Out Stealing Horses Audiobook By Per Petterson cover art

Out Stealing Horses

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Out Stealing Horses

By: Per Petterson
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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Multiple award-winning author Per Petterson delivers an eloquent, meditative novel.

67-year-old Trond Sander lives secluded in a far corner of Norway. Casting his mind back to 1948, he recalls a horse-stealing prank with his best friend that turned tragic and changed his life forever.

©2003 Per Petterson (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

"... on a par with ... Steinbeck, Berry, and Hemingway, and its emotional force and flavor are equivalent to what those authors can deliver, too." - Booklist
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Reads like the memoir of a man who straddled two worlds: living in the post war forests of Norway as a teen and then making a successful life in bustling Oslo. He returns to the forest as a retired widower to connect the two pieces and finds a sweetness that I can only hope I find someday.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the sharpness of the narrator's memories, his wonder and love of the forest.

What does Richard Poe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He sounds like the narrator would sound=as if he is not trying, just telling the story.

Lush and mournful

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A moving story of a man approaching the end of his life making peace with tumultuous incidents in his past, which he'd left unexamined until a coincidental meeting thrusts them back into his awareness. Limpid, spare writing, and moving narration. A book that deepens the reader's understanding of how our evolving perspective on events can change what they mean to us and how they tangibly affect our life.

Quietly powerful

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Would you listen to Out Stealing Horses again? Why?

To say that the ending is disappointing is to miss the point of the book. This book is a first person, stream of consciousness narrative about the impact a person's life adventures have had on him. Characters like

What about Richard Poe’s performance did you like?

Richard Poe WAS Trond, and he made me care about Trond from Minute One. His narration was understated and perfect for the book.

Not Disappointing - Amazing!

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This was somewhat interesting. I'm not sure I can recommend it. And here are some

Pretty Good

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Scandinavian writers seem to like to flash backwards and forwards throughout a story, regardless of what type of story that may happen to be telling!
In this memoir, I was not surprised to find that same structure at play.

"Out Stealing Horses" is the story of an old man looking back on his life, while also looking at his life in the current time. The story weaves back and forth, from past to present, and brings threads from the past story into his current life.

It is the "rememberings" of an old man, reflecting on his visions while he was a young boy, and the events that changed his life. We are able to see how some of the boys visions were naive and innocent, and with the wisdom of age, he (and we the reader) are able to shed new light, and give a depth and clarity, that was not there before.


The writing was skillful, but it did not really touch me on a personal level- I think because it always felt like it was someone else's life.

someone else's life.

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It's a good story... not fantastic, but entertaining. A little bit odd in that it doesn't really seem to begin or end; it just is... almost like we're missing the first and last chapter. I did enjoy it, though, and the narrator sounds astonishingly like Charlton Heston, which I found somewhat amusing, because the Norwegian word for "horses" is "hesten".

An Entertaining Diary of Sorts

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It was well written and a good book. a couple times I had to go back because I was a little confused as to what was going on since it does go back and forth through time quite a bit.
It was enjoyable but it missed something for me. I need a book to make me feel something, anything, anger, joy, excitement, love, empathy... something
This book didn't.

Enjoyable

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The book was very good but where's the ending? The author leaves you wanting more and feeling disappointed. The book has a good flow and a nice mix of past and present. You are drawn into liking the main character so much that the books leaves you wanting to find out more.

Out stealing an ending

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Beautiful story, beautifully written and the reader is one of the best. Outstanding!

Wonderful experience

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I liked the way the author flipped between past and present. You did have to pay attention which life you're in. You have to love both characters old man and boy. The ending was just that IT ENDED. Very disappointing.

How did it end. ???

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