Name: The extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an IKEA wardrobe
Rating: 3.166666666666667 (6 reviews)
ISBN: 9780099592952

Romain Puértolas

Translated from the French. This translation originally published London Harvill Secker, 2014.

The extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an IKEA wardrobe

Charlotte Huijsmans

It was not the amount you gave that counted, but simply the gesture of giving.

Sian Wadey

From the title, you're expecting this book to be funny and it certainly lives up to that expectation. The author explains how to pronounce various names with hilarious results. The story is rather simplistic, it isn't detailed and there is no depth to the characters. But in this case, I didn't mind. I enjoyed the story and the fakir's somewhat unlikely escapades and as I got to know him, I wanted him to do well and succeed. The author also touched on some serious issues, such as immigration, which was effective amongst the nonsensical story. I understand this book has divided people, but I think if you read it with an open mind, you will enjoy it for what it is.

Romain Puertolas

A U.S. release of a best-selling debut from France finds a con artist from India traveling to France to shop at IKEA and unwittingly embarking on a European tour during which he makes friends in unlikely places.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe

Brittany

For readers of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, a funny, charming, feel-good story about a fake fakir from India who arrives in France to shop at IKEA and unwittingly embarks on a European tour like no other. Meet Ajatashatru Oghash Rathod. One day a fakir leaves his small village in India and lands in Paris. A professional con artist, the fakir is on a pilgrimage to IKEA, where he intends to obtain an object he covets above all others: a brand-new bed of nails. Without adequate euros in the pockets of his silk trousers, the fakir is all the same confident that his counterfeit 100-Euro note (printed on one side only) and his usual bag of tricks will suffice. But when a swindled cab driver seeks his murderous revenge, the fakir accidentally embarks on a European tour, fatefully beginning in the wardrobe of the iconic Swedish retailer. As his journey progresses in the most unpredictable of ways, the fakir finds unlikely friends in even unlikelier places. To his surprise--and to a Bollywood beat--the stirrings of love well up in the heart of our turbaned hero, even as his adventures lead to profound and moving questions of the perils of emigration and the universal desire to seek a better life in an often dangerous world. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe [pause for breath] is a hilarious tale that evokes the manic energy of a Marx Brothers romp and calls to mind the incisive social commentary of Candide. Pull up your Poang chair and take an unforgettable tour of Europe propelled by laughter, love and redemption. (Meatballs not included, but highly recommended.)

The extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an IKEA wardrobe

Reviews

Highlights