Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses introduces us to a 67-year-old man named Trond who lives in a cottage in eastern Norway with his dog, Lyra. Trond’s life is lonely. After the death of both his beloved sister and wife, he “simply lost interest in talking to people.” He forges a quiet existence: He listens to the radio; he reads Dickens; he chops wood. He lives alone not because he is unwanted but because he had “a longing to be in a place where there was only silence.”
The novel alternates between the stoic life of the elderly Trond and the memories of his youth. We see how the events of his 15th summer influenced Trond, and how his past is tied to the Nazi occupation of Norway.

Yet the novel refrains from the sensationalism so many other World War II stories are guilty of. The German soldiers are described as mere boys themselves, often making friendly small talk with Trond’s father. In fact, the most disturbing scene in the book involves Trond’s childhood friend, Jon. Trond describes when Jon shows him a goldcrest bird nest that was “so perfectly formed of moss and feathers ... it did not hang. It hovered.” With bestial pleasure, however, Jon destroys the nest, crushing the eggs inside with “throaty noises like an animal,” taking joy in the destruction. What first begins as an innocent boyhood scene becomes a memory of terror.

One could read this book as a universal message about the evil that lies within us all. However, Out Stealing Horses functions best as a reflection on life itself. The novel is a delicate balance between horrific scenes and beautiful ones. Some of the most touching moments involve Trond and his father attempting handstands in the rain and Trond buying his first suit with his mother.

While reading Out Stealing Horses, one can’t help but reflect back on the author’s own life. Petterson has said this novel isn’t inspired by his own family history; knowing the tragedy surrounding his family, however, adds a deeper dimension to the story. Petterson lost both of his parents and two brothers in a ferryboat fire April 7, 1990. The family had been en route to Denmark; at one point in time, Petterson himself had planned to travel with them. While none of these exact instances shows up in Out Stealing Horses, he often treats family with a sense of loss and irony. For example, Trond’s father disappears after his 15th summer and he has twin uncles who are referred to as the one who was killed by the Gestapo and the one who was not.

Out Stealing Horses is a novel that can be read for the pure beauty of the prose and the reflective writing style. It’s not exciting, but it’s refreshing — a strange, new perspective.

Out Stealing Horses was named one of the 10 best books of 2007 by The New York Times and received both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Despite the critical acclaim, however, it hasn’t enjoyed widespread popularity. Perhaps this is because the novel lacks much of the drama and suspense we expect from books. Despite Petterson’s achingly beautiful prose and insightful reflections, there are parts of the novel that can be described only as boring. This is a quiet, solemn novel that is much like the place of its origin – the icy landscape of Norway the author describes in lavish detail. This coldness comes partly because Petterson isn’t really writing for his audience. He’s simply writing and allowing the readers to make with the story what they will. And while I admired the fact that Petterson leaves the reader to form his own conclusions, I left the novel feeling a little unfulfilled. There were too many questions that were never answered.

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Created Jul 10, 2009 at 3:01pm • Submit your own review...