I had read some great reviews for ‘Out Stealing Horses’, so was expecting a beautifully atmospheric tale of one man’s life in an isolated part of Norway. I was very disappointed. The writing style was too simple for me. I failed to be drawn into the book, and became bored by several sections.
The plot was OK, but there was nothing inspiring, and the only interesting bit seemed to be over in a couple of pages. Perhaps some of the magic was lost in translation, but when the story is this simple, the writing needs to be very good in order to compensate for a lack of momentum. I won’t be quick to pick up any of his other books, and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Disappointing.
Also reviewed by Fresh Ink Books
3 replies on “Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson”
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I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The spare writing and well visualised setting really helped draw me into the action and characters. The action was interesting, both the events from the past and present, as it were. Momentous events in people’s lives paralleled with major world events was a fine idea but mostly it’s the quality of the writing that really made this a book that I was able to visualise and sympathise with so readily.