Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson

I loved this story about a young man who experiences a lifetime of pain in one summer a few years after the second world war in Norway. Trond is spending the summer with his father in rural Norway near the Swedish border. He's made friends with Jon, a boy near his age, and they have adventures in the woods and mountains nearby. The story is told by an older Trond who has returned to the area to retire after his wife dies.

Jon and Trond's fathers feel some macho competitiveness between them. Trond's father was part of the Norwegian resistance along with Jon's mother. Jon's father refused to participate, and his petty resentment against his wife's resistance activities led to her exposure and flight along with Trond's father to Sweden for the remaining months of the war. Years later, their competitive streak leads to an accident which causes Jon's father to break his leg and eventually leave his marriage. Trond's father never returns home to his family, leaving Trond broken and always yearning for the father who abandoned him. Years later, Trond returns to rural Norway and seredipitously reconnects with Jon's younger brother. Both older men are pained by their past experiences, but retain their compassion for others. As the story unfolds, the reader learns of all the actions of the past, both during and after the war that affect them still. This is extremely well-written and translated.

Per Petterson. Out Stealing Horses. Saint Paul, Minn.: Graywolf Press, 2003. 258 pages. ISBN 9781555974701.