Norway

Out Stealing Horses

Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses is a “masterpiece of death and delusion in a Nordic land” (The Guardian).

At age sixty-seven, Trond has settled in an isolated part of eastern Norway to live out his life in solitude, but a chance encounter with his only neighbor stirs up long-dormant memories. Trond recalls the fateful July morning when he and his friend Jon impulsively stole a ride on horses at a nearby farm, an adventure shrouded by Jon’s inexplicable grief. Trond soon learned of the tragic events that befell Jon the day before, which would haunt them both forever.

“Petterson’s spare and deliberate prose has astonishing force.” —The New Yorker

“Petterson fluently jumbles his chronology, sustaining mysteries within several subplots. . . . But the real trick is in the way everything finally converges into an emotional jolt.” —Entertainment Weekly

(Group read suggestion from Ivor Watkins, book club moderator.)

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Ordeal

Sofie Lund’s grandfather died after a fall down his basement steps, the same basement that holds a locked safe bolted to the floor. She inherits the house, but wants nothing to do with his money believing the old man let her mother die in jail.

Line Wisting’s journalist instincts lead her into friendship with Sofie, and they are together when the safe is opened. What they discover unlocks another case and leads Line’s father, Chief Inspector Wisting, on a trial of murder to an ordeal that will eventually separate the innocent from the damned.

“Horst writes some of the best Scandinavian crime fiction available. His books are beautifully plotted and addictive, the characters superbly realized.” —Sigurdardottir

“The more widely I read within Nordic noir, the more I appreciate the attention to detail and realism Horst brings to his writing having served as a police officer himself. His main character is not the same old damaged detective; he’s a good, hardworking man who believes in justice…a character so refreshing to read.” —Crime by the Book

“A richly detailed narrative, morally complex characters, and a deeply contemplative, philosophical undertone make this a superior example of Scandinavian crime fiction.” —Publishers Weekly

Note: While this book is officially #5 in the series, it can be read as a standalone.

(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)

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Hunger

First published in 1890 in Norwegian and based on Hamsun's own experiences with poverty prior to his success as an author, Hunger tells the story of an unnamed vagrant who stumbles around the streets of Norway's capital city of Kristiania (now Oslo) looking for food. This starving young man attempts to create an outward illusion of sanity and rationality, but his inner mind is becoming increasingly disturbed and delusional. He is kind to others and generous with the little he has, but he also refuses to find work to help support himself and becomes sicker and sicker in both his mind and body as he starves. His deterioration, both mental and physical, is captured in stunning and shocking detail.

While the ending is one of hope and optimism, Hunger is a searing portrait of poverty and despair, as well as a biting social commentary on modern urban life and how desperate things can become for the poor in large cities. Nobel Prize winning Hamsun is at his best in this classic of modern literature.

(Group read suggestion from Mia DeGiovine Chaveco, book club co-founder.)

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The Ice Palace

In rural Norway, one evening after school, 11-year-old Siss and Unn strike up a deep and unusual bond. When the next day Unn sets off into the wintry woods in search of a mysterious frozen waterfall, known locally as the “ice palace,” and does not return, a devastated Siss takes it upon herself to find her missing friend.

Siss's struggle with her fidelity to the memory of her friend and Unn's fatal exploration of the strange, terrifyingly beautiful frozen waterfall that is the Ice Palace are described in prose of a lyrical economy that ranks among the most memorable achievements of modern literature thanks in large part to Vesaas's unique command of a sparse, figurative and fragmentary style.

“Austere poetical clarity, stoical wisdom and a vivid response to nature.” —Times Literary Supplement

“Vesaas’s laconic sentences are as cold and simple as ice—and as fantastic.” — Daily Telegraph

(Group read suggestion from Ivor Watkins, book club moderator.)

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Naïve. Super

Funny and poignant—the number one Norwegian bestseller, translated into 19 languages

Troubled by an inability to find any meaning in his life, the 25-year-old narrator of this deceptively simple novel quits university and is living, jobless, in his brother’s house while the brother is away on business.

In a bid to discover what life is all about, he writes lists which become an endearing and thought-provoking quirk. He returns to childhood pleasures endlessly bouncing a ball against the wall and befriending a small boy who lives next door. Eventually, he’s persuaded to join his brother for a holiday where his plans for the future start to coalesce. There, it becomes apparent that the naivety of childhood is not an escape from the complexity of adulthood, but a compliment to it.

Naïve. Super is an utterly enchanting meditation on life’s experiences.

“Naïve. Super displays a canny lightness of touch and a great deal of charm. An effortlessly hip and savvy antidote to the rainy day blues.” —Sleazenation

“A book overflowing with creative talent on just about every page. Well calculated naivety.” —Dagbladet

(A special thank you to book club member, Sena Karataşlı for the suggestion.)

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Sophie's World

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world.

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

“First, think a beginner's guide to philosophy . . . Next, imagine a fantasy novel--something like a modern-day version of Through the Looking Glass. Meld these disparate genres, and what do you get? Well, what you get is an improbable international bestseller . . . [A] tour de force.” —Time

(A special thank you to book club member, Julie Jacobs for the suggestion.)

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