Out Stealing Horses

OUT STEALING HORSES; Per Petterson, translated from the Norwegian by Anne Born; New York: Picador, 2007(?): Fiction: 238pp.

“Out Stealing Horses,” Per Petterson’s lyrical, luminous novel of a Norwegian boyhood as viewed from older age was chosen by the “New York Times Book Review” as one of the ten best novels of 2007, and is richly deserving of the honor. Trond Sander retires in his late 60s to a broken-down country cottage, hoping for the solitude and contemplation he has long desired. But the beauty of the countryside and a chance meeting with a neighbor who figured prominently in his past bring vividly to mind a particular day in his youth when he and his friend Jon went out “stealing” horses, and all that followed from the tragic events of that day. Petterson’s prose has the depth and movement of a big, slow river, everything developing as it should, character and circumstance pooling, circling, and rippling in his profound revelation of nature, family, felt loss, and love, leading to a breathtaking final sentence. “Out Stealing Horses” in the original Norwegian must have been stunning; Anne Born’s English translation is beautiful.

LW