- Hardcover
- Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large type edition edition (Nov 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847824420
- ISBN-13: 978-1847824424
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,684,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Out Stealing Horses
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Review
"This stunning novel will tell you more about the Norwegian countryside and psyche than the most enthusiastically well-informed guidebook."-"Sunday Telegraph"
"[Petterson] captures the essence of a man's vast existence with a clean-lined freshness that hits you like a burst of winter air - surprising and breathtaking."-"Daily Express"
." . . a true gem, compact yet radiant."-"Independent on Sunday"
." . . a minor masterpiece of death and delusion."-"The Guardian" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"[Petterson] captures the essence of a man's vast existence with a clean-lined freshness that hits you like a burst of winter air - surprising and breathtaking."-"Daily Express"
." . . a true gem, compact yet radiant."-"Independent on Sunday"
." . . a minor masterpiece of death and delusion."-"The Guardian" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
The Saturday Herald Books of the Year. Chosen by Ruaridh Nicoll.
`It is a small-scale, yet perfect study of humanity. I wish I'd
written it.'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
written it.'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a lyrical book ; in many places, a beautiful one. The narrative is driven by three instances of traumatic loss. Trond, now 67, has sought solitude in a little cottage, not much more than a shack, in the Norwegian hinterland. You could say that he is running away from the world, but to some extent he is also returning to something like the kind of rural environment in which, as a boy and teenager, he achieved greatest happiness. His relationship with this setting has its positive side. He looks forward to making practical improvements to the cottage and enjoys the companionship of his dog, Lyra. Though he is shutting himself off, there is no feeling that he expects or wishes to fade away. From this situation, he reviews his life, and information from the past emerges so that eventually we have a fairly complete picture of his formative years.
The book is really beautifully written. Descriptions of the surroundings, the trees, the water, the tracks, journeys (including one on horseback into Sweden), the simple life in the cottage are marvellous and sometimes deeply satisfying. A key element is Trond's relationship with his father (it is with his father that he makes the journey into Sweden), a crucial relationship in his life, and this is handled with understated delicacy. His father's life, which includes wartime work with the Norwegian resistance is seen through the boy's eyes. Trond may have become a recluse, but he is courteous and still likes people - he gradually makes contact with his neighbour, Lars, and he welcomes a visit from his daughter, though both of these encounters bring memories from the past which are not wholly positive. The book ends with a visit Trond and his mother make to Karlstad, and it would be quite natural for that ending to be bitter and negative, but it is not so, not at all, and we see that Trond, who has been through very hard times, is a survivor ; as his father had said (picking nettles) 'we decide for ourselves when it will hurt'.
The translation seems fine to me - it reads well. A feature of Petterson's style is the use of very long, rather meandering sentences, but he uses them with great skill, adding detail to detail in a way which works well.
Overall, it's an unusual book - a good thing! - and a thoughtful one - as The Independent reviewer wrote, 'a luminous story, a genuine work of art'.
The book is really beautifully written. Descriptions of the surroundings, the trees, the water, the tracks, journeys (including one on horseback into Sweden), the simple life in the cottage are marvellous and sometimes deeply satisfying. A key element is Trond's relationship with his father (it is with his father that he makes the journey into Sweden), a crucial relationship in his life, and this is handled with understated delicacy. His father's life, which includes wartime work with the Norwegian resistance is seen through the boy's eyes. Trond may have become a recluse, but he is courteous and still likes people - he gradually makes contact with his neighbour, Lars, and he welcomes a visit from his daughter, though both of these encounters bring memories from the past which are not wholly positive. The book ends with a visit Trond and his mother make to Karlstad, and it would be quite natural for that ending to be bitter and negative, but it is not so, not at all, and we see that Trond, who has been through very hard times, is a survivor ; as his father had said (picking nettles) 'we decide for ourselves when it will hurt'.
The translation seems fine to me - it reads well. A feature of Petterson's style is the use of very long, rather meandering sentences, but he uses them with great skill, adding detail to detail in a way which works well.
Overall, it's an unusual book - a good thing! - and a thoughtful one - as The Independent reviewer wrote, 'a luminous story, a genuine work of art'.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is such a lovely book - I haven't read anything quite so evocative and atmospheric for a long time. Simple but majestic prose, I found myself narrating incidents in my own life with the same stark yet intimate tone. (Perhaps that's a strange quirk of mine, but I only do that when I feel completely involved and at one with a book and a writer.)
Set in Norway, the book is about Trond, a man who has set up home in the middle of nowhere almost as a retreat from life; he is nearing old age. So proceeds a description of his current state of mind intertwined with memories of a youthful summer spent with his Dad in a very similar area. And in Trond, Petterson creates a character whose honesty you immediately like, but only really understand at the very end of the book, keeping you engaged throughout. And even then you are left with questions, though perhaps that is the key. Trond is still finding out new things about himself, still surprising himself, even though he tells himself that he has withdrawn. The story burns slowly, but like watching fire grow, it draws you closer. This is a meditation on the things which make us, and the moments which you somehow remember, many of which you don't understand because they happen when we are too young. It's beautifully written, elegtant, and very moving. I loved it.
Set in Norway, the book is about Trond, a man who has set up home in the middle of nowhere almost as a retreat from life; he is nearing old age. So proceeds a description of his current state of mind intertwined with memories of a youthful summer spent with his Dad in a very similar area. And in Trond, Petterson creates a character whose honesty you immediately like, but only really understand at the very end of the book, keeping you engaged throughout. And even then you are left with questions, though perhaps that is the key. Trond is still finding out new things about himself, still surprising himself, even though he tells himself that he has withdrawn. The story burns slowly, but like watching fire grow, it draws you closer. This is a meditation on the things which make us, and the moments which you somehow remember, many of which you don't understand because they happen when we are too young. It's beautifully written, elegtant, and very moving. I loved it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this book up because of the reviews here on Amazon, and I have to agree, it is a genuinely wonderful book. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric, reflective and sad. It centres on Trond who has moved to a remote cabin in Norway, and it is here that he reflects on his life and his relationships.
Like other reviewers I'd also recommend that you read it slowly to truly appreciate it. It is a short novel, and an easy read, but there is a definite depth to it. Trond examines his life (the events and relationships that have shaped him), in a way that for me highlights his struggle between a desire to withdraw and a desire connect. I found myself both gripped and saddened by the psychology of this struggle, and also humbled by the human experience I felt privileged to have some small insight to.
As for recommending this book, I do so wholeheartedly. I think you'll really like this book if you are a fan of the understated slow-burn style novel that engages your mind and your emotions.
Like other reviewers I'd also recommend that you read it slowly to truly appreciate it. It is a short novel, and an easy read, but there is a definite depth to it. Trond examines his life (the events and relationships that have shaped him), in a way that for me highlights his struggle between a desire to withdraw and a desire connect. I found myself both gripped and saddened by the psychology of this struggle, and also humbled by the human experience I felt privileged to have some small insight to.
As for recommending this book, I do so wholeheartedly. I think you'll really like this book if you are a fan of the understated slow-burn style novel that engages your mind and your emotions.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A wonderful meditation on loneliness, betrayal and fathers and sons
This book literally took my breath away, not just at the end when I felt I had lived alongside the protagonist, Trond, all of his life, but many times. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Victoria Field
A Book I love to lend and am even happier to get back
I know I'm going to re-read this every few years. It seems a very simple story - a self-sufficient elderly man recalling his youth in the war - but it's profoundly satisfying. Read more
Published 3 months ago by JudithSansom
Out stealing horses Round the World Book Group review
This book was selected for the Round the World book group. We all loved it. The hero, Trond, is 15 in 1948 when he spends a summer in the country with his father. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. A. Mcinnes
Rural Norway
Out Stealing Horses
This makes a nice well written(and translated)read,quite short and no big deal,but worth a read.I reccomend it.
This makes a nice well written(and translated)read,quite short and no big deal,but worth a read.I reccomend it.
Published 5 months ago by R. Rowland
pace
i have some of the reviews of this book being lyrical and poetic yes but where is pace and movement of the narrative. i couldn't see it and i read half the book before giving up. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Popeye2471
Elegant
Elegant. While reading this, my mind strayed constantly and without boundaries - back to memories of a forgotten past. Its discrete and simple, Jermyn's definition for "Elegance"
Published 12 months ago by Cassy
Out Stealing Horses
this book won the 2007 Dublin IMPAC Award, one of the richest literary prizes in the world.
So i thought i would give this a read. Read more
So i thought i would give this a read. Read more
Published 15 months ago by ralphie7
A dull read - the story goes nowhere
This book relies heavily on detailed descriptions of beautiful, remote scenery and frequent shifts between past and present to engage the reader over the first few chapters. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Dr. R. Braithwaite
Atmospheric
Now at the age of 67, and looking forward to the relative isolation of his new life, Trond has just taken up residence in a remote cottage needing more than a little renovation.. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Benjamin
wonderful, thoughtful, stays with you long after finishing
I liked this book very much. The writing is stark, simple, fluid and atmospheric and the book is a wonderful shifting collage of powerful images and insights into place, weather,... Read more
Published 22 months ago by A Highland lass
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