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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Oh the wistfulness, oh the tender storytelling. There is a somber lyrical note to the descriptions, that combined with the adventurous childhood give a magnificent reflectiveness.
The characters have soul reaching relations, tethered by dismay and then you get to observe how they heal that sorrow. Very short, very good. One of my new favourites
The characters have soul reaching relations, tethered by dismay and then you get to observe how they heal that sorrow. Very short, very good. One of my new favourites
Gave up halfway through. This book isn’t really grabbing me. I feel like there’s something there, but maybe I’m not in the right state of mind for it. I keep just glossing over what I’m reading, not really caring.
This is a quiet book. Trees, snow, nighttime. Big things happen but they do so silently. This book is somewhat unsettling but in a peaceful way. I'm going to need to give it some thought.
"You decide yourself when it will hurt."
"You decide yourself when it will hurt."
An elderly man, influence by his father who, long ago, bought a rural cabin so he could go and think, buys a rural cabin so he can go and think. Seriously. That's it.
Needless to say I was shocked at the countless reviews that sing high, high praise. In fact, one 5-star Amazon reviewer helps pinpoint why I do NOT like the book: "Instead of building toward a climactic finish, or revealing a fateful detail that ties together several unrelated events, 'Out Stealing Horses' is a dreamy recitation of memories and the present day, as experienced by an aging widower in rural Norway. The 'payoff', if it can be called that, is not a gratification of the reader's curiousity, but an impressionistic portrait of the sum total of a life."
Exactly.
No. Thank. You.
Needless to say I was shocked at the countless reviews that sing high, high praise. In fact, one 5-star Amazon reviewer helps pinpoint why I do NOT like the book: "Instead of building toward a climactic finish, or revealing a fateful detail that ties together several unrelated events, 'Out Stealing Horses' is a dreamy recitation of memories and the present day, as experienced by an aging widower in rural Norway. The 'payoff', if it can be called that, is not a gratification of the reader's curiousity, but an impressionistic portrait of the sum total of a life."
Exactly.
No. Thank. You.
Blended the past and present seamlessly but the ending left me with questions.
It does not seem like a fairy tale but a tale that was sprinkled with a little fairy dust to make it that much more mesmerising. It is short, but it also lasts a lifetime. It is simple but complicated in the way only human relationships can be. It is a sturdy tale of survival and it is a fragile tale of bonds that bind and that can 19t. It has the calm, the unhurried pace of an old man 19s narrative and yet it has the urgency of a man who has to tell before his time runs out. It is a sensual book and still frigid in the boundaries it imposes. It is an unpretentious little book loaded with layers that is making me feel very grown up and very young at the same time.
I still have the images of Norwegian landscape in my mind, days after reading this book. Reminds me of Snow Falling on Cedars in that way--the landscape is an enormously important element.
This is the kind of book that would drive my mom crazy. Petterson's writing is very much blow-by-blow, to the point where I was sometimes exasperated or skimming the text, and sometimes with my mouth open in disbelief. Kind of like this imaginary example: "I chose the hammer with the worn handle, and I picked it up and grasped it and held its weight in my hand for a moment. Then I raised it and let it fall on the first nail. I surveyed what I'd done, then looked into the sky for a moment. Would it snow? I thought about fishing the next nail out of my pocket, but I didn't reach for it. Maybe in a moment." (Continue page-long discussion of hammering nail.)
There are also many, many mysterious and short-lived and not plot-centric ailments or seeming-ailments that suddenly pass and then aren't mentioned again. I kept thinking, is someone going to be caught in a jam out here in the wilderness, felled by an upset stomach and the lack of a phone to use to call for help. But no. Just obsession with lightheadedness, sore knee, etc. Huh?
The storyline wasn't riveting for me, yet Petterson's writing is beautiful in its exploration of the details of everyday life.
This is the kind of book that would drive my mom crazy. Petterson's writing is very much blow-by-blow, to the point where I was sometimes exasperated or skimming the text, and sometimes with my mouth open in disbelief. Kind of like this imaginary example: "I chose the hammer with the worn handle, and I picked it up and grasped it and held its weight in my hand for a moment. Then I raised it and let it fall on the first nail. I surveyed what I'd done, then looked into the sky for a moment. Would it snow? I thought about fishing the next nail out of my pocket, but I didn't reach for it. Maybe in a moment." (Continue page-long discussion of hammering nail.)
There are also many, many mysterious and short-lived and not plot-centric ailments or seeming-ailments that suddenly pass and then aren't mentioned again. I kept thinking, is someone going to be caught in a jam out here in the wilderness, felled by an upset stomach and the lack of a phone to use to call for help. But no. Just obsession with lightheadedness, sore knee, etc. Huh?
The storyline wasn't riveting for me, yet Petterson's writing is beautiful in its exploration of the details of everyday life.
A gorgeous novel that explores themes of innocence and abandonment. It ends all too quickly.
This is a book that I have recommended over and over. Lyrical, engaging, haunting.