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Out Stealing Horses

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Out Stealing Horses

By: Per Petterson, Anne Born - translator
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In 1948, when he is fifteen, Trond spends a summer in the country with his father.

The events - the accidental death of a child, his best friend's feelings of guilt and eventual disappearance, his father's decision to leave the family for another woman - will change his life forever.

An early morning adventure out stealing horses leaves Trond bruised and puzzled by his friend Jon's sudden breakdown. The tragedy which lies behind this scene becomes the catalyst for the two boys' families gradually to fall apart. As a 67-year-old man, and following the death of his wife, Trond has moved to an isolated part of Norway to live in solitude. But a chance encounter with a character from the fateful summer of 1948 brings the painful memories of that year flooding back, and will leave Trond even more convinced of his decision to end his days alone.

© Per Petterson 2003 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural

Critic reviews

Lyrical, deceptively clever...the way the story folds together like the petals of a rose is one of the novel's pleasurable surprises...an intelligent journey from boyhood into manhood...
Deeply atmospheric...concise beauty of his prose movingly captures the Norwegian landscape and rural way of life...This stunning novel will tell you more about the Norwegian countryside and psyche than the most enthusiastically well-informed guide book'
Petterson catches so effectively the thing that haunts all of us, the knowledge of how fragile life is...He captures the essence of a man's existence with a clean-lined freshness that hits you like a burst of winter air - surprising and breathtaking...touching humour...the narrative is beautifully balanced...Petterson writes with robust unpretentiousness. His story gathers pace like growing up, and stimulates heart and mind like a brisk country walk.
Limpid prose...an impressive novel of rare and exemplary moral courage.
A novel of considerable quality.
Remarkable...The genius of this beautiful, candid work lies in its tone of gentle reflection...A very special miracle of a book.
A luminous story...a genuine work of art...wonderfully resonant and rhythmic translation.
All stars
Most relevant
An interesting historical insight into a part of the Second World War about which I knew very little. Although the book was read/performed well, I wonder if it might have been better to have had a Norwegian actor read it as the reader's accent meant that I had a picture of the mid-west of the United States in my mind, rather than Northern Europe.

Atmospheric

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