Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

This third novel by Norwegian Petterson was listed on the Ten Best Books of the year by The New York Times, and since a former colleague had recommended it highly, I decided I better read it. And I was not disappointed. The characters are interesting and finely drawn; the action circles around past events; and the writing is outstanding.

The main character, Trond, is 67 years old and has bought an isolated cabin to live in. The chance meeting with a character from the past living in a cabin nearby, causes the narrator to think back to events in the summer of 1948 in an isolated area of Norway, near the Swedish border, that shaped his life. This is a coming-of-age novel as they should be written--we see the transformation from boy to man through a series of events as he thinks back and realizes their significance. The events involve his family and a neighbouring family, as well as things that happened during the Nazi occupation of Norway.Emotions and feelings between characters are beautifully conveyed through actions. Although I would class this as a "man's book" (defined by a reviewer on CBC as one that doesn't mention upholstery or soft furnishings!!) I found it lyrical and lovely--a far cry from The Road, that other "man's book" that I could barely finish.

This novel made me think about how difficult it must be to convey the author's unique style when you translate it into another language. I looked at the blurb and discovered that Anne Born, the translator, is a poet. It shows.