση καθώς και κάθε μας ψυχολογική μετάπτωση. Όλα υπάρχουν καταγεγραμμένα και για κάθε έναν ισοδυναμεί ένα ποσό που πρέπει να καταβληθεί στον «Οργανισμό Παγκόσμιων Πόρων».
Πώς γίνεται όμως ο ήρωας του Jonas Karlsson, ένας υπάλληλος video club να χρωστάει πάνω από 500.000 € τη στιγμή που το περιβάλλον του καλείται να πληρώσει πολύ λιγότερα από αυτόν; Σίγουρα κάτι πάει στραβά… ή μήπως όχι;
Σε τι διαφέρει από τους άλλους; Η ζωή του είναι τόσο απλή, με μικρό κοινωνικό πλαίσιο, απλό σπίτι, προσπαθεί με τον ελάχιστο μισθό του να περάσει όσο καλύτερα μπορεί. Η απάντηση είναι στην ίδια τη διαφορετικότητά του, στον τρόπο που έχει μάθει να αντιμετωπίζει τη ζωή και αυτό πρέπει να το «πληρώσει» ακριβά.
Συνέχεια > https://www.vintagestories.gr/to-timo...
«Το να είσαι ζωντανός κοστίζε��».
Το τιμολόγιο (εκδόσεις Παπαδόπουλος, 2015) του Jonas Karlsson ήταν ένα από τα βιβλία που με συντρόφευσαν στις χριστουγεννιάτικες διακοπές μου· ήταν μια γρήγορη και απολαυστική ανάγνωση που μας καλεί να αναλύσουμε πόσο ευτυχισμένοι μπορεί να είμαστε σε μια κοινωνία που φαίνεται να χάνει τις ισορροπίες της.
Καταρχάς, είναι ένα βιβλίο που σε κερδίζει από την πολύ πρωτότυπη ιδέα του, η οποία μου θύμισε την απόγνωση του ήρωα στο κορυφαίο μυθιστόρημα του Φραντς Κάφκα, Η δίκη, που χωρίς να το καταλάβει βρίσκεται εγκλωβισμένος και καταδικασμένος σε ένα σύστημα που δεν μπορεί να ελέγξει ο ίδιος· κάτι αντίστοιχο συναντούμε και στο Τιμολόγιο.
Το τιμολόγιο, είναι λοιπόν ένα μυθιστόρημα που με αφορμή ένα γεγονός με διάχυτη ειρωνεία αλλά και «μαύρο» χιούμορ, προσπαθεί να μας εξηγήσει ότι το να είσαι ζωντανός κοστίζει, τίποτα δεν είναι «τσάμπα», όπως χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρει το οπισθόφυλλο της έκδοσης. Είναι ικανό όμως να μας κάνει να εκτιμήσουμε περισσότερο τα πράγματα της ζωής μας; Πώς συνδέεται με την ευτυχία μας; Δεν έχουμε παρά να το απαντήσουμε στο τέλος της ανάγνωσης.
Πώς θα αντιδρούσαμε στην ιδέα ότι μία μέρα μάς ζητούν χρήματα για όλα αυτά που έχουμε απολαύσει κατά τη διάρκεια της ζωής μας; Και βέβαια αυτό δεν θα είχε καμία υπόσταση αν δεν υπήρχαν και οι κατάλληλες «οργοουελικές» υποδομές: ένα κράτος που υπολογίζει κάθε μας κατανάλωση/ευχαρίστηση καθώς και κάθε μας ψυχολογική μετάπτωση. Όλα υπάρχουν καταγεγραμμένα και για κάθε έναν ισοδυναμεί ένα ποσό που πρέπει να καταβληθεί στον «Οργανισμό Παγκόσμιων Πόρων».
Πώς γίνεται όμως ο ήρωας του Jonas Karlsson, ένας υπάλληλος video club να χρωστάει πάνω από 500.000 € τη στιγμή που το περιβάλλον του καλείται να πληρώσει πολύ λιγότερα από αυτόν; Σίγουρα κάτι πάει στραβά… ή μήπως όχι;
Σε τι διαφέρει από τους άλλους; Η ζωή του είναι τόσο απλή, με μικρό κοινωνικό πλαίσιο, απλό σπίτι, προσπαθεί με τον ελάχιστο μισθό του να περάσει όσο καλύτερα μπορεί. Η απάντηση είναι στην ίδια τη διαφορετικότητά του, στον τρόπο που έχει μάθει να αντιμετωπίζει τη ζωή και αυτό πρέπει να το «πληρώσει» ακριβά.
Συνέχεια > https://www.vintagestories.gr/to-timo...
July 16, 2016
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Some time ago I read The Room and based on that reading experience I wanted to read The Invoice. Besides, the premise was also very interesting.
The nameless main character suddenly gets charged a huge sum of money in Swedish kronor for the happiness he's experienced in his life. Convinced some kind of mistake must have been made he tries to show the agency just how average and unhappy his life so far has been. But in doing so... You'll probably guess it.
It was an incredibly fast read and it was written nicely. It succeeds in making oneself think about what happiness is and what it is worth. Also, to appreciate small things in life. In this sense, it was the perfect story. However, I did experience something weird with the story. At just over 200 (short) pages, it is not clear what it is trying to be. Rather long for a novella (I think it would have worked by making it just slightly shorter), too short to really have the character development of a novel. What drives the main character, what drives Maud? It is unclear. I think it should have decided whether it wants to be a novella or a novel.
But a nice, quick reading experience nevertheless. A good summer read.
Thanks to the Blogging for Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Some time ago I read The Room and based on that reading experience I wanted to read The Invoice. Besides, the premise was also very interesting.
The nameless main character suddenly gets charged a huge sum of money in Swedish kronor for the happiness he's experienced in his life. Convinced some kind of mistake must have been made he tries to show the agency just how average and unhappy his life so far has been. But in doing so... You'll probably guess it.
It was an incredibly fast read and it was written nicely. It succeeds in making oneself think about what happiness is and what it is worth. Also, to appreciate small things in life. In this sense, it was the perfect story. However, I did experience something weird with the story. At just over 200 (short) pages, it is not clear what it is trying to be. Rather long for a novella (I think it would have worked by making it just slightly shorter), too short to really have the character development of a novel. What drives the main character, what drives Maud? It is unclear. I think it should have decided whether it wants to be a novella or a novel.
But a nice, quick reading experience nevertheless. A good summer read.
Thanks to the Blogging for Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
February 20, 2017
A proposta do livro é interessante: e se, num determinado momento da nossa vida, uma organização mundial fizesse um balanço de toda a felicidade e sofrimento que experenciámos e lhe atribuísse um valor? E se recebêssemos em casa uma fatura com o preço a pagar por todas as oportunidades de vida que nos foram proporcionadas, que resumisse num número a forma como encaramos o passado, presente e futuro e o facto de considerarmos que existe, ou não, um sentido para a nossa existência?
Sendo este o núcleo da história, o enredo desenvolve-se de um modo simples e direto, numa linguagem acessível e em curtos capítulos, com mais diálogos do que descrições. Não é um livro complicado, nem requer atenção extrema. É talvez um pouco repetitivo (quantas vezes lemos: «você não está mesmo a perceber, pois não?»): diálogos semelhantes, sempre com as mesmas personagens. E, apesar da ideia ser interessante, acaba por ser pouco explorada e abordada de forma simplista.
Não esperava nem mais nem menos do que encontrei, mas, diante do que poderia ter sido, penso que fica um pouco aquém do que seria possível desenvolver. Porém, já não é de somenos se nos levar a tentar quantificar as nossas experiências: qual seria o valor da nossa fatura? Como encaramos os momentos pelos quais já passámos e as nossas perspetivas de futuro? Quanto valem as pequenas coisas boas do dia a dia?
Sendo este o núcleo da história, o enredo desenvolve-se de um modo simples e direto, numa linguagem acessível e em curtos capítulos, com mais diálogos do que descrições. Não é um livro complicado, nem requer atenção extrema. É talvez um pouco repetitivo (quantas vezes lemos: «você não está mesmo a perceber, pois não?»): diálogos semelhantes, sempre com as mesmas personagens. E, apesar da ideia ser interessante, acaba por ser pouco explorada e abordada de forma simplista.
Não esperava nem mais nem menos do que encontrei, mas, diante do que poderia ter sido, penso que fica um pouco aquém do que seria possível desenvolver. Porém, já não é de somenos se nos levar a tentar quantificar as nossas experiências: qual seria o valor da nossa fatura? Como encaramos os momentos pelos quais já passámos e as nossas perspetivas de futuro? Quanto valem as pequenas coisas boas do dia a dia?
December 19, 2025
The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson is a wry, surreal literary fable about how we measure happiness and what life is really worth. The novel’s unnamed narrator is an ordinary man living in Stockholm with a quiet, simple life: a part‑time job at a video store, modest pleasures like pizza, old movies, ice cream, and a few small friendships. Then one day he receives a mysterious bill for 5,700,000 Swedish kronor from an obscure agency called World Resources Distribution (W.R.D.) demanding payment for all the happiness he has experienced in his life. Confronted with a ludicrously large “invoice for living,” he embarks on a bewildering odyssey through bureaucratic absurdity and self‑reflection that forces him to re‑evaluate what it means to be happy and how much life’s small moments truly count.
What stayed with me most about The Invoice is how it blends gentle humor, philosophical curiosity, and quiet humanity into a story that feels both strangely whimsical and deeply reflective. The absurd premise that a government‑like agency would quantify a person’s lifetime joy and charge for it becomes a clever lens through which to examine our own definitions of contentment, success, and value.
The narrator’s matter‑of‑fact demeanor and his calm, almost bemused responses to such an outrageous situation made me laugh and then think, because so often we overlook how much we actually cherish in our lives until we’re forced to justify it. The interactions he has while disputing the charge, especially with a customer service agent named Maud turn into a quiet, sweet subplot about connection that deepened my appreciation for how unexpected relationships shape our sense of happiness. Critics have compared the tone to a Kafkaesque satire with a lighter, more humane twist, using bureaucratic absurdity to question assumptions about money, joy, and the meaning of a life well lived.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I’m giving The Invoice four stars because it’s both thought‑provoking and warmly funny: it made me laugh at the silliness of its premise, then gently nudged me to reflect on what happiness looks like in an ordinary life. Its philosophical heart and the charm of its unassuming protagonist left a lingering smile, even if the book’s surreal concept isn’t heavy on traditional plot twists. Whether you enjoy quiet satire, character‑driven literary fiction, or stories that make you appreciate the little things, this is a novel that stays with you in a thoughtful, delightful way.
What stayed with me most about The Invoice is how it blends gentle humor, philosophical curiosity, and quiet humanity into a story that feels both strangely whimsical and deeply reflective. The absurd premise that a government‑like agency would quantify a person’s lifetime joy and charge for it becomes a clever lens through which to examine our own definitions of contentment, success, and value.
The narrator’s matter‑of‑fact demeanor and his calm, almost bemused responses to such an outrageous situation made me laugh and then think, because so often we overlook how much we actually cherish in our lives until we’re forced to justify it. The interactions he has while disputing the charge, especially with a customer service agent named Maud turn into a quiet, sweet subplot about connection that deepened my appreciation for how unexpected relationships shape our sense of happiness. Critics have compared the tone to a Kafkaesque satire with a lighter, more humane twist, using bureaucratic absurdity to question assumptions about money, joy, and the meaning of a life well lived.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I’m giving The Invoice four stars because it’s both thought‑provoking and warmly funny: it made me laugh at the silliness of its premise, then gently nudged me to reflect on what happiness looks like in an ordinary life. Its philosophical heart and the charm of its unassuming protagonist left a lingering smile, even if the book’s surreal concept isn’t heavy on traditional plot twists. Whether you enjoy quiet satire, character‑driven literary fiction, or stories that make you appreciate the little things, this is a novel that stays with you in a thoughtful, delightful way.
March 7, 2022
If one day, the government starts taxing people based on their happiness level, would you rather be unhappy?
The Invoice is a thought-provoking and entertaining satire on materialism and how money and happiness correlate with one another. Karlsson introduces us to a world where nothing ever comes free–not even happiness. People are charged based on their Experienced Happiness (E.H.) which means the happier your life is, the more you have to pay.
I found the concept ridiculous yet an interesting take on how people perceive happiness. This book contradicts the idea that money equals happiness as shown by the story of our unnamed protagonist who lives a very simple life in his rented apartment, with only a part-time job at a video shop, yet at the same time, he is the happiest person in the world. And at absolutely no cost! Although the downside is that he now has a debt of 5,700,000 kronor 😂.
Reading this book gave me so much laughter, which means that I probably owe WHR a few thousand more kronor because my E.H. definitely increased while reading this book. This is a short novel but it gave so much food for thought. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a short read.
The Invoice is a thought-provoking and entertaining satire on materialism and how money and happiness correlate with one another. Karlsson introduces us to a world where nothing ever comes free–not even happiness. People are charged based on their Experienced Happiness (E.H.) which means the happier your life is, the more you have to pay.
“Well, being alive costs."
"But, I had no idea it was so expensive..."
I found the concept ridiculous yet an interesting take on how people perceive happiness. This book contradicts the idea that money equals happiness as shown by the story of our unnamed protagonist who lives a very simple life in his rented apartment, with only a part-time job at a video shop, yet at the same time, he is the happiest person in the world. And at absolutely no cost! Although the downside is that he now has a debt of 5,700,000 kronor 😂.
Reading this book gave me so much laughter, which means that I probably owe WHR a few thousand more kronor because my E.H. definitely increased while reading this book. This is a short novel but it gave so much food for thought. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a short read.
August 5, 2016
Quanto é que a vossa vida vale? Quanto pagarias pela Felicidade Experimentada? É este o ponto de partida para o romance de Jonas Karlsson que se passa num mundo fabulado no qual as pessoas são obrigadas a pagar pela boa vida que tiveram, cada um mais ou menos consoante as suas vivências positivas ou negativas. O livro é curto mas muito agradável de ler até porque Jonas é um contador de histórias e não tenta embelezar ou engalanar as frases para ser profundo. A história por si já vale. Gostei muito. E no fundo faz-te pensar. Se tivesses mesmo de pagar pela tua vida, se calhar queixavas-te menos e começavas a aproveitá-la mais.
April 19, 2016
Wow. I loved this book! It made me think. Now that I've finished it, I want everyone else to read it too so that I can talk about it. What would happen if we were charged money for being happy and for positive experiences? How much is happiness worth? I really enjoy books in which I am presented with an outlandish idea and then I get to see how it all plays out. This book is quirky and unusual and I think if it were read in a book club there would be a lot to discuss. Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC.
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